African and Afro-Caribbean Cultural Identity, Vessel Function, and Inter-Island Connectedness in Eighteenth- to Nineteenth-Century St. Croix, Us Virgin Islands

As part of the Slave Wrecks Project, excavations at Christiansted National Historic Site on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands have resulted in the collection of thousands of artifacts associated with the Danish West India and Guinea Warehouse Complex, from its original construction in 1749, to the removal of the northeastern section of the complex, circa 1854. Within this assemblage hundreds of ceramic sherds of Afro-Caribbean colonoware, or Afro-Cruzan ware, have been identified. Former analysis of the colonoware established a typology as well as suggested local manufacture. In this thesis I assess the methods used to reevaluate the typology and function of Afro-Cruzan wares as a product and symbol of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This study includes provenance analysis to determine whether these wares were produced locally on St. Croix or elsewhere to identify potential spheres of interaction, and if the same sources of material were used in prehistoric times. It is proposed that Afro-Cruzan ware represents cultural and economic perseverance, despite colonial oppressive conditions. Thus, this research highlights enslaved and free Africans' lives as they sought to maintain autonomy through daily tasks expressed through ceramic traditions.