Southall's Quarter
Archaeology at an 18th-century Slave Quarter in James City County, Virginia
Site 44JC969 is a mid- to late eighteenth-century slave quarter located just outside of Williamsburg, Virginia. Between August 2000 and October 2002, archaeological excavations sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation and conducted by the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research identified four buildings on the site, including subfloor pits, postholes, hearths, and other structural elements of slave cabins. In the landscape surrounding the buildings, fencepost holes, shallow middens, and refuse scatters were identified. These remains are part of a complex of structures identified as Southall's Quarter on at least one late eighteenth-century map and may have been a field quarter associated with property owned by James Southall, the proprietor of Raleigh Tavern.
Photos: (bottom left) Topographic setting of Site 44JC969. The slave quarter component of the site was located on the north side of Route 199 and east of the ravine that skirts the east side of Quarterpath Road. (bottom right) Excavation and mapping of subfloor pits. Most features are excavated in sections, allowing the archaeologists to examine and record profile views of the soil deposits.
Sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation and prepared by the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research.
