Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE January 2015 The Political Economy of Ceramic Production in Barbados: From plantation industry to craft production Dwayne Scheid Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Scheid, Dwayne, "The Political Economy of Ceramic Production in Barbados: From plantation industry to craft production" (2015). Dissertations - ALL. 329. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/329 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT This project examines archaeological, historical, and ethnographic data regarding ceramic production in Barbados during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The project uses multiscalar analysis, microhistory, and craft and industrial production as lenses for examining the production, distribution and use of local ceramics to explore changes in local craft production. The local production of ceramics allowed sugar plantation managers and owners to use local resources by providing ceramics used in the production of sugar which facilitated economic production on the island’s plantations. Sugar pots and cones were used directly in the production of sugar and other ceramic items like tiles and brick were used in the construction of industrial buildings used to boil and store sugar, the primary cash crop that was exported. Sugar contributed significantly to the emergence of the sugar economy and the emergence of a reliance on enslaved laborer, which had profound impacts on social and economic systems in Barbados and the broader Atlantic world. The ceramics produced contributed a relatively low cost medium of sugar storage that fulfilled the planter’s objective of maximizing financial profits associated with sugar production. In addition, the marketing of ceramics contributed to parallel forms of economic production as from the inception the plantation operated kilns also produced a small proportion of domestic wares. In time, these domestic wares were incorporated into internal marketing systems developed for and by the islands domestic population. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, independently operated kilns were being operated by free blacks who specialized in the production of utilitarian domestic and household wares. This study focuses on archaeological and historical data associated with two pothouses located in the Parish of St. John, Barbados. The study includes an analysis of the two sites and their associated ceramic assemblages. It also, draws upon the rich historic accounts recorded in the detailed records of Codrington Plantation. This is perhaps the most detailed primary source for information on eighteenth and nineteenth-century industrial pottery production in the Caribbean. The study also draws upon an array of historical information for the island including ethnographic data collected by Jerome Handler in the 1960s from the village of Chalky Mount in the Parish of St. Andrew. The Codrington records and the ethnographic accounts provide details regarding the ware types, production systems, and marketing of Barbadian made ceramics. The site data and historical analyses combine to inform about the relationships of people involved in organizing, producing, selling wares as well as their changing role in the local economy. A typological schema has been produced that will assist researchers in understanding both industrial and local ceramic production. This scheme involves three types of ceramics production in Barbados; the first is plantation based and relied generally on enslaved labor to produce architectural and industrial wares for plantation use. The second involves independent or off-plantation production producing domestic, industrial and architectural wares for the plantations and also the open market relying on either free or enslaved potters. The third type involves the production by free potters of domestic and craft items for the local and tourist markets. The Political Economy of Ceramic Production in Barbados: From plantation industry to craft production By Dwayne Louis Scheid B.A. Historic Preservation, Mary Washington College, 2000 M.A. Anthropology, Syracuse University, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology in the Graduate School of Syracuse University August 2015 Copyright © 2015 Dwayne Louis Scheid All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the long road I have followed to finish this dissertation, I have benefited from the experience, guidance and support of many individuals. My advisor, Dr. Douglas Armstrong, has provided me with guidance and encouragement throughout the project duration. His encouragement has truly moved the project, and me, forward to its completion. He has supported my research and has provided insightful guidance since the beginning. Dr. Thomas Loftfield was my advisor-in-residence in Barbados. His research and field schools provided me with the archaeological record and field support to complete the necessary fieldwork for this project. He encouraged and supported me in the completion of this project from first considering potential research questions to providing me with the resources necessary to complete fieldwork, including hosting me during most of my stays in Barbados. His willingness to share his knowledge of ceramic production and the archaeological data from the Colleton Pothouse site made this project possible. Thanks also to my committee members, Dr. Chris DeCorse, Dr. Theresa Singleton and Dr. John Townsend, who have provided support and motivation for me to complete this dissertation. I would also like to thank the Syracuse University Department of Anthropology office staff who have each helped me navigate logistical and administrative issues throughout my time as a student, including Kristina Ashley, Denise Mallory, and Margaret Fernandes. In Barbados, I had the full support of Mr. Kevin Farmer, the Curator of History and Archaeology of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. Kevin was helpful in the early days of my research in Barbados, providing me with access and information regarding previously collected artifacts and the storage of archaeological materials recovered. The Shilstone Library staff was extremely helpful during the early years of my research. They provided guidance and v expertise during my research into early plantation records and with references to early sugar production. Alissandra Cummins, the Director of the BMHS, provided support for archaeological field schools and excavations conducted under Dr. Loftfield’s guidance that were responsible for the excavation of archaeological data at Codrington College and at the Colleton Pothouse. Principal Noel Titus and his replacement, Principal Ian Rock, as well as the members of the Codrington Trust, allowed Dr. Loftfield access to the grounds of Codrington College for research and field schools. Without their foresight and willingness to allow archaeological excavations on the grounds, I would not have access to data that has allowed me to study the material history of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and their plantation operations. The University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus History Department provided support and numerous field school students who participated in the field schools. I would also like to thank Dr. Jerome S. Handler for his original fieldwork and his historical documentation of the pottery production in the village of Chalky Mount. I have attempted in this work to add to his important research. He has encouraged me to continue to hone my research questions and has also been willing to discuss his research, sharing his notes and photographs with me, which has greatly enhanced this study. There are many people in Barbados that I would like to appreciate for their support and assistance. I would like to thank the many Bajan students who labored for and with me during field schools as well as several American and Canadian students who volunteered during the field program. Special thanks to Lynsey Bates and Brooke Kenline for their assistance during the 2005 field season. I would also like to thank Katie Egner and Erin Evans, two students from my undergraduate alma mater who participated in lab processing of many of the artifacts recovered during the 2003 and 2004 field seasons. vi In addition to the support of these students, I cannot thank enough Kathleen Goddard Loftfield for her hospitality. Kathleen allowed me to stay for many months in her home. She treated me like family and introduced me to the ritual of afternoon tea drinking. She not only treated me like a family member, she introduced me to her actual family. Her sons and daughters living on the island adopted me and made me always feel welcome. David and his wife Pascal were the first to take me in and help me learn about the island from the perspective of a local. When they left the island, it was Kathleen’s youngest son Michael and his wife Jane that took me under their wings. They allowed me access to their vehicle and their home and always made me feel welcome. They too have left the island, but there isn’t a moment when I am in Barbados that I don’t miss their company. The other Goddard family members have always