My recollection from working on the Jordan Plantation materials is that pencil fragments were found in context with slate fragments, which appeared to have been written on -- in the context of interior living spaces occupied by enslaved people and, later, tenant farmers (I don't recall what levels they were found in the deposit).
If you need details, Ken Brown would have them. I'm not sure whether he is still on this list but if he doesn't reply I can ask him.
Carol
*****************************
Carol McDavid, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Community Archaeology Research Institute, Inc.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Rice University
Co-editor, Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage
1638 Branard
Houston, TX 77006
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carl Steen
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 1:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: contexts for slate pencils
How about if they are in context with writing slates that are scored like note book paper? I've seen that more than once, but in nearly every case that I've seen slates and pencils the sites continued to be occupied after 1865.
On 8/24/2017 2:01 PM, Martha Zierden wrote:
> Mike,
> That's a great help - thanks! I've had another colleague tell me
> off-line that they were used in weaving, supporting your suggestion
> that their presence does not necessarily imply literacy. Others, as
> you see, have found them in contexts that were schools for enslaved children.
> Thanks, everyone for your responses. I've passed them along to the
> interpreters. Once again archaeology provides some tantalizing data,
> with complicated interpretations.
> Martha
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 1:57 PM, Michael Trinkley
> <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Martha,
>>
>> We have found them in a variety of contexts (page numbers are
>> references to our reports, which are on-line at
>> http://www.chicora.org/ researchseries.html as searchable pdf
>> documents). I have not included items from main houses or clearly postbellum/freedmen settlements:
>>
>> Rouplemond – slave settlement – pg. 114, 132 Seabrook – slave
>> settlement – pg. 109, 114, 117 Kiawah – slave and trash – pg. 302
>> Cotton Hope – slave settlements – pg. 82, 132 Youghal – slave
>> settlement – pg. 75 Tranquil Hall – slave settlement – pg. 94, 96
>> Shoolbred Old Settlement – slave settlement, pg. 64, 67 Kendal –
>> kitchen – pg. 312
>>
>> I think it was the Youghal report where we also made the observation
>> that their presence doesn't necessarily infer literacy since they
>> could have been for tasks such as counting or marking.
>>
>> Hope this is of some assistance.
>>
>> Best,
>> Mike
>>
>> Michael Trinkley, Ph.D.
>> Director
>> Chicora Foundation, Inc.
>> PO Box 8664
>> Columbia, SC 29202-8664
>> 803-787-6910
>> www.chicora.org
>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Martha Zierden
>> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 11:06 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: contexts for slate pencils
>>
>> Good morning,
>> Passing along a question from interpreter/exhibit design colleagues
>> in Charleston, South Carolina. We are curious about the best/longest
>> date range for slate pencils? Also, have folks found them in
>> contexts that are clearly associated with enslaved residents? Has
>> this been interpreted as evidence of literacy?
>>
>> Slate pencils are a common find here in Charleston, throughout the
>> 19th century. Our urban contexts are almost always sites occupied by
>> wealthy white merchant/planters and their resident slaves, so
>> associating any artifacts with a particular group of people is problematic.
>> Thanks for any insights
>> Martha Zierden
>>
>> --
>> Martha Zierden
>> Curator of Historical Archaeology
>>
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