Rice University Undergraduate Research

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Contains reports, papers, and other research performed by undergraduates at Rice University.

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Browsing Rice University Undergraduate Research by Subject "Archaeology"

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    Excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation Slave Quarters: 2020 Field Season Results
    (Rice University, 2020) Jalbert, Catherine; Morgan, Molly; Hickey, Kristen; Howe-Kerr, Luke; Merchant, Joe; Bartsch, Kyle; Bhatnagar, Anshul|Custer, Katherine; Devine, Lizzie; Gonzalez, Virginia; Hwang, Elaine; Miller, Victoria; Rasich, Biz; Anthropology
    In the spring semester of 2020, Rice University students participated in archaeological excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site, under the project directors Dr. Molly Morgan (Rice faculty) and Dr. Catherine Jalbert (Texas Historical Commission). The project team conducted research over four weekends in February and the first weekend in March. This fieldwork fulfilled the requirements for the course ANTH 362: Archaeological Field Techniques. Fieldwork in this project involved students in setting up units of investigation, learning about soils and stratigraphy, hands-on excavation and materials collection methods, and the recording and documentation of all facets of research. Typically, this fieldwork is followed by artifact analysis and interpretation, but in this year of COVID-19, the Rice University Archaeology Laboratory closed and students finished the course by writing summaries of fieldwork and literature reviews on particular artifact categories and their importance in historical archaeology.
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    Final Report on the 2022 Rice University Excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation (41BO133)
    (Rice University, 2022) Morgan, Molly; Jalbert, Catherine; Black, Reece; Katongo, Maggie; Blundell, Mac; Ess, Nick; Festa, Natalie; Janson, Bri; Joy, Grace; Landry, Katelyn; Orta, Phoenix; Pickett, Kenzie; Rothko, Isabel; Zaragoza, Jesús Vega; Pearce, Vincent; McBeth, Cheryl; McWeeney, Grace; Anthropology
    The Rice University excavations at Varner-Hogg Plantation, a key component of the ANTH 362 Field Techniques class, took place over three weekends in the spring of 2022. Laboratory analysis and public history studies continued at the Rice University Archaeological Learning Laboratory through May. The class of 12 Rice students worked on a team also comprised of Dr. Molly Morgan (Rice archaeologist), Dr. Catherine Jalbert and Reece Black (Texas Historical Commission archaeologists), and Grace McWeeney and Cheryl McBeth (community interns). Following a previous season of work in 2020, our research focus continues to be on the 19th century experiences of captive laborers through the excavation of contexts thought to have been residences of enslaved people, or perhaps in later contexts to the laborers brought to work at the site through the convict leasing system. Other important aspects of our project include community-based archaeology, museums studies, and public dissemination of research results in cultural heritage contexts.
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    Interpreting Sartorial Practices Based on the Archaeological Analysis of the Buttons at Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site
    (Rice University, 2022) Hwang, Elaine; Morgan, Molly; Anthropology
    This archaeological work investigates the button collection from Varner-Hogg Plantation in Brazoria County, Texas to interpret the sartorial practices of the enslaved individuals that once labored on the land. This project analyzes a total of 99 buttons which were excavated at Varner-Hogg plantation as a means to interpret the clothing that the buttons might have adorned and the subsequent practices of daily self-making. The research utilizes the theoretical framework regarding identity and its construction through performance and inscription to investigate how enslaved individuals were shaped within spheres of labor, desires for upward social mobility, and threats of racialized violence. I use the archaeological evidence from the buttons to investigate how and why enslaved individuals at Varner-Hogg performed particular dress practices during the 19th century as they strived to create spaces within the most oppressive of contexts in which they desired to distinguish themselves. This project is part of a wider push for community engagement in plantation archaeology and the telling of stories of the enslaved individuals who once lived and labored on the land.