Afternon all,
     Thanks so much to everyone who for all your advice and guidance.  I've passed the information on to my student, and I hope she will continue with the topic, especially after some of the insight you have passed on to me.  I wanted to get my students thinking beyond the plantation regarding production by enslaved laborers.  

But aside from my students' work, I am especially intrigued by James Brothers' concept of the "iron plantation".  I agree with him that one reason that this area of study has been ignored is the lack of knowledge of industrial sites by many historical archaeologists, myself included.  I have no knowledge of ironworking myself.  My main interest was originally with the involvment of the enslaved workers, particularly early on in American history prior to and during the American Revolution.  Some enslaved laborers imported from Africa could have had some knowledge of ironworking and I am interested in the status of ironworkers in some African communities as a contrast to the status of enslaved ironworkers in the Americas. I realize this question would involve learning about the techniques of ironworking in Africa and here in the States and that is something I will consider as a research topic in the future. 

Anyway, thanks again everyone for your insights.

Bonnie Ryan