ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author evaluates a method for estimating relative levels of access to and participation in markets by enslaved people using archaeological data from Jamaican domestic sites. The author divides assemblages into occupational phases using a frequency seriation model and correspondence analysis to determine the ordering of archaeological assemblages over time. She calculates an artifact abundance index that quantifies the abundance of measurable attributes. The author examines variability in market access between enslaved communities on several Jamaican sugar estates using ceramic attribute data. The consistent presence of imported, refined ceramics on these sugar estates indicates that slaves living in different parts of the island exercised their customary rights to obtain and own market goods. Examining access to the market through attribute-level artifact data reveals the strategies of enslaved people as much as attempts to interpret the motivation or meaning behind their market choices.