Alasdair Brooks asks:
>
>         As we toil away on our slave quarter site here at Poplar Forest,
> we've come up with the inevitable questions about artifact dating time lag
> on slave sites.  Our ceramic and nail assemblages strongly suggest a late
> 18th-early 19th century date for the site, and our current speculation is
> leaning towards c.1790-c.1810 (maybe I should replace "speculation" with
> "theory"!).
>         We did, however, find an 1810 coin in plowzone, which has raised
> some questions about the occupation termination date.  Now, one artifact
> in plowzone won't necessarily change our perception of the site, but we
> were wondering if anyone knew a way to distinguish between assemblages
> terminating in 1810 from those terminating in 1815.  I realise that this
> is post is probably going to garner answers in the negative, but it can't
> hurt to ask.
> Ta,
> Alasdair M. Brooks
> Archaeology Lab Supervisor
> Jefferson's Poplar Forest
>
> ([log in to unmask])
***
You're right. Expect lots of negative answers. I have been lucky
enough to be able to do some very close dating in the
turn-of-the-19th c. period, but always it has been because of the
intersection of some documentary and archaeological data for
rebuilding, re-insuring, etc. Have you checked MAS policies. At the
time period of interest there may be one, although quarters were
almost never insured or even shown on the maps. You've already
mentioned nails, which are at their most sensitive at the time of
interest. Your best bet on artifacts alone will probably be
something like printed pearlware. On the other hand, if "lag" is
what you're looking for, you still won't know if an 1810 plate was
deposited in 1820. Good luck.
>