The Middleton Place Privy House / An Archeological View of Nineteenth Century Plantation Life

An archaeological study of a plantation privy analyzes recovered ceramics, glassware, bottles, and lamps to reconstruct material life in the nineteenth century. Detailed typological and manufacturing analysis differentiates imported and domestic porcelains, various earthenwares, pressed and cut glass, and dated bottle forms including medicines, spirits, and food containers. Wear patterns, manufacturing marks, and assemblage composition illuminate household consumption, shifting tastes, and supply networks across the period. Evidence that heavy cut glass and other prewar tablewares persisted in use into the postwar period suggests reduced household fortunes alongside continuity in domestic practices.