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Dynamic Landscapes: The Emergence of Formal Spaces in Colonial Virginia

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Abstract

Archaeologists studying the domestic landscapes that took shape in the Chesapeake region from the 1670s to 1730 typically conclude that these early settlements were the product of frontier environments, where functional utility dominated and aesthetic design had little value for all but the very wealthiest members of society. Reevaluation of two early Virginia plantations, Newman’s Neck and the Clifts, suggests that the relationships between colonists and their domestic places bears further examination, and that, among lesser gentry, intentional design in early colonial landscapes is, in fact, evident. Analysis of this design can shed light on the changing dynamics of power relations within the family, the social relations of labor, and the ways that colonists reinterpreted changing aesthetics within the Atlantic World.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Barbara J. Heath

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Heath, B.J. Dynamic Landscapes: The Emergence of Formal Spaces in Colonial Virginia. Hist Arch 50, 27–44 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03377176

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