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
>  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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-- 
Martha Zierden
Curator of Historical Archaeology

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