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Thread: We have a very special find to share with you today. This pierced cowrie shell was recovered from a deposit sitting atop an 18th-century privy during excavations in the basement of Lathrop Place, a set of 1835 row houses in the area known as North Square, which has been..
...occupied since the 17th century.
Cowrie shells come from sea snails native to the Indo-Pacific region. They have been used for thousands of years by various cultures as items of personal adornment & as currency. In a North American archaeological context, their presence...
Cowrie shells come from sea snails native to the Indo-Pacific region. They have been used for thousands of years by various cultures as items of personal adornment & as currency. In a North American archaeological context, their presence...
...suggests ties to West Africa & the slave trade. They are often interpreted as suggesting the existence of African-descended people living or working at a site.
Cowrie shells have symbolic meanings in multiple African cultures. The white color of many types of cowrie & ...
Cowrie shells have symbolic meanings in multiple African cultures. The white color of many types of cowrie & ...
...connection with water are associated with the spirit world. They are also considered to be powerful as divination tools & in fertility & protective magics. Their presence at an early North End domestic site suggests that people of African descent were carrying on these...
...traditions there. The hole pierced through the top of this shell indicates that it may have been worn as a pendant, sewn onto an item of clothing, or used as decoration.
This cowrie was found in a disturbed deposit, meaning that we can’t provide a precise date for it &...
This cowrie was found in a disturbed deposit, meaning that we can’t provide a precise date for it &...
...sadly, little documentation of Black individuals in North Square exists. Without this information, we can’t attribute the shell to a specific occupation episode.
It is known that Robert Howard, an owner of what is now known as the Paul Revere House from 1681-early 1700s...
It is known that Robert Howard, an owner of what is now known as the Paul Revere House from 1681-early 1700s...
...enslaved a man name Samuel. While the identities of other Black people who may have lived there are as yet unknown, cowries serve as tangible reminders that they existed. Not only that, but they may have been actively sustaining traditions passed down through generations...
...thereby maintaining aspects of their identities as African descendants. #Boston #archaeology #NEHgrant #blackhistorymonth 
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