the archaeology of maroon societies in the americas ...users.clas.ufl.edu/davidson/historical...

TERRY WElK

The Archaeology of Maroon Societies in the Americas:

Africa, or in political ideology, i.e., Pan- Africanism (Thompson 1989:2-5; Gilroy 1993:6, 17). At the same time, a Diaspora perspective illuminates the cultural, geographical, and historical dimensions that distinguish people of African

The archaeology of marronage reflects the wide scope of the African Diaspora in the Americas, which spans two continents and the Caribbean. The following discussion is centered on archaeological investigations of Maroon sites at Palmares (Brazil); jose Leta (Dominican Re- public); Pilaklikaha and Fort mose f l o r i d a Nannytown, Accompong and the seamans ley (Jamaica); and Culpepper Island (North Caro- lina) Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986;

Resistance, Cultural Continuity, descent.

and Transformation in the African Diaspora

ABSTRACT

Archaeology has been initiated in Maroon sites in various parts of the African Diaspora in the Americas. Data from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Florida, and North Carolina were surveyed in order to examine the directions that studies of Maroon societies have taken. An assessment is in order so that future studies can he planned with cognizance of the problems and possibilities that current research has uncovered. Approaches, theories, and archaeological evidence are analyzed and critiqued, and placed within the context of African Diaspora archaeology. The archaeology of Maroon sites is a rich and virtually untapped area of study. The archaeological study of Maroon sites will advance our knowledge of Africans in the Americas by fostering new perspectives on traditional concepts such as ethnicity, resistance, cultural contact, and culture continuity and change.

Introduction

Maroons are peoples of the African Diaspora who escaped from enslavement and lived inde- pendently of plantation societies in the Americas (Price 1979: 1-2; Hart 1985: 1-5). Examining marronage, the formation of Maroons, in an African Diaspora perspective is an important means of adding to the discourse on African agency beyond the African continent. “Diaspora,” a Greek word meaning “to disperse” or “spread,” originally referred to the global dis- persal of Jewish peoples (Tololyan 1996). It has been adopted by researchers studying the African Diaspora because people of African descent have experienced a similar history of migration- forced and voluntary, enslavement, and persecu- tion in various parts of the world (Shepperson 1976:4, 1982:51; Harris 1982:5-8; Thompson 1989). African Diaspora denotes shared experiences, whether in oppression, in cultural ties to

1988; Marron 1989; Agorsah 1994; Herron 1994:70; Deagan and MacMahon 1995: 13-15; Orser 1992). Other sites which deserve mention are those of Ambrosio, in Minas Gerais (Brazil), and the cave sites located near Havana, Cuba Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986:50; Guimaraes 1990: 161-174). As migrants, slaves, and exiles, Africans have traversed the Atlantic in two directions. In light of this fact, archaeology may one day uncover valuable information on the Trelawney Town Maroons, who were deported to Nova Scotia and then to Sierra Leone after the second Maroon War in 1796 (Campbell 1993).

Maroons: A Definition

The English word, “Maroon,” like the French word marronage, has been credited to the Span- ish term cimarron which originally referred to escaped cattle or hogs which ran to the mountains (Price 1979:l-2; Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986:15-17). In the Spanish colonies, Maroon settlements were referred to as palenques, or mambises in Cuba (Price 1979:l). In Brazilian historiography, a Maroon community is called a quilombo, a magote, or a mocambo schwartz 1979:205).

Marronage, like rebellion, occurred wherever slavery existed (Craton 1982:23; Genovese 1979:2-3). A distinction is made between two

Historical Archaeology, 1997, 31(2), 81-92. Permission to reprint required.

82 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31 (2)

types of Maroon activity, petit marronage and grand marronage. Petit marronage refers to short-term escape of enslaved people. Grand marronage refers to long-term or permanent escape with the intent of living in autonomous communities (Price 1979:3). Enslaved Africans escaped for a variety of reasons: to avoid forced labor, to heal from the wounds inflicted by abusive overseers, to find food, to visit fam- ily members such as spouses or relatives on other plantations, or to interact with friends or potential mates (in many places the male to fe- male ratio was quite high during slavery) (Kent 1979:179; Price 1979:l-5; Reis 1993:21-40). In addition, the desire for freedom of cultural ex- pression such as religious worship led some enslaved peoples to flee temporarily or permanently (Reis 1993).

As anthropologist Richard Price (1979:4) demonstrates in Maroon Societies, marronage varied in time, space, and character throughout the Americas. Small Maroon sites, such as jose Leta in the Dominican Republic and Pilaklikaha in Florida, ranged from five or less to around 100 inhabitants. Larger Maroon sites such as Nannytown and Accompong, in Jamaica, and Culpepper Island, NC, had hundreds of Maroons (Littlefield 1977:9; Arrom and Garcia arevalo 1986:49-50; Campbell 1990: 164-194). Palmares, in Brazil, was at the extreme end of the size range, with estimates suggesting 5,000 to 20,000 people (Carneiro 1966:66; Schwartz

size, duration of occupation varied for Maroon settlements in different periods and places. Historical documents suggest that most Maroon settlements were short-lived. For instance, historian Raymond Kent (1979) affirmed that seven out of 10 of the largest quilombos in Brazil were destroyed within two years of formation. However, Palmares proved to be an exception, lasting 100 years (Kent 1979). In colonial Florida, “black Seminole” sites such as “Abraham’s Old Town,” lasted several decades (Herron 1994). By contrast, Maroon settlements in Jamaica and Surinam have lasted from the

19921106-107, 117-118). As with

18th century to the 1990s (Price 1990; Agorsah 1994).

In general, Maroon enclaves were formed in inaccessible or marginal areas. The right kinds of environments were necessary for successful flight and marronage: black Seminoles found refuge in central Florida’s swamps; Saramaka Maroons thrived in the forests and riverbanks of Surinam; Brazilian, Cuban, and Jamaican Maroon communities could not have enjoyed longevity without the formidable mountains and densely vegetated hills on which they settled (Price 1979:5; Schwartz 1992: 105). The environment was also important for subsistence needs. Bra- zilian quilombos produced many crops through horticulture, such as manioc, tobacco, cotton, bananas, corn, pineapples, and sweet potatoes (Schwartz 1992: 115). Honey, beeswax, and game were acquired by Maroons from the forests of Cuba Perez De La Riva 197953).

A number of Maroons, such as the palenqueros of Cuba, went through two stages of development. First there was a nomadic stage. If they found a defensible location, Ma- roons moved to a second stage of development, a sedentary lifestyle Pe rez De La Riva 1979:49). In many cases Maroons set up forti- fied palenques. Maroons were not isolated, nor were they merely concerned with escape, for they raided colonial settlements and plantations for commodities and new recruits (Price 1979: 12-13; Schwartz 1992: 108-109; Schweninger 1992: 116-120). They traded crops and forest products with pirates and European traders in exchange for weapons or tools (Parris 1983). As Maroons were a threat to the obedi- ent attitudes that slaveowners demanded of their slaves, colonists reacted by attempting to destroy them. If military confrontation failed, colonists signed treaties with Maroons (Kopytoff 1979; Price 1979:4; Schwartz 1992:112). Some Euro- peans tried to undermine each other by forming trade and military alliances with Maroons, thereby instigating Maroon raiding parties to destroy the commerce of their colonial rivals. Preoccupied by fighting and competing for land

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MAROON SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS 83

and resources in strategically located areas, Eu- ropean forces sometimes neglected checking the growth of the Maroons (Parris 1983; Mulroy 1993:9-10). The disorder caused by European rivalries probably facilitated escape for many enslaved people, for the planters could not control any considerable number of people without a stable and united effort among European mi- litia and patrols. In sum, the history of marronage demonstrates the pervasiveness of the Maroons in a wide variety of places throughout the Americas. Their ability to undermine plantation societies makes Maroons all the more worthy of continued investigation.

Historical and Archaeological Analyses

Historical and archaeological analyses have been based on research questions and have addressed the archaeology of the African Diaspora, historical supplementation, and maroon settlements. Each of these facets is discussed more fully below.

Research Questions, Resistance, and Archaeological Relevance

As the above definition illustrates, the historiography of marronage has matured through a stage of description and location of Maroon communities. Yet it is important that Maroon sites be investigated more intensively and exten- sively, for recent studies have demonstrated that they are a rich and virtually untapped area of archaeological study. There are a number of fundamental questions that have guided the following examination of Maroon archaeology. For example, how does Maroon archaeology fit into the discourse on the archaeology of the African Diaspora? What problems of historical interpretation have guided research on Maroon communities? Also, what special theoretical issues pertain to Maroon sites? Finally, why should archaeology be employed to study Ma- roons? With these issues in mind, the goal of this article is to critique Maroon archaeology and suggest new avenues of investigation.

Archaeology and the African Diaspora

Plantations have been the focus of most historical archaeology of the African Diaspora (Singleton 1985:2). Most plantation studies have been conducted in North America, where social- political movements of the 1960s and federal legislation helped to convince archaeologists to study early African Americans (Fairbanks 1984:l-2). Charles Orser (1991:51), who has done research on plantation and Maroon archaeology, has observed that historians and anthro- pologists have given disproportionate attention to the master/slave relationship. This overemphasis has been noted by others, and archaeological investigation of colonial-period free blacks and postbellum-period black communities have been offered as alternative avenues of research (Fairbanks 1984; Singleton 1991: 168). Now that slave sites on plantations have been explored, much work must be done to expand the archaeological discourse on Africans in the Americas beyond the plantation context. Archaeological investigation of Maroon societies has emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as another alternative to the sole study of plantations.

Thus far, the general goals of Maroon archaeology have been modest: archaeologists have sought to locate sites, expand new research areas, survey site boundaries and features, and test for settlement patterns (Fairbanks 1984; Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986; Joseph 1989; Single- ton 1991; Agorsah 1993). In general, archaeologists of marronage have met these goals: sites were located, artifacts recovered, and foundations for future excavations were established. Archae- ologists studying Maroon sites such as Pilaklikaha, Culpepper Island, and Palmares have pursued anthropological questions related to en- vironmental adaptation, land use, living conditions and cultural contact (Nichols 1988; Herron 1994; Orser 1994). In the future, Maroon archaeology will likely address traditional themes that have emerged from African Diaspora archaeology, such as everyday living conditions, health, ethnic identification, settlement patterns, Colonoware, symbolism and ritual objects, hous-


ing construction, social organization, culture contact, and resistance (Singleton 1991: 155-157, 162-163, 169).

“Africanisms,” the transfer of African traits to the Diaspora, is a popular theme that archaeologists have examined by discerning foodways, building techniques, and pottery traditions (Deetz 1977; Vlach 1978; Otto 1984; Armstrong 1990:268-273; Ferguson 1992). Maroon sites may be an important testing ground for cultural continuities and changes which are manifest in Colonoware type pottery which has been uncovered. Colonoware is a term for plain earthen- ware which was originally attributed to Native American potters, but is now attributed to either African-American or Native American potters, or both, depending on the historical and geographical context (Ferguson 1992). Both Jamaican and Brazilian Maroon sites have yielded plain earthenwares of local production which may have been African, Native American, or syncretic in inspiration, as are Colonowares (Orser 1992; Agorsah 1994). According to one documentary source, the account of Johannes King, a member of the Matawai Maroons of Saramaka, “The women made giant clay pots to cook things in. Likewise, they made big clay pans and big tubs that could hold a lot of water . . . and they made water jugs, big ones and little ones (King in Price 1979:299). Hence, one can propose that at some sites Maroons were producers of their own earthenwares. Maroon archaeology will provide an important vantage from which to evaluate the Colonoware debates, by allowing more precise linkages between variants in wares and specific communities.

Theoretically, Maroon archaeology could contribute to the ever-increasing corpus concerning resistance (cf. Paynter and McGuire 1991). Resistance to slavery and colonialism in the Americas can be conceptualized as including but not limited to behaviors such as sabotage, feigned sickness, intentional tool damage, strikes, slowdowns, poisoning, and arson (Aptheker 1969:140-149; Blassingame 1972:104-124; Wood 1974:286, 308; Scott 1985; Katz 1990). But before they reached the shores of the Americas, Africans rebelled on slave ships (Cra-

ton 1982:24-27). Orlando Patterson (1969) proposed that both passive and violent forms of slave resistance existed. Essentially, resistance to slavery and colonial domination seems best viewed as a continuum of behaviors, with more “everyday” forms of resistance such as work slowdowns and tool damage at one end, and revolt, flight, and marronage (establishment of runaway settlements) at the more confrontational or violent end of the spectrum (Geggus 1982).

Archaeologists have only recently begun to seriously look at resistance and domination, as well as underlying power relationships (Miller and Tilley 1984; Miller et al. 1989; Paynter and McGuire 1991). Much of the archaeological discussion of the concept of power, the common denominator of domination and resistance, has focused on the elite or formal sources of control in society and the highly visible architectural and monumental features with which they are identified (Paynter and McGuire 1991:7-10, 14). Recent studies on resistance focus on the peasant, the rural or marginal person, the slave, and the nonelite European (Paynter and McGuire 1991:16). Historical archaeology has played an important role in articulating the experiences of these underrepresented peoples in history (Deagan 199 1). Colonial-period archaeology will benefit from researchers bringing the people on the periphery of European colonies-Maroons, Native Americans, trailblazing European fortune seekers-into the center of attention. Our ability to view the dynamism of colonial societies is thus enhanced by broadening the realm of investigation beyond colonial plantation and city lo- cales.

Historical Supplementation and Interpretation

Problems of historical relevance have been important to the pursuit of historical archaeology. The “historical supplement,” a term denoting archaeological contributions to neglected areas of historical research, is a classification which I employ to characterize the work of archaeologists such as Manuel Garcia Arevalo who exca- vated at Jose Leta (Dominican Republic) and Elaine Nichols, whose work concerned Maroons


on Culpepper Island, NC (Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986; Nichols 1988). Similarly, Kathleen Deagan, who has done research at Ft. Mose, has stressed the “historically supplemental” function of Maroon archaeology (Deagan and MacMahon 1995). In Brazil, archaeology has helped to pinpoint the location of Palmares, which had been misrepresented by colonial maps of the site (Orser 1992:ll). Perhaps in the future the wide-ranging population estimates for Palmares, ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 people, can be verified or refuted. However, the “historical supplemental” function of archaeology should be pursued only as an incidental outcome of this type of archaeological research, not as a goal. The goals should be the creation of bet- ter interpretation and the enhancement of theories in which archaeology can play a role in helping to reconstruct the past.

From ethnohistoric studies of Jamaican Ma- roons we can conclude that strong affinities with West African cultures exist (Braithwaite 1971; Kopytoff 1975; Bilby 1981, 1983; Ebanks 1984; Campbell 1990). Kenneth Bilby’s (1981) eth- nography of “Kromanti Play,” a ritual enacted by the Mooretown Maroons of Portland, the moun- tainous northeastern district of Jamaica, is one example of the ritual and linguistic ties of Ja- maican Maroons to Akan culture. “Kromanti” is the ethnic distinction that Mooretown Maroons claim. “Kromanti“ is most likely a distortion of the word kromantse, which was a small settlement on the coast of Ghana from which many African slaves were shipped during the 17th century. Kofi Agorsah has examined the West Af- rican site of Efutu, on the coast of Ghana, in order to create an archaeologically and historically informed background against which the last experiences of enslaved Africans contributing to slave and Maroon populations could be interpreted. His attempt at linking artifacts such as kaolin pipes from both sides of the Atlantic has met with limited success, in terms of showing African cultural influences on Maroon artifacts (Agorsah 1993).

Candice Goucher and Kofi Agorsah’s work at the Reeder Steel Foundry, in northeastern Ja- maica, provides insights into possible transfers of

African and European ironworking technology, as well as Maroon interaction with colonial society. Maroons worked at Reeder Foundry alongside slaves during the 18th century, producing weapons and other implements. Goucher (1990:201- 207) proposed that African ironworking technology was employed in blacksmith shops and se- cret Maroon furnaces throughout the Caribbean. Historical documents suggest that smithies and iron smelting furnaces existed in Maroon settlements at Palmares and St. James (northwest Ja- maica) (Kopytoff 1975; Kent 1979: 177-179; Goucher 1990). Manuel Garcia Arevalo has identified iron slag at the Jose Leta site in the Dominican Republic (Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986). Hence, archaeologists could advance the discourse on the transfer of African culture and technology if they could locate Maroon forges or iron smelting furnaces in the archaeological record.

However, archaeological signatures of iron- making or black-smithing are no guarantee of the presence of African or European technology or knowledge. John Otto’s work on Cannon’s Point plantation serves as a useful cautionary note. His work suggests that slaves used Euro- pean-produced ceramics in an African way. For example, they preferred using bowls instead of plates in their kitchens, just as their ancestors had in Africa. In other words, bowls outnum- bered plates in the material record of the slave cabins Otto examined (Otto 1984). However, the usage of a material item does not always explain its role as a marker of identity, its cultural significance, or its meaning any more than an object’s origin of manufacture (Beaudry et al. 1991: 162). Similarly, clay pipes uncovered from Maroon sites in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil must be assessed in light of the problems of interpretation concerning artifacts (Arrom and Garcia Arevalo 1986:50; Orser 1996:123- 129). From his study of clay pipes from the Chesapeake region, Matthew Emerson (1988) has designed a convincing comparative method for exploring African traditions of pipe making and overlapping European and Native American cultural influences. Archaeologists studying Ma- roons will contribute to African Diaspora archae-


ology if they are ever mindful of the multiple cultural influences which are embedded in the context of African cultural transfer and transformation.

Maroon case studies provide a useful avenue of study which allows researchers to explore how societies are created through cultural interaction. In order fully to assess the range of responses to colonial society by Diaspora peoples, a comparative perspective on Maroons, plantation slaves, free blacks, and urban slaves is required. The extent of contact and exchange between Maroons and plantation slaves is an issue which could provide insights into the perme- ability of the boundaries of slave societies, as well as the (in)dependence of Maroons in terms of culture identity and economics.

It is important to recognize that Native Ameri- cans preceded Maroons of African descent and were both allies and enemies of the Maroons (Hart 1985:1-4). Groups like the Miskito Indi- ans were employed to hunt down Jamaican Ma- roons (Campbell 1990). On the other hand, Brazilian Amerindians such as the Aimore and the Cabixes both allied themselves with quilombos (Schwartz 1979:210). Though there was a constant intermingling of African and Native peoples among Florida Maroons, “black Seminole Maroons” maintained a distinctiveness from their Seminole allies and patrons (Bateman 1990: 16-17; Mulroy 1993). A complete assessment of the problem of Native American and Maroon interaction must take into account the common political cause of Maroons and native peoples against European colonialism and slavery.

Similarly, Europeans, though predominately enemies of the Maroons, were sometimes allies in war and trade. In 16th-century Panama, for instance, palenques-Spanish term for Maroon towns-were allied with English pirates such as Sir Francis Drake. Maroons interacted with English pirates on the edges of towns and plantations which served the mining, shipbuilding, and agricultural pursuits of the Spanish coloniz- ers (Parris 1983:182). The Maroons raided the bullion of the Spanish overland caravans. They then exchanged gold and silver from the raids

for enslaved females and scrap iron which the pirates acquired. The Maroons and English pirates conducted joint raids on both land and sea, and exchanged vital knowledge concerning geog- raphy and warfare (Parris 1983:182-186).

It may be useful to ask at what point does the uniqueness or distinction of the identity of a Maroon become apparent? Conversely, at what point do regional and local cultural identities subsume Maroon cultural identity? Maroon identity is a product of a culturally diverse community setting, which historians of have high- lighted. The work of historian Raymond Kent (1979), who did an analysis of the Brazilian quilombo (Maroon enclave) called Palmares, is instructive. Kent proposed that the Angolan Ki- lombo, a ritual society which was central to the cohesion of the ruling warrior groups in Angola, was transplanted to Palmares, an “African state in the Brazilian hinterland” (Kent 1979). Origi- nally, mocambo was the term that chroniclers used to describe Maroon communities, but by the 17th century during the height of Palmares’s power, quilombo became a more popular word and has remained the keyword for Brazilian Maroon communities (Kent 1979: 174-176). Raymond Kent and later authors such as Stuart Schwartz (1992) have stressed the multicultural character of Palmares: criollos, mulattos, Indians, renegade whites, and mestizos made up the quilombo (Kent 1979:181, 188; Schwartz 1992:128).

Native American and European artifacts, as well as locally-produced earthenwares uncovered from Maroon sites must be analyzed with the cultural identity of Maroon in mind (Nichols 1988; Agorsah 1994:174-176; Herron 1994:70; Deagan and MacMahon 1995:13-15). The history of marronage suggests that two hypotheses are applicable to the above-mentioned European and Native American finds: 1) Maroons were dependent on, or assimilated to, slave society, and any underlying European economic and social forms; and 2) Maroon resistance to colonial society coincided with occasional raiding or trad- ing for European goods such as pottery, pipes, arms, or other commodities. These finds may signify an opportunistic type of resistance on the

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MAROON SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS a7

part of Maroons. But would a high presence of European and native artifacts suggest a prefer- ence for European or native-inspired material culture? From the archaeology and historiography of marronage it is possible to get the im- pression that Maroons were simply reacting to the military and economy of colonial societies. For example, some scholars have termed the maroon economy “parasitic,” when we know that Maroons also showed agency by cultivating a wide range of crops, by engaging in various trade relationships, and by making their own pottery (Nichols 1988; Schwartz 1992: 109). Critiques of this view are given in Flory (1979). Thus, one cannot assume that European and Native American artifacts found in Maroon sites such as Nannytown automatically translate into explanations for cultural assimilation, depen- dency, or association.

With attention to historical context, one could hypothesize that earlier Maroons, i.e., from Palmares, Jose Leta, or Surinam, preserved and utilized more aspects of African culture than later groups, i.e., Jamaican Maroons or Florida Seminole Maroons. One could also hypothesize that Caribbean and Latin American Maroons were more likely to exhibit African cultural continuities than North American Maroons, based on larger population ratios of Africans to Europeans in Caribbean and Latin American plantation sys- tems. Herbert Klein (1986:203; cf. McFarlane 1986: 148) hypothesized that marronage in the 16th to 17th century was more “restorationist” in character-Maroons attempted to recreate African institutions-compared to 18th- and 19th-century types of marronage which were more “assimilationist” in nature, i.e., religion. That is, Maroons were more likely to be creolized or assimilated into the slave society surrounding them in the latter centuries of slavery than in the former. The “restorationist” versus “assimilationist” dichotomy that characterizes the historiography of Maroons will likely continue to guide research on Maroon archaeology-see Orser’s (1994) comparison of Palmares Maroons and European settlement.

Settlement and Social Organization

Of special interest to archaeologists are the detailed documentary descriptions of Maroon settlements (Perez De La Riva 197952-53; Price 1979:7-12). Soldiers and prisoners of the colonial armies sent to destroy the quilombos re- ported that over 200 houses, a church, four smithies, a 6-ft.-wide street, a large meeting hut, as well as cultivated fields and monarchical resi- dences existed at the capital town of Palmares, Macaco (Kent 1979:177-179). From the documents we know that a system of status, birth rights, slavery, and royalty developed at Palmares (Cardoso 1983: 154). Accounts of Palmares further describe an election process, ceremonial postures, and obedience to status fig- ures (Schwartz 1992:104, 117). Besides the king and the military commander-the king’s brother, there was a council of quilombo chiefs from each of the 10 settlements of Palmares, which met only to discuss collective issues such as defense (Cardoso 1983:155). Kent (1979) asserts that an African monarchy reigned over Palmares. The most recent work on Palmares has built on the African cultural and linguistic analyses of Kent, and has debated the nature of Palmares as a monarchy or confederation (Schwartz 1979, 1992; Anderson 1996). The input of Africanist perspectives will provide useful comparative data from which future discussions of Palmares’s settlement patterns and social organization can be formulated.

Archaeologists may some day investigate whether the above-mentioned African sociopolitical organization is discernible in artifacts and settlement layouts found at Maroon sites. Archaeologists doing work on Maroons have commented on the need for settlement research so that any patterns of spatial order that Maroons employed could be examined (Nichols 1988; Marron 1989; Orser 1992; Herron 1994). Thus far, only intensive excavations in Jamaica have addressed the settlement level of analysis, and a clear pattern of community layout has not been discerned (Agorsah 1994). Horticulture and


fortifications may be other topics that archaeologists could explore in order to expand knowledge of Maroon settlement strategies.

Comparative Approaches to Cultural Resistance and Resiliency

The final section of this paper highlights the major issue of the dynamics of cultural interaction in Maroon sites in terms of resistance and cultural syncretism. For Paynter and McGuire (1991) resistance is conceptualized as a part of a dialectic with domination. However, the dialectic becomes a potential impediment to interpretation of Maroon sites if one assumes that conflicting interests in social contexts are prima- rily dyadic in nature. According to historian Thomas Flory (1979), resistance is too often conceptualized as a part of a dichotomy in which it is opposed to accommodation and domination. This approach reinforces the traditional emphasis on the master/slave dichotomy, thereby simplifying historical processes shaping Maroon social relations. Multiple interests and levels of conflict, ranging from individual to social to global, must be assessed and situated before the nature of Maroon societies and the meaning of their resistance can be interpreted. For this reason, comparative perspectives are necessary for Maroon studies.

Within the last couple of years scholars have begun to apply the comparative perspective on Maroon societies following Richard Price (1979), who took this approach in his book Maroon Societies over a decade ago. Elizabeth Reitz’s comparative study of Fort Mose’s faunal assem- blage with materials from southeastern U.S. plantations demonstrates the relative autonomy of the Fort Mose Maroons compared to slaves in the Southeast regarding diet (Higman 1984:l-3; Otto 1984:42; Reitz 1994:37). Similarly, Agorsah has led the way in attempting to bring a trans- atlantic perspective on Maroons from the African context (Agorsah 1993). Likewise, Orser (1994:7) argues for global-scale comparative studies, noting that interpretation and analysis of Maroon sites should be both “site-specific and transcontinental in scope.”

In light of this comparative approach, historical allusions to Native American and European inhabitants as military allies or economic part- ners who were present at Maroon sites must be accounted for in archaeological interpretations. Examples include Littlefield (1977), Kent (1979:49), Parris (1983), Reis (1993), and Orser (1994) for Brazil; Bateman (1990) and Mulroy (1993) for Florida; and Learning (1979, 1995) for North Carolina. The question remains: at what level were Maroons showing opposition to European cultural influence, if at all? As the above discussion of resistance literature has stressed, there are many different ways to resist. The Maroons’ economic dependence or inrerde pendence with Native Americans and Europeans may have allowed for cultural and physical resistance at another level. Colonoware merits consideration here because of the implications for both comparative studies and cultural resistance. Leland Ferguson (1991) has suggested that Colonoware is an “unconscious” manifesta- tion of slave resistance. His premise is that Colonoware is a major indicator of difference between the elite white planter class of the South Carolina coastal region and the slaves who worked the rice plantations owned by this elite. The second important argument he makes is that Colonoware is a West African cultural continuity (Ferguson 1992). A question which one could pose to give the discourse on Colonoware an added nuance is, “when does the reproduction of cultural difference in material culture, be it old-world continuity or new-world adaptation, become resistance and not cultural resiliency?”

The implication of the above discussion of resistance for Maroon history and anthropology is that the concept of resistance is limited in its explanatory capabilities. Perhaps, as Michael Brown (1996) suggests, we should “resist resistance” and look to the internal dynamics, contra- dictions, and power relations of societies, as well as the cultural creativity and resistance which are important aspects of social formation. For Ma- roons this means examining both their assimilation and syncretism with Native American and slave societies as well as their fight to maintain their independence.


Conclusions

This paper was designed to illustrate three points. First, Maroon archaeology is in its de- veloping stages but shows much potential for providing a badly needed alternative to archaeology’s traditional focus on elite and Eu- ropean perspectives and experiences, such as the heavy emphasis on plantation contexts for studies on the African Diaspora. Second, there is a need to delineate and critique literature concerning themes of relevance to history and historical archaeology, particularly African cultural continuity, culture transformation and change, cultural contact, and resistance. Finally, African experiences in the Diaspora have much in common and should be examined in comparative and regional perspective, with a critical view towards the local contexts.

My use of Maroon historiography has been heavily weighted to Brazilian cases and the site of Palmares. Brazil is a good case because it featured one of the longest running slave re- gimes in the Americas, across diverse environments and industries. Brazil will be a crucial area from which to examine the variety and scope of marronage and its influence on plantation societies. Yet the Caribbean and other parts of North and Latin America will also provide important cases for study. My emphasis on African cultural continuity is indicative of its importance in Maroon societies. However, I do not mean to simplify the nature of Maroon societies by implying that African culture is the only influence on Maroon communities. Rather, I want to highlight the emphasis placed by past and present researchers of Maroon archaeology on African cultural continuity. Native Ameri- cans were important contributors to Maroon settlements and their presence will be another major issue in future discussions of marronage (Peguero Guzman 1994:112-131).

Intensive settlement studies are essential for the advancement of archaeological interpretation of Maroon societies. Maroon social formation should not be viewed solely as resistance to colonial societies but also as a phenomenon

which intersects and engages these societies in economic and cultural dimensions. This paper contends that only through expanded archaeological contributions to Maroon studies will understanding of African Diaspora responses to adver- sity as well as motivations for cultural creativity move beyond the limits of the available colonial accounts.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Peter Schmidt, Kathleen Deagan, and Kofi Agorsah, for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this paper and their help attaining fieldwork experience relevant to Maroon archaeology. Special thanks to Michelle Moyd and James A. Wilson, Jr., for their patient editing assistance, support, and friendship. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 29th Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in January 1996.

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TERRY WEIK DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 1350 TURLINGTON HALL UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GAINESVILLE, FL 32608

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