Spatial Analysis of Religious Community: An Integrated Approach to Barbados Quakerism, 1655–1780

Even without excavation, perspectives from archaeology prove useful in extending what is known from the documentary record. In particular, the use of geographic information system (GIS) analysis combined with historical maps and other data can show patterns in the physical landscape that relate to t...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Historical archaeology 2021-12, Vol.55 (4), p.511-532
Main Author:	Chenoweth, John M.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Archaeology Community Data Equality Friendship Geographic information systems Imagery Integrative approach Original Article Quakers Religion Slavery Social Sciences Spatial analysis Trends
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Even without excavation, perspectives from archaeology prove useful in extending what is known from the documentary record. In particular, the use of geographic information system (GIS) analysis combined with historical maps and other data can show patterns in the physical landscape that relate to the social landscape and cultural and historical trends. Considering its size and the historical interest it has sparked, remarkably few physical or documentary traces of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Barbados survive. The group has excited a great deal of modern comment due to the coexistence of Quaker ideals of equality and Caribbean slavery, but broader trends in the development of this important community remain obscure. Here, a combination of historical maps, archaeological observations, GIS techniques, high-resolution satellite imagery, and other historical data are brought to bear on the distribution of Quaker sites on the landscape in order to reveal aspects of religious community formation and change.
ISSN:	0440-9213 2328-1103