Colonial Encounters: The Lower Potomac River at Contact, 1500-1720 AD

FAIN: RZ-51442-12

St. Mary's College of Maryland (St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001)
Julia A. King (Project Director: December 2011 to June 2016)

The creation of a collections-based comparative study and online database consisting of material culture recovered from 33 Potomac River archaeological sites occupied between 1500-1720 AD. (24 months)

St. Mary's College of Maryland seeks NEH support for a collections-based archaeological study of the lower Potomac River Valley between c. 1500 and 1720 AD. By taking material culture as our point of departure and incorporating the rich ethnographic evidence found in documents into our analysis, we plan to explore the forms colonial encounter took in this area of the Atlantic World and how what transpired here contributed to the profound renegotiation of identity that continues apace at the beginning of the 21st century.

Associated Products

Chesapeak Encounters (Web Resource)
Title: Chesapeak Encounters
Author: Julia King
Abstract: Using detailed comparisons of the archaeological assemblages from 18 early sites in the Chesapeake, this project explores the material conditions of culture contact, plantation development and organization, the rise of slavery, and consumer behavior. Comparable artifact databases have been created for the 18 sites, and analysis of artifact distributions has provided great insight into differences and similarities.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://www.chesapeakearchaeology.org

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