The function of Colono-Indian ceramics: Insights from Limerick plantation, South Carolina

Abstract

Colono-Indian ceramics occur with variable frequency in Colonial sites from Virginia to Florida. These ceramics have traditionally been viewed as having been manufactured by local Indian groups for trade with European settlers. Recently, however, it has been suggested that many, if not most, of these ceramics were manufactured by African slaves—a documented practice on Barbados during the 17th and 18th centuries. Despite these questions concerning who was responsible for the manufacture of Colono-Indian ceramics, questions concerning the diachronic and synchronic function of these ceramics are largely unresolved. This paper focuses largely on these questions of general function, using material from an 18th and 19th century rice plantation in coastal South Carolina as the primary data base.