National Park Service 39

Chapter 3

Interpreting African Cultural

Heritage at Historic Sites

African-American cultural heritage is increasingly

included in the interpretation of historic sites open 

to the public. This chapter describes examples of

interpretive programs that address Africanisms.

Some African-related messages are more direct than

others; some follow more conventional models;

others require new means of analysis. Ultimately,

using Africanisms in the interpretation and

management of historic sites and places will 

enhance the understanding of America itself.

Historic sites that are located in areas where African

Americans settled earliest may have stronger cases for

Africanisms. The refreshing of African culture by new 

arrivals over the course of centuries builds a strong 

foundation for the study and interpretation of Africanisms.

The primary stage, the place of original dispersion, for most

people of African descent in North America is the Eastern

seaboard and the South—New England, the Chesapeake, 

the Carolinas, Florida, and Louisiana. 

Some Africanisms may require additional research and analysis beyond seeking a direct connection with Africa. The context may be recognized as African American, but the African

cultural connection needs to be documented and clarified,

such as with shotgun house districts, independent black

towns, and the names of geographic landmarks. Others, such

as rice cultivation and processing have distinctly African roots

that have been obscured. Interpreting a site’s Africanity means

explaining the migration process by which the people find

themselves in locations, as well as what culture they brought

with them. The migration patterns, therefore, may influence

the nature of Africanisms found at historic sites. 

Some sites that are not listed here have African roots and

origins, but their cultural context in the United States does 
40 African Reflections on the American Landscape

not come through New World African descended communities. The Washington Monument in Washington, DC is such

an example. Noted American classical architect, Robert Mills,

designed the nation’s monument to George Washington. The

Washington Monument is an obelisk, a four-sided spire with 

a triangular top. This monumental architectural style first

appeared in Karnak, Egypt, around B.C. 1500, and was used to

honor dignitaries. The function of the Washington Monument

is consistent with that of its ancient predecessors.(1)

Gullah/Geechee Culture 

Gullah/Geechee culture stretches from the Carolinas to 

northern Florida, leaving a distinctive mark on the historical

traditions in the coastal region. Included are the Sea Islands

off of South Carolina and the Golden Crescent of Georgia 

and Florida. The term “Gullah” is believed to be a homophone for “Gola” or Angola, and refers to those in the 

South Carolina Sea Islands. “Geechee” refers to those in 

the Georgia Sea Islands, and has a pejorative connotation 

of “country” or “hick.” The Gullah/Geechee people possess

linguistic traits, artisan skills, and agricultural and cultural

practices attributable to African knowledge systems retained

by those descendants. This survival is due to the relative geographic isolation of the areas and the concentrated and late

influx of Africans from the same cultural zone. Gullah/Geechee

culture is a repository of Africanisms and should be evaluated

in light of African culture. 

National Park Service interpretation programs have included

Gullah culture and people. The National Park Service funded

ethnographic/ethnohistorical oral histories at Kingsley plantation on Ft. George Island, Florida, and conducted ethnohistorical research at Cumberland and Amelia Islands in Georgia.

It also has conducted an ethnohistorical study of African

Americans at Snee Farm, Charles Pinckney National Historic

Site, South Carolina. Research centers, such as the Avery

Research Center for African American History and Culture at

the College of Charleston and the Penn Center on St. Helena

Island, which hold valuable information on Gullah culture,

also contribute to this effort.

Most recently, the National Park Service initiated the Low

Country Gullah Culture Special Resource Study, a study mandated by Congress. The purpose of the study is to evaluate
National Park Service 41

Gullah/Geechee culture with an eye toward preserving and

interpreting it in areas within the Park Service’s purview. To

that end, the National Park Service is conducting meetings

with Gullah communities, providing an overview of scholarly

literature on the culture, producing a GIS report on places 

of importance in the Gullah/Geechee region, and compiling 

a demographic overview of the region. A full report detailing

these activities is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2002.

Teaching With Historic Places: “When Rice Was King”

National Register of Historic Places 

[www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp]

The National Register of Historic Places has developed nearly

100 classroom-ready teaching lesson plans in its Teaching with

Historic Places program. These

lesson plans use National

Register-listed properties to

instruct readers about specific

themes, events, and significant

people in American history. 

The lesson plans are available

on-line, offering another way

to experience a historic place 

or a national park.

The Teaching with Historic

Places staff revamped the lesson

plan “When Rice Was King” to

reflect the African contributions

in the development of the rice

industry in South Carolina. 

The lesson plan discusses the

South’s growing dependence on

enslaved labor, specifically as it involved rice, South Carolina’s

premiere crop through much of the eighteenth century.

(Illustration 17) Chicora Wood was one of the most successful

rice plantations in Georgetown County. By 1860, Chicora

Wood served as the home base for a network of seven rice

plantations throughout the county for processing rice for

market. Using scholarship derived from the National Park

Service’s “Places of Cultural Memory: African Reflections on

the American Landscape” conference, Teaching with Historic

Places acknowledges the long-standing African expertise in

rice cultivation in South Carolina.

Illustration 17:

The map shows Chicora Wood

Plantation in relation to the surrounding rice producing areas. 

Map courtesy of Teaching with 

Historic Places, National Register 

of Historic Places
42 African Reflections on the American Landscape

Scholarship in the last 40 years points to rice cultivation and

processing in South Carolina as having West African roots.

The Portuguese cultivated rice and used enslaved labor in

Brazil in the sixteenth century. Rice was introduced to the British North American colonies 

in the early part of the 1600s. However, it only

became a successful cash crop for South Carolina

once planters increased importation of Africans

from the rice growing areas of West Africa.(2)

At Chicora Wood, and other plantations in the

coastal Carolinas, a technique of manipulating

tidal flows using embankments and sluice gates 

to attain high levels of productivity in the flood

plains of rivers and streams was practiced. Large wooden

mortars and pestles were originally used to husk the rice, and

winnowing baskets separated the husked kernels from their

covering. Eventually, the process became mechanized, but the

basic method of pounding, flailing, and winnowing remained

the same. (Illustration 18) “When Rice Was King” uses Judith

Carney’s essay from the “Places of Cultural Memory” conference to make the connection between West African rice production, the enslaved Africans used to plant rice, and the

development of these techniques in South Carolina. These

developments made South Carolina one of the leading rice

exporters in the world. 

The diet of American southerners reflects the influence of

Africans who served as cooks on plantations. Rice went from

a subsistence crop for the enslaved to a regular part of the

Illustration 19:

The kitchen at Chicora Wood

Plantation is separate from 

the house, mitigating the heat

during the warmer months. 

Photo courtesy of Charles Bayless

Illustration 18:

The processing of rice evolved

from a manual process to a

mechanized one, using winnowing houses and rice mills

shown here in Georgetown

County, SC. 

Photo courtesy of Charles Bayless
National Park Service 43

American diet. The detached kitchens on larger plantations

such as Chicora Wood may also reveal an Africanism. The

kitchen was kept separate from the big house on plantations,

in part, to mitigate excessive heat in the main house during the

warmer months. West and Central African groups, such as the

Asante in Ghana, cook outside of the domicile in a courtyard

space designated for communal use.(3) (Illustration 19) In addition, separate kitchens lessened the chance of destruction of

the home due to fire. 

The planting techniques, the processing of rice, the introduction of rice to the American palate, the outbuildings, and the

separation of kitchens from the house at Chicora Wood are

due to African influence and underscore the knowledge transfer that took place.

Shotgun Houses at 

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Atlanta, Georgia

Preservation of shotgun house districts has become a popular

and profitable activity. One of the better known examples is

the grouping of double shotgun houses near the

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in

Atlanta, Georgia. According to the “Martin Luther

King, Jr. Historic Site, Cultural Landscape Report:

Birth-Home Block” released in 1995 by the

National Park Service, these houses were built

starting in 1905. Located in the Sweet Auburn

District, the shotgun houses are part of the

century-old African American enclave. Originally

developed in the 1870s for middle-class white

homeowners, the old Fourth Ward, in which

Auburn Avenue was located, had become an integrated neighborhood by the turn of the twentieth century. 1910

saw Auburn Avenue homes filled with middle-class African

Americans, including the family of the Reverend A. D. Williams,

maternal grandfather of Martin Luther King, Jr. The five double

shotgun houses on the Birth-Home block grew to eighteen by

the 1930s.(4) The shotgun houses continue to be inhabited by

African Americans.

In the 1980s, the Historic District Development Corporation

(HDDC) rehabilitated this shotgun row and other houses 

(in addition to adding new construction) in the adjoining

Sweet Auburn district. HDDC views the shotgun houses as

Illustration 20:

Shotgun houses are prevalent in

the Sweet Auburn neighborhood.

This illustration shows a double

shotgun house in the Martin

Luther King, Jr. Historic District. 

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Shropshire
44 African Reflections on the American Landscape

vital parts of the community and seeks to preserve its history

as a place of settlement and a holder of cultural traditions 

for African Americans by encouraging elderly community

members and families to remain in the houses. HDDC conducts heritage tours of the neighborhood that reference

shotgun houses as an Africanism. The double shotgun house,

the predominant type in Sweet Auburn, is particular to, but

not exclusive to Georgia. (Illustration 20, page 43)

Parting Ways Archeological District

Plymouth, Massachusetts

People of African descent established independent towns,

which bear imprints of African heritage. Parting Ways,

Massachusetts was a settlement of former enslaved Africans

who won their freedom by fighting in the Revolutionary War.

The site is marked by a sign at the side of the road, honoring

and listing the names of the original inhabitants, one of which,

Quamany, is an Akan day-name for a boy born on Saturday.(5)

Found among the ruins of the side was pottery similar to the

colono-ware vessels found in South Carolina, Virginia, and 

the Caribbean. The large jars were used to carry and store

tamarind, a West African fruit grown in the Caribbean.(6) The

footprints of the house ruins correspond with those found in

Caribbean villages where African people built their own

housing. (Illustration 21a)

Illustration 21:

This grave marker commemorates the four inhabitants 

of Parting Ways. Recent 

scholarship indicates that 

the actual burial sites may 

be nearer to the homes.

Photo courtesy of Tex Avery

Illustration 21a:

This photograph shows an 

excavation of the Plato Turner

home at Parting Ways. 

Photo courtesy of Tex Avery
National Park Service 45

A small cemetery across the road from the home site holds

slate gravestones. However, the actual gravesites of the 

inhabitants are believed to be closer to the housing ruins.

(Illustration 21) Mounds near the location of the houses were

marked with broken bottles and jars, reminiscent of Akan

ritual compounds.(7) The name itself, Parting Ways, is representative of an African semantic transfer, a practice of naming

places for emotions, experiences, actions, and attitudes. 

Artifacts from the site are on display at the 1749 Court House

and Museum. Further interpretation is provided by Parting

Ways: the Museum of African American and Cape Verdean

History, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of those interred at the site. Its web site, 

www.partingways.org, contains additional interpretation.

Parting Ways is listed in the National Register of Historic

Places. Administered by the town of Plymouth, the settlement

demonstrates the retention of African cultural practices

evident in archeological sites and cemeteries.

Zion Poplars Baptist Church

Gloucester, Virginia

The woods could be a place of worship, of either West African

deities or Christianity, without the restraints of European

worship.(8) As African Americans adopted Christianity, the

faith took on aspects of its practitioners’ past beliefs. An

expression of faith for some African American Christianity

was more extroverted, involving participation from the congregation and a call-and-response style of preaching. Dancing

and music were active parts of the service. This form of

worship diverged sharply from that of their European counterparts. Brush arbors, or bush harbors as they were sometimes known, were where enslaved Africans could practice

their form of Christianity clandestinely. 

With this in mind, the congregation of Zion Poplars Baptist

Church built their church after the Civil War beneath seven

poplar trees which were united to form a single base. This

location resonated with the congregation for Christian and

West and Central African reasons. The site was viewed as a
46 African Reflections on the American Landscape

natural miracle—the ideal place to commune with God—

and a familiar location. On what had been a location to

secretly practice religion was built a public place to continue

their religious observance. (Illustrations 22 and 22a)

The congregation built the church, situated it and the community graveyard beneath the poplars, and named the church 

for those same trees. This choice of location denotes an

Africanism and is valuable for interpreting Zion Poplars to

tourists and the community at large, as is documented in the

National Register of Historic Places nomination for Zion

Poplars Baptist Church. 

Poplar Forest Archeological Research

Near Lynchburg, Virginia

Located near Lynchburg, Poplar Forest was Thomas Jefferson’s

other plantation, besides Monticello. He inherited both properties through his father-in-law, and was one of the largest

holders of enslaved Africans in central Virginia. Jefferson

allowed the Africans at Poplar Forest the freedom to travel,

frequently to and from Monticello, and to produce and sell

the fruits of their labor on their own time. Through this commercial activity, Jefferson’s enslaved Africans were able to 

supplement their diets and incomes.(9)

An examination of the North Hill and Quarter portions of the

plantation revealed subfloor pits, used as storage areas within

housing structures. This practice, according to Poplar Forest

archeologist, Barbara Heath, may have roots in West Africa

Illustration 22a:

Zion Poplars Baptist and 

its surroundings represent 

a continuation of West 

African religious practices. 

Photo courtesy of Natalie Robertson

Illustration 22:

The poplars serve as a place of

shelter and of worship for the

congregation of Zion Poplars

Baptist. 

Photo courtesy of Natalie Robertson
National Park Service 47

with the Ibo of Nigeria.(10) In addition, there is on-going

archeological investigation on personal items found that may

have West African antecedents.

The vegetal remains recovered from the subfloor pits contained edible and non-edible plant material, as well as bones

from non-domesticated animals, which fell outside of what

was known to be provided to the Quarter’s inhabitants. In

some cases, the plants differed from those used for European

dietary and medicinal purposes. The findings suggest African

knowledge systems at work. Heath cites Merrick Posnansky’s

research on transfer of African knowledge to the Caribbean,

stating that plants from the same family were used similarly by

Africans on both sides of the Atlantic. Posnansky points to the

collaboration of African and Native American knowledge of

plants and pharmacopoeia in adapting African practices to

New World plant types.(11) Heath infers that the same transfer

took place in Virginia.

Conclusion

The study of African influences in America is being incorporated into the stories of historic sites. The narratives and histories reflect the views of the communities they serve and the

institutions that manage them. The addition of Africanisms to

the interpretation will alter how the visitors view the site, and

possibly attract new visitors altogether. Increased visitation

and new audiences benefit these places in many ways, not the

least of which is financially, as heritage tourism is one of the

fastest growing sectors of the tourist economy.

The range of vernacular cultural contexts that is shaped by

Africanisms speaks to the pervasiveness of African descendants and their collective culture in the United States. As

Africanisms are researched and added to the interpretation at

more historic sites, all historic site administrators are encouraged to evaluate their cultural resources for African influences.
48 African Reflections on the American Landscape

ENDNOTES

1. In the original Washington Monument design,

Mills included Neo-classical elements that were

not consistent with traditional Egyptian obelisk

design. The top of the Monument was nearly flat

and there was a pantheon encircling the base.

Two other monuments to George Washington

were erected, in Baltimore and Richmond, both

with Neo-Classical designs and both attributable

to Mills (there is debate as to his having designed

the one in Richmond). In 1879, after a lengthy

delay due to the theft of stone donated by the

Vatican and a lack of funding, the National

Monument Society decided to leave the 300 ft.

uncompleted and top it with a statue. George

Perkins Marsh, U.S. ambassador to Italy and a

student of Egyptian architecture, advised the

Society against the statue. The ambassador

argued for standard Egyptian proportions of 10:1

height to base and advised against the circular

temple base. He recommended that a pyramid

adorn the top, as called for by traditional design.

At the time of its completion in 1884, the

Monument rose 555 feet high and was the tallest

structure in the world. The use of the obelisk

form links America, a relatively new nation at the

time, to an ancient prosperous civilization. 

For more on Mills and the Washington

Monuments, see Carroll Orchards, “Notes 

& Comments: Robert Mills, Architect and

Engineer,” in Architectural Record 40 (6)

(December 1916): 583-588; H. E. Pierce Gallagher,

“Robert Mills, 1781-1855: America’s First Native

Architect,” in Architectural Record (May 1929):

478-484. For more on Egypt, obelisks, and the

connection to the Washington Monument, see

Nnamdi Ellah, African Architecture: Evolution

and Transformation (New York and London:

McGraw-Hill, 1997) and Susan Denyer African

Traditional Architecture (New York: Africana

Publishing Co., 1978). Cf. David Lowenthal,

George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation

(Seattle and London, UK: University of

Washington Press, 2000), 356.

The obelisk as an African architectural form

predates European, Greek, or Persian contact

with Egypt. Its introduction to the United States 

comes though a Western European cultural

context. Obelisks have been removed from Egypt

to the West since Augustinian times. Thirteen of

the remaining twenty-one obelisks in the world

are located in Rome. Only five exist in Egypt, and

the rest are scattered throughout the world, in

London, Paris, Istanbul, and most recently, New

York. In the 1800s, obelisks were considered part

of the Neo-Classical vocabulary. It would be 

safe to presume Mills, a white South Carolinian,

interpreted the form through Western European

culture, and not African. Furthermore, the North

African origins of the architectural form do not

coincide with the West African origins of the

Africans brought to the New World, putting it

outside of the definition of Africanisms given by

Holloway. However, there is no doubt as to the

African origins of obelisks and the continuity of

use as memorial monumental architecture. 

Future research into Africanisms may include

the Washington Monument, and places like 

Opa-Locka, Florida, known for its Moorish

architecture. Built originally for European

Americans, the African American community

has assumed stewardship of the buildings, and

view themselves as best able to maintain its

integrity, due to the cultural connection with

Africa.

2. Daniel C. Littlefield states in Rice and Slaves 

that 40% of enslaved Africans entering South

Carolina during the time rice was a premiere

export crop were from regions of West Africa

that were rice-producing for 1,000 years prior 

to European contact. Growing rice means having

a knowledgeable labor force. As Littlefield states,

“being familiar with a crop is a different matter

from being familiar with the cultivation of a

crop.” Southern Europe had limited rice production at the time, primarily in Italy, not a country

actively involved in the Atlantic slave trade. The

strain of rice present in the Carolinas was consistent with an Asian variety introduced to the New

World by the Portuguese, but the cultivation

techniques used are different from those used in

Asia. The Carolinas never used the transplanting

method popular throughout Asia. 
National Park Service 49

The increased numbers of Africans from what

was known as the Windward Coast corresponds

with a shift from rain-fed cultivation to tidal-fed

cultivation, which proved successful for Carolina

planters. There were geographical and climactic

similarities—sub tropical conditions and floodplains like those in Mali along the Niger River,

Senegal and Gambia near the Senegal River, 

and in Ghana. Judith Carney argues technologies

were transferred from the region to the Carolinas,

such as mortars and pestles for hulling and polishing, and flails and winnowing baskets for 

separating the hulls from the grains. For more

detailed analyses of African rice production in

the United States and the New World, see Peter

H. Wood, Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial

South Carolina from 1670 Through the Stono

Rebellion (New York: W.W. Norton & Company,

1975); Littlefield, Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity 

and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina

(Urbana and Chicago and Urbana: University

of Illinois, 1991); Carney, Black Rice: The African

Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas

(Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard

University Press, 2001). Cf. Carney, “Rice, Slaves

and Landscapes of Cultural Memory” in Places 

of Cultural Memory: African Reflections on the

American Landscape. Conference Proceedings,

May 9-12, 2001, Atlanta, GA (Washington, DC:

Department of the Interior, National Park

Service, 2001), 43-61.

3. See John Michael Vlach, Back of the Big House:

The Architecture of Plantation Slavery (Chapel

Hill and London: University of North Carolina

Press, 1993), 43; Abimbola O. Asojo, “Traditional

African Architecture and Its Impact on Place

Making: Case Studies from African and AfricanAmerican Communities,” in Places of Cultural

Memory: African Reflections on the American

Landscape. Conference Proceedings, May 9-12,

2001, Atlanta, GA (Washington, DC: Department

of the Interior, National Park Service, 2001);

Leland Ferguson, Uncommon Ground:

Archaeology and Early African America,

1650-1800 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian

Institution Press, 1992), xxii-xxiii.

4. The five shotguns are the first of nine built by the

Empire State Investment Company. See Lucy A.

Lawliss, ed., Martin Luther King, Jr. National

Historic Site Cultural Landscape Report: BirthHome Block, (Atlanta, GA: National Park Service,

1995), 16, fn. 21. For more detailed historical

information about the shotguns, the Birth-Home

site and the surrounding neighborhood, see

Cultural Landscape Report, 11-47; National

Register of Historic Places, Martin Luther King,

Jr. Historic District (Boundary Increase), Fulton

County, Georgia. National Register #0000741.

5. The inscription on the maker reads “Here 

lie the graves of four Negro slaves: Quamany,

Prince, Plato, Cato. These men fought in the

Revolutionary War and were freed at its close.

The cemetery is located in the original 94 acre

plot of land which was deeded to them by the

U.S. government when they were given their

freedom.” The town was once named New

Guinea. See James Deetz, In Small Things

Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American 

Life (New York: Anchor Books, 1996), 205-206.

6. Deetz offers that the shape of the jars is consistent with types associated with West African

pottery traditions. Deetz cites no specific area or

group, however Ferguson’s research points at a

Nigerian tradition in colono-ware. Preliminary

research into unofficial documents held by

Parting Ways: the Museum of African-American

and Cape Verdean History, may indicate the

inhabitants were from modern Guinea-Bisssau

via Cape Verde, offering a Caribbean connection

to the U.S. See Deetz, In Small Things Forgotten,

148; Furgeson, Uncommon Ground: Archaeology

and Early African America, 1650-1800, 1-32.

7. Multivalency—how objects take on different

meanings for different social groups—must be

considered in the interpretation of Parting 

Ways. Bottles and jars found at graves throughout the Caribbean and southern America have

been reevaluated with western African funerary

practices in mind, as opposed to being interpreted as refuse or litter. The spirits of the dead 
50 African Reflections on the American Landscape

reside in water, according to Kongo beliefs, and

the vessels—jars and bottles—typically represented water. They would have holes in the

bottom to indicate their association with the

burial mound. Coins and, on occasion, food

offerings have been found at gravesites. In a 

discussion with Deetz, Vlach states the burial

deposits are reminiscent of those found in

modern Ghana. See Deetz, In Small Things

Forgotten, 207-209; see also Thompson’s essay

“Kongo Influences on African American Artistic Culture,” in Holloway, ed., Africanisms in

American Culture (Bloomington and Indianapolis:

Indiana University Press, 1990) 148-184.

8. It is believed by some West African cultures 

that spirits reside in the bush. Some wooded

areas are kept just for these spirits or deities, to

ensure their favor, as in the case of Ogun, the

Yorubá deity responsible for ironmongery.

Similarly, Poro-Sande organizations (male and

female secret societies) held sacred groves. The

groves were used for puberty rites of passage 

for young initiates. The groups, found throughout Upper Guinea (Senegal, Gambia, Sierra

Leone, and modern Liberia) served as social,

political, and organizing polities. Sandra F.

Barnes, “Introduction: The Many Faces of

Ogun,” in Africa’s Ogun, Old World and New

(Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana

University Press, 1990); Margaret Washington

Creel, “Gullah Attitudes Toward Life and Death,”

in Holloway, ed., Africanisms in American 

Culture (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana

University Press, 1990) 76-78.

9. See Barbara J. Heath, Hidden Lives: The

Archaeology of Slave Life at Thomas Jefferson’s

Poplar Forest (Charlottesville: University Press 

of Virginia, 1999), 50-52. Idem, “Bounded 

Yards and Fluid Boundaries: Landscapes of

Slavery at Poplar Forrest,” in Places of Cultural

Memory: African Reflections on the American

Landscape. Conference Proceedings, May 9-12,

2001, Atlanta, GA (Washington, DC: Department

of the Interior, National Park Service, 2001), 69-81.

10. Anne Yentsch discusses the use of storage cellars

for food, and to hide and protect possessions.

Heath cites this discussion in Hidden Lives. See

Anne Yentsch, “A Note on a 19th Century

Description of Below Ground ‘Storage Cellars’

Among the Ibo,” in African-American

Archaeology 4 (1991):3.

11. See Posnansky’s comments in Merrick

Posnansky, “West Africanist Reflections 

on African American Archaeology,” in 

Theresa Singleton, ed., I, Too, Am America:

Archaeological Studies of African-American 

Life (Charlottesville: University Press of

Virginia, 1999), 32.