The archaeology of Mr. Jefferson's slaves

Abstract

This study examines the archaeological and documentary evidence associated with three slave quarter sites in order to understand more about the material life of the slaves who occupied the three dwellings. Located along the original access road to Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Piedmont plantation, Monticello, these three quarters housed domestic servants, their children and some of the plantation's trained craftsmen from 1792-93 until the 1820s-30s. Excavations revealed the structural remains of the quarters and thousands of artifacts which provide direct evidence of these slaves' lives. Analysis of this evidence establishes Jefferson's home in its proper context as a working plantation dependent on slave labor. This analysis also addresses issues that are central to the field of plantation archaeology: paternalism, acculturation, and ethnicity.