This is the sixth volume arising from a series of symposia held by the
Council of Virginia Archaeologists (COVA) and the second to address sites of the
historical period (the fifth symposium, The Archaeology of 17th-Century Virginia, was
published as Archeological Society of Virginia Special Publication No.30 in 1993).
The present volume contains 11 synthetic essays by a diverse group of senior and younger
scholars and three commentaries (by Leone, Renaud, and McClesky). Topics addressed vary in
scope, ranging from broad overviews of 18th-century terrestrial (Barka) and underwater
(Broadwater) excavations to discussions of major themes in the historical archaeology of
18th-century Virginia: plantation lifeways (Hudgins); plantation economics (Parker, Lewis,
Dermody, and Miller); urban sites (Samford); military sites (Sprinkle); and westward
settlement (Hofstra and Geier). At a more specialized level are discussions of issues that
have been foregrounded in the innovative work of contemporary archaeologists of early
Virginia: African-American presence and contributions (Sanford); creolization and the
local production of a class of coarse, handbuilt earthenwares known as Colonoware (Heath);
and early Virginia foodways (Bowen). Dennis Pogue closes the volume with a thoughtful
discussion of insights gleaned from recent work and prospects for the future.
Those who have read the earlier volume on archaeology of 17th-century
sites in Virginia will find that the contributors to this collection of articles adhere
far more closely to the stated aims of the COVA symposia than did those who contributed to
the earlier group of papers (though certain authors appear in both). All of the major
essays in The Archaeology of 18th-Century Virginia are synthetic in nature,
providing broad yet in-depth overviews of the topic under consideration. As a result, the
present volume is invaluable both as a summary of work to date and as an assessment of the
current "state of the art" for archaeological studies of 18th-century Virginia.
In his overview of terrestrial archaeology, for instance, Norman Barka provides a far more
comprehensive review of Virginia projects than other recent summaries of historical
archaeology in the Chesapeake have been able to offer. John Broadwater’s survey of
the maritime archaeology of 18th-century Virginia is a superb and truly important
contribution to the literature not just of Virginia historical archaeology but to the
field as a whole. Bowen’s treatment of Virginia foodways constitutes a major
statement on the topic; she exploits the powerful interpretive potential of the growing
database of faunal material from both 17th- and 18th-century sites to trace changes in
diet and to explode long-cherished myths about Virginia foodways. These few examples
should be enough to whet the appetite of most historical archaeologists and move them to
add this important and useful volume to their libraries. The essays are valuable in and of
themselves, and their reference lists serve as comprehensive bibliographies of both
published and "gray" literature. I note with some dismay, however, that
Sprinkle’s review of military sites neglects to cite sources from which details he
provides about my work at Fort Christanna were drawn; one hopes this is a singular
omission. (I provide below a list of sources for the bibliophiles among the JMAA readership).
While several of the authors lament the relativelv low volume of publication versus
excavation, it is clear that the present volume takes an enormous step toward filling the
too-familiar void between fieldwork and the printed page.
Sources on Fort Christanna archaeology:
Beaudry, Mary C.
1985 Colonizing the Virginia Frontier: Fort Christanna and Governor
Spotswood's Indian Policy. In Comparative Studies in the Archaeology of Colonialism, edited
by Stephen Dyson, pp. 130-152. British Archaeological Reports International Series 233.
Oxford.
1983 Fort Christanna: Frontier Trading Post of the Virginia Indian
Company. In Forgotten Places and Things: Archaeological Perspectives on American
History, edited by Albert E. Ward, pp. 133-140. Contributions to Anthropological
Studies 3. Center for Anthropological Studies, Albuquerque, NM.
1982 Fort Christanna and the Frontier and Fur Trade Artifact Patterns:
A Test. The Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers 1979 14:46-58.
1979 Excavations at Fort Christanna, Brunswick County, Virginia: The
1979 Season. Brunswick County Historical Society and Department of Anthropology, College
of William and Mary.
Jones, Donald G.
1983 Indian, African, and European Influences in Colono Ware: Two
Examples from Virginia. Ms. on file, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond.
Landon, David B.
1992 Taphonomic Evidence for Site Formation Processes at Fort
Christanna. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 2:351-359.
