Archaeology and Heritage of the Gullah People

Abstract

As the landscape of coastal South Carolina changes due to development and tourism, important heritage and archaeology sites, including family cemeteries, fishing grounds, stores, churches, schools, and houses, face destruction. Archaeologists conducting research on Lowcountry sites in the state have generally considered their work to be on slave society in general, rather than on African or African-American peoples creating a cultural identity, a Gullah identity. We propose that archaeologists recognize the connection between the Gullah people and the sites researchers investigate. We provide a case study and primary sources to illustrate the impacts of inequality, race, and racism in the ways sites are valued, deemed significant, and interpreted. This study seeks to complicate previous historical narratives about the South Carolina Lowcountry.