Resumen de An Archaeology of Black Markets: Local Ceramics and Economies in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
Christopher T. Espenshade (res.)
This volume is an excellent study that will interest students of the African Diaspora, African-influenced pottery of the Americas and Caribbean, and the economic strategies of slaves. Hauser presents a detailed examination of how the pottery made by African-Jamaicans in the eighteenth century can be used to model the various interactions that occurred in the informal market economy. Under this system, enslaved Africans and African-Jamaicans were provided the opportunity to sell or barter their excess garden produce and crafts at Sunday markets throughout the island. Hauser recognizes the distributions of local pottery as a reflection of these exchange systems. He examines the phenomenon of informal African-Jamaican markets as having both positive and negative effects on the various actors in the plantation system. With a strong backing in his data, Hauser goes so far as to suggest that the informal market system provided the opportunity for African-Jamaicans to coordinate the rebellion of 1831. Hauser draws from diverse data sources to provide an excellent context for his discussions.
