The Archaeology of Bowles' Lot
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THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BOWLES’ LOT: PHASE III DATA RECOVERY EXCAVATIONS AT 44AB374, A LATE 18TH-19TH CENTURY FREE AFRICAN-AMERICAN RURAL DOMESTIC SITE IN ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA VDHR FILE # 2006-0394, COE PERMIT # 2006-7633 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BOWLES’ LOT: PHASE III DATA RECOVERY EXCAVATIONS AT 44AB374, A LATE 18TH-19TH CENTURY FREE AFRICAN-AMERICAN RURAL DOMESTIC SITE IN ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA VDHR File # 2006-0394, COE 2006-7633 Stephen M. Thompson Principal Investigator, Report Author submitted to STONEHAUS, INC. 2421 IVY ROAD CHAROLOTTESVILLE, VA 22903 434-974-7588 submitted by RIVANNA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES 410 E. WATER STREET, SUITE 1100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 434-293-3108 January 2010 Abstract Rivanna Archaeological Services under contract with Stonehaus, Inc. carried out Phase III data recovery excavations at NRHP-eligible Site 44AB374 from May 10 to July 9, 2007. Fieldwork conformed to the scope of work and research design detailed in the ‘Archaeological Treatment Plan’ accompanying the Memorandum of Agreement Between Belvedere Station Land Trust, the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, and the Norfolk District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Relative to the Proposed Belvedere Development in Albemarle County, Virginia (April 2007, VDHR File # 2006-0394, COE 2006-7633). Site 44AB374 is a multi-component rural residential site associated with the free African-American Farrow/Bowles family from the late 18th through early 20th century. Data recovery excavations focused upon Component 1, locus of the site’s earliest residential occupation dated ca. 1788 – 1850 and entailed the manual excavation 22 systematically placed 5 ft x 5 ft units across an area measuring 110 ft by 75 ft and encompassing the whole of Component 1 of Site 44AB374 as defined in the MOA. An additional 18 opportunistically placed 5 ft x 5 ft units and one 2.5 ft x 7.5 ft unit were also excavated within Component 1, bringing the total area of Component 1 sampled by hand excavation and screening during Phase III fieldwork to 1,018.75 sq. ft., an area more than double the minimum sample size called for in the Treatment Plan. In order to more conclusively define the northern extent of Component 1 and to evaluate its spatial relationship to Component 2 (the Bowles Family Cemetery) and Component 3 (the ca. 1830- 1965 residential locus north of the cemetery), fifteen 2.5 ft x 2.5 ft units placed at 20-ft intervals were excavated to the north and northeast of Component 1. Finally, following the completion of manual excavations, surface soils within Component 1 were removed mechanically across a total area of approximately 8,500 sq. ft. and the exposed subsoil cleaned and carefully examined for the presence of subsurface cultural features. Phase III excavations confirmed that Component 1 had been disturbed by both plowing and, to a lesser extent, erosion. Few subsurface features associated with the late 18th-early 19th century occupation were identified, however this likely is due as much to the original characteristics of site architecture as to post- occupational disturbances. A large (7 ft x 4 ft) rectangular feature consistent with a subfloor storage pit was documented that likely marks the location of a residential building. A large concentration of artifacts from an immediately adjacent (yard?) area yielded a wide variety of ceramic, glass, and metal artifacts consumed and discarded at the site and will provide in the future a valuable point of comparison for contemporaneous household assemblages from the sites of free and enslaved African-Americans as well as whites. Elements of the Archaeological Treatment Plan yet to be completed include transfer of all site artifacts to the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) housed at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation’s archaeology lab at Monticello where the collection will be catalogued and made available to researchers on-line. Following DAACS cataloguing, all site artifacts will be transferred to the Department of Historic Resources in Richmond for permanent curation. The creation of two State historical markers and other on-site didactic displays by Stonehaus, Inc. to mark and commemorate the site and its occupants has also to be completed as does final landscaping of the Bowles family cemetery (Component 2 of 44AB374) which has been preserved in place. i ii Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................1 2 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING ...............................................................................................................5 3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH........................................................................................................................8 4 HISTORICAL CONTEXT ....................................................................................................................16 EURO-AMERICAN SETTLEMENT IN THE WESTERN PIEDMONT OF VIRGINIA ......................................................... 16 SITE 44AB374 AND THE CARR FAMILY ENVIRONS.............................................................................................. 21 AMY FARROW/BOWLES AND THE LATE 18TH-CENTURY ORIGINS OF “BOWLES LOT”........................................... 24 FREEDOM, SERVITUDE, AND SLAVERY: THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS OF AFRICAN- AMERICANS AND OTHER NON-WHITES IN COLONIAL AND ANTEBELLUM VIRGINIA ............................. 31 AFRICAN-AMERICAN LANDOWNERSHIP IN VIRGINIA AND ALBEMARLE COUNTY, 1830 – 1860 .......................... 48 PATTERNS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN LANDOWNERSHIP AND DEMOGRAPHY IN ALBEMARLE COUNTY DURING THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA AND BEYOND............................................................................... 56 BOWLES’ LOT DURING THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY: OWNERSHIP, OCCUPATION, AND LAND USE, 1800 – 1860 . 58 FROM ‘BOWLES’ LOT’ TO ‘FREE STATE’: EMANCIPATION AND THE ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION AND GROWTH ........................................................................................................................................ 71 FREE STATE DURING THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY ................................................................................................. 82 5 ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHODS AND RESULTS ..................................................................................88 FIELD METHODS ........................................................................................................................................... 89 FEATURE DESCRIPTIONS ............................................................................................................................... 92 STONE CAIRN (FEATURE 1)............................................................................................................. 94 CONCRETE DRAIN LINE (FEATURE 19) ........................................................................................... 94 EROSIONAL GULLIES (FEATURE COMPLEXES 4-5-6-6A-B-C, 2-8-9-10-36-36A) ............................. 95 HEAT-ALTERED SUBSOIL (FEATURE 27)......................................................................................... 98 DEEP, RECTANGULAR PITS (FEATURES 3, 17, 43) .......................................................................... 98 SHALLOW BASINS (FEATURES 40, 41, 42) ....................................................................................103 PLOW SCARS AND POSSIBLE PLOW SCARS (FEATURES 13, 16, 29, 45).........................................104 POSTHOLES (FEATURES 7, 11, 12, 23, 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 44) ..........................................107 POSSIBLE FENCE LINES.................................................................................................................111 ROCK ALIGNMENT (FEATURE 46).................................................................................................113 TRASH DEPOSIT (FEATURE 47) .....................................................................................................114 PREHISTORIC ARTIFACTS ............................................................................................................................117 HISTORIC ARTIFACTS..................................................................................................................................118 GENERAL ASSEMBLAGE COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS...................................................118 CERAMICS.....................................................................................................................................124 CONTAINER GLASS .......................................................................................................................134 ARCHITECTURAL ARTIFACTS........................................................................................................141 PERSONAL ARTIFACTS..................................................................................................................145 MANUFACTURING-RELATED ARTIFACTS.......................................................................................149 MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS ............................................................................................................150 6 AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF 44AB374...................................152 PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT AND LAND USE ON THE BELVEDERE RIDGE.....................................................152 HISTORIC PERIOD SETTLEMENT ..................................................................................................................154