As I mentioned in my early reply to this thread, there has been quite a bit of historical research on market and quasi-market activities among enslaved people. To amplify Barbara's and others' references a bit, one favorite of mine is Hilary Beckles's book "Reluctant Rebels" which deals with the importance of alve women and their provisions markets in Barbados. there were also slave-run markets in many of the other Caribbean islands, including Jamaica. I have a few pages from the account books of Jane Bolling Randolph of Curles Plantation in Henrico Co., Virginia from 1739-1743. Many of the entries in the book appear to be of slaves making purchases from the plantation stores. I noted that the slaves and servants always had to pay off their accounts before making furture purchases, whereas those who appear to be small planters/yeoman/tenants remained in a form of perpetual debt to the planter's store, much as the planters themselves remained in perpetual debt to their British factors. I believe that one of the most common artifacts associated with slave houses throughout the South is money. Coins, specifically. While some are pierced and appear to have been used for purposes other than making cash transactions, root cellars and cabin floors often revea plain old shillings and pennies. I don't believe that archaeologists should be surprised that slaves participated in a cash economy, or that poor people incapable of accumulating real property might spend their cash on small luxuries. Dan Mouer