SHOOLBRED’S OLD SETTLEMENT: EXCAVATIONS AT 38CH123, KIAWAH ISLAND, CHARLESTON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA CHICORA FOUNDATION RESEARCH SERIES 70 SHOOLBRED’S OLD SETTLEMENT: EXCAVATIONS AT 38CH123, KIAWAH ISLAND, CHARLESTON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA Research Series 70 Michael Trinkley Debi Hacker With Contributions by: Mari K. Poulos S. Homes Hogue Chicora Foundation, Inc. PO Box 8664 ▪ 861 Arbutus Drive Columbia, SC 29202-8664 803/787-6910 www.chicora.org December 2009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Trinkley, Michael. Shoolbred's Old Settlement : excavations at 38CH123, Kiawah Island, Charleston County, South Carolina / Michael Trinkley, Debi Hacker ; with contributions by Mari K. Poulos, S. Homes Hogue. p. cm. -- (Chicora Foundation research series, 70) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-58317-072-4 (alk. paper) 1. Kiawah Island (S.C.)--Antiquities. 2. African Americans--South Carolina--Kiawah Island-- Antiquities. 3. Slavery--South Carolina--Kiawah Island--History. 4. Material culture--South Carolina--Kiawah Island. 5. Excavations (Archaeology)--South Carolina--Kiawah Island. I. Hacker, Debi. II. Poulos, Mari K. III. Hogue, S. Homes. IV. Chicora Foundation. V. Title. F277.B3T754 2009 975.7'91--dc22 2009051406 © 2009 by Chicora Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transcribed in any form without permission of Chicora Foundation, Inc. except for brief quotations used in reviews. Full credit must be given to the authors and publisher. ISBN 978-1-58317-072-4 ISSN 0882-2041 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.∞ What we do about history matters. The often repeated saying that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them has a lot of truth in it. But what are “the lessons of history”? The very attempt at definition furnishes ground for new conflicts. History is not a recipe book; past events are never replicated in the present in quite the same way. Historical events are infinitely variable and their interpretations are a constantly shifting process. There are no certainties to be found in the past. -- Gerda Lerner ABSTRACT This study reports on data recovery architectural styles present at the Old excavations at archaeological site 38CH123, a Settlement, perhaps reflecting its very long use. large plantation complex that dates from the earliest period of historic occupation on Kiawah The investigations also document slave Island through the early twentieth century. lifeways at the settlements, identifying the These excavations focused on portions of the ceramics used by African Americans. Not settlement that represented the early eighteenth surprisingly cups and bowls, suitable for stews through mid-nineteenth century. Excavations and one-pot meals, dominate. So, too, do plain were conducted over 40 field days in 1994. As a and simple decorations. What was surprising result of this work 2,100 square feet (or 2,235 was the very low incidence of colono ware – a cubic feet) of soil were moved at the six low fired pottery thought to have been made by excavation areas. the African Americans themselves. This may be explained by the isolation of Kiawah and the The settlement at this location is first restrictions imposed on the island’s enslaved seen on an 1802 plat of the island, then divided population. between James Shoolbred (who inherited the western half of the island from his wife, Mary The study also identifies a range of Gibbes Middleton) and Arnoldus Vanderhorst II artifacts that are best explained as part of the (who inherited the eastern half of the island slaves’ magico-religious world. Bits of glass, from his wife, Elizabeth). The plat shows not fragments of brass, beads, and other objects may only Vanderhorst’s settlement, but also what are all be part of a hidden dimension rarely called the Old and New Settlements of discussed by archaeological investigations. Shoolbred. 38CH123 is the Old Settlement. Historical documents suggest that the Old Faunal and ethnobotanical studies also Settlement begun under the previous owner of provide additional information on slave Kiawah, John Stanyarne, or even earlier and foodways. Corn and peaches were documented, continued as a major slave settlement until but of greater interest is the evidence of greens Shoolbred completed his new settlement further such as mustard or rape and purslane, to the east. providing evidence extending to the early colonial period. The faunal remains are of Archaeological investigations reveal interest since the island’s blacks relied far more primarily slave occupation at the Old heavily on cattle than pigs. Wild resources, such Settlement, with at least six distinct structures as deer and raccoon were, in fact, as significant, identified during this work (historic documents as pork on the Shoolbred plantation. suggest there may have been at least 21 structures at one time). The identified structures This study provides an early look at include two early eighteenth century wall trench slavery on one of South Carolina’s most isolated dwellings 8 by 8 feet and 8 by 10 feet in size, as island plantations. well as a post structure, two structures set on brick piers, and a double pen slave cabin. The archaeological research reveals a range of i ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v List of Tables vii Introduction 1 Background 1 Research Questions 3 Proposed Data Recovery 5 The Natural Setting 5 Curation 13 Historical Overview 15 Initial Owners 15 Kiawah Under Stanyarne 16 Kiawah During the Revolution 18 Shoolbred 20 The Plantation Under Wilson 23 Civil War 26 Postbellum Stagnation 27 Kiawah in the Twentieth Century 28 Excavations 31 Methods 31 Auger Testing 33 Metal Detecting 36 Results of Excavations 36 Other Site Features 50 Analysis 53 Methods 53 Area 1 56 Area 2 63 Area 3 70 Area 4 76 Area 5 81 Area 6 87 Summary, Observations, Speculations 90 Faunal Analysis . Mari K. Poulos and S. Homes Hogue 105 Introduction 105 Methods 105 Identified Fauna 107 Results 110 Conclusions 114 iii Ethnobotanical Analysis 129 Introduction 129 Procedures and Results 130 Discussion 134 Summary and Conclusions 137 Temporal Periods 137 Structures and the Plantation Landscape 138 Shoolbred’s Old Settlement in Context 139 Foodways 141 Plantation Economics 141 Sources Cited 143 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Portion of the Kiawah Island topographic map 1 2. Examples of the historic wares recovered by Combes 2 3. Sketch map of Michie’s testing at 38CH123 3 4. Sketch plan of 38CH123 as a result of 1991 Chicora survey 4 5. Topographic map of the site area 6 6. Soils found on the Shoolbred Plantation 8 7. Changes in the site area between 1939 and 1989 12 8. Portion of the 1802 plat of Kiawah 19 9. Portion of the 1848 survey that divided Kiawah 21 10. Portion of the 1863 tracing of the 1854 Coastal Survey of Kiawah Island 24 11. Comparison of the original 1854 plan and the 1863 tracing 25 12. Portion of the 1866 Coastal Survey 27 13. Twentieth century maps of 38CH123 29 14. Plan of auger tests, grid and excavation areas 32 15. Artifact density map 34 16. Density maps of brick and shell 35 17. Plan and profiles of excavations at Area 1 37 18. Units 1250R200-210, 1260R210 38 19. Feature 3 after excavation 39 20. Plan and profiles of excavations at Area 2 40 21. Feature 4 after excavation 41 22. Structure D in Area 3 42 23. Plan and profiles of excavations at Area 3 43 24. Area 4 showing Structure E 44 25. Plan and profiles of excavations at Area 4 45 26. Topographic map of Area 5 46 27. Plan and profiles of excavations at Area 5 47 28. Structure F at Area 5 48 29. Unit 1175R310 in Area 6 49 30. Plan and profile of excavations at Area 6 50 31. Riveted metal wellhead 51 32. Function of nails from Area 2 66 33. Function of nails from Area 3 72 34. Function of nails from Area 4 78 35. Function of nails from Area 5 83 36. Proportion of vessel forms over time 86 37. Occupational range at each of the examined areas 90 38. Plot of kitchen and architecture artifacts 92 39. Vessel forms by area 93 40. Motifs by area 93 41. Miller’s ceramic indices for the study area 94 v 42. Dating comparison of the three plantation settlements 97 43. Kitchen Artifact Group 99 44. Kitchen Artifact Group 99 45. Kitchen Artifact Group 100 46. Kitchen Artifact Group 100 47. Kitchen Artifact Group 101 48. Architecture Artifact Group 101 49. Furniture and Activities Artifact Groups 102 50. Arms and Tobacco Artifact Groups 102 51. Clothing Artifact Group 103 52. Personal Artifact Group 103 53. Comparison of the Shoolbred faunal collection with other sites 111 54. Comparison of Areas 1-6 faunal patterns 111 55. Log graph of cattle segments by area 112 56. Log graph of pig segments by area 113 57. Log graph of deer segments by area 113 58. Dating synthesis for major sites on Kiawah Island 137 59. 1854 plan of the Stanyarne and Old Settlements 138 60. Artifact pattern comparison of Areas 1-6 139 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Agricultural production for the study plantation in 1850 and 1860 22 2. Brick recovered from excavations in Area 1 36 3. Brick and shell recovered from excavations in Area 2 39 4. Brick and shell recovered from excavations in Area 3 42 5. Brick and shell recovered from excavations in Area 4 44 6. Brick and shell recovered from excavations in Area 5 46 7. Historic shell midden content and density 50 8.