A surprisingly intimate collection of artifacts linked to enslaved people has been pulled from mud in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, according to researchers with the University of North Georgia.
Among the “organic remains” were shoe soles, belt leather and remnants of meals.
The discoveries hint a stockpile of artifacts may be buried at the 19th century “labor camp” between the North Santee River and South Santee River, according to Dr. Kendy Altizer, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Georgia.
Tenants of the “remote” camp northwest of Charleston included entire families who worked rice fields starting around 1840.
“Because no one has ever conducted archaeological investigations here, we really did not know what we would find. We were hoping for some ceramics, bricks and mortar, but having more organic evidence is really a boon to our research and will help us understand what slaves and newly freed people were eating and wearing during this time period,” Altizer told McClatchy News in an email.