African-American Herbal Medicine

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" THEY WORKED THEIR OWN REMEDY": AFRICAN - AMERICAN HERBALNEDI INE AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

Mark D. Grooverand

Timothy E. Baumann

Studies conducted by folklorists and ethnobotanists demonstrate that as late as the final decades of the twentieth century, many African Americans in the ruralSouth continue to maintain substantial knowledge of

herbal medicine. Due to slavery 's fragmented history, the origins of African - American traditional medicine during the colonial and antebellztm periods are obscure. In the following ess ay several issues pertaining to African - American tradit ional medicine are considered. Relevant ethnohistorical information is first presented.Botanical remains recovered from Afn can-American

sites and their medicinal uses are then summarized.This study concludes with a discussion of archaeological features and contexts at African - American sires that have the potential for containing material related to herbal medicine.

Beginning in the late 1980s (Adams 1989;Ferguson 1989). interest in the material expres -sions of belief systems became a prevalent trendthat has developed among archaeologistsexcavating African -American sites in the 1990se.g., Orser 1994; Singleton 1995; Singleton and

Bograd 1995). The persistence of African -inspiredbeliefs among slaves on southern plantations hasbeen documented archaeologically at numeroussites. Relevant examples of artifacts associatedwith African -American contexts and worldviewsconsist of the ritual use of folk ceramics in theSouth Carolina Lowcountry (Ferguson 1992), acache of healer's paraphernalia encountered atLevi -Jordan Plantation in Texas (Brown andCooper 1990), and the subtle yet consistentrecovery of personal items, such as perforatedsilver coins, brass charms, glass beads, quartzcrystals, and polished stones, that were probablyimbued with special meaning LaRoche 1994;McKee 1992, Patten 1992; Russell 1996; Sarnford1996; Savaceni 1996; Smith 1976, 1977; Stine etal. 1996; Weintraub 1997; Wilkie 1995, 1996;Young 1996).

The above artifacts illustrate the complexcharacter of enslaved African -Americans' materialculture. A significant quality of these items is thatalthough they all contained cultural meaning,perhaps more importantly, they were probablyassociated with African -American folk medicine

during the era of slavery. Although archaeologistshave adroitly identified items that were possiblyelements of traditional African -American beliefs,researchers have only recently begun to considerthe botanical remains from archaeological sitesthat were an integral part of day -to-day folkmedicine.

Studies conducted by folklorists, anthro -pologists, and ethnobotanists (Guthrie 1996;Mitchell 1978: Morton 1974; Vernon 1993)demonstrate that elderly African Americans in therural South continue to maintain knowledge oftraditional medicine and particularly the beneficialproperties of locally available plants. Beyond theSouth, ethnomedical studies have also identifiedthe persistence of home remedies and the use ofhealers among rural and urban African -Americancommunities across the United States (Bailey1991; Hill 1973; Snow 1974; Stewart 1971;Tinling 1967). For example, Bailey's (1991)recent research in Detroit suggests that thecontemporary use of home remedies and healers issubstantially more prevalent among AfricanAmericans compared to European Americans.

Commencing with ethnographic inquiryconducted by Ferguson (1995) in Sierra Leone,West Afiica, and the subsequent research of Ogata1995), historical archaeologists have likewise

begun to consider the origins and development oftraditional medicine among enslaved AfricanAmericans in South Carolina. In the followingessay we attempt to contribute to this researchtrend by addressing several issues pertinent toAfrican -American herbal medicine and thearchaeological record. We first present ethno-historical information relevant to folk medicine.The botanical remains recovered from a smallsample of African -American sites and the plants'medicinal uses are then summarized. We concludewith a brief discussion of archaeological featuresand contexts at African -American sites that arelikely locations of botanical material used forherbal medicine. Our research concentrates onsouthern plantations since most African -Americanarchaeology has been conducted in these settings.

ETHNOHISTORIC CONTEXT

During the era of slavery African Americansrelied upon a dual health care system (Cabak et al.

Mark D. Groover and Timothy E Baumann, Department of Anthropology, Universiry of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996

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Groover and Baumann] African -American Herbal Medicine 27

Plantation (Trinkley 1990), Greenfield Plantation(Trinkley 1983), Haig Point Plantation Newsom1988),Lesesne and Fairbank Plantations (Gardner1986), Spiers Landing (Trinkley 1979), Stoney-Baynard Plantation (Adams et al. 1995), andYaughan and CurribooPlantations (Gardner 1983).The Gowen Farm (Shea 1993) is located in MiddleTennessee. The study sites were mainly occupiedbetween the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Excavation and botanical recovery contexts consistof middens and features associated with the mainhouses, kitchens, quarters for house servants, anddwellings in slave settlements. Although Euro -pean Americans resided at the above sites, weassume that enslaved African Americans com -prised the majority of the site inhabitants and inlarge part were responsible for the daily operationsof the plantations. As a consequence, it seemsmore likely that most of the archaeologicaldeposits (and botanical remains) encountered at thestudy sites were probably associated with theactivities of African Americans.

Analysis methods consisted of tabulating bysite and species those plants with medicinal usesbased on information in the ethnohistoric data set(Table 2). In our analysis, medicinal plants wereconsidered to be botanical remains with medicinalproperties, including plants with multifunctionalattributes such as medicine, subsistence, heating,or clothing fiber. Medicinal plants were tabulatedonly on the basis of presence and were notquantified by weighted counts. The distribution ofbotanical remains is also undoubtedly biased bydifferent collection techniques on each site.

Despite these limitations, the archaeologicaldata set indicates that, on average, 14 species ofplants are typically identified at African - Americansites. The per site average for medicinal plants issix. Proportionally, medicinal plants on averagecomprise 43 percent of the botanical speciesidentified in African - American contexts . Themaximum proportion of medicinal plants present ata single site consists of 75 percent, or 6 out of 8plants, at Archdale Hall, and the minimumproportion is 31 percent, or 8 out of 2 6 plants, atthe Gowen arm near Nashville.

When the botanical data from all of the sitesare combined (Table 3), 29 plants with possiblemedicinal uses are represented, and comprise 27percent of the ethnohistoric data set. Within thecombined site sample, 8 or approximately half ofthe 18 plants with officially recognized medicinalproperties are represented, and comprise 28percent of the archaeological data set. Interest -ingly, Mitchell (1978) states that most informants

were aware of approximately 20 plants withmedicinal uses, which represents about 19 percentof the ethnohistoric data set. In contrast, archae -ological analysis by site average typically iden -tifies 6 plants with potential medicinal use,comprising 6 percent of the ethnohistoric data setor approximately one - third of the 20 plants utilizedby individuals.

Concerning plant uses and preparationmethods, overall the distributions between theethnohistoric and archaeological data sets areproportionally similar (Tables 4 and 5). Interest -ingly, the proportion of plants used as a vermifugeand for contraception or reproduction is twice aslarge in the archaeological data set as the ethno -historic da ta set.

The general similarity between the two datasets is probably due to the fact that the combinedlist of botanicals from all of the study sitescontains 29 plants. This total closely approximatesa data set composed of 30 cases, which isconsidered to be a stastistically reliable orrecommended sample size. Thus, based on thegeneral functional correspondence between thearchaeological and ethnographic data sets, thecombined site sample appears to be a relativelyaccurate composite assemblage of botanicalresources used by enslaved African Americans,particularly along the South Carolina coast wherethe majority of the study sites are located. Putanother way, the combined site sample probablyrepresents an accurate botanical complex that canbe expected to be present in reduced form at mostarchaeological sites. Results suggest approximate -ly six of the plants in the composite assemblagewill usually be found or identified at individualLowcountry plantations.

CONCLUSION

The results of our cursory ethnohistoric andarchaeological comparison, generated from a verysmall number of sites, are by no means conclusive,yet tentatively suggest plants with potentialmedicinal uses are typically recovered fromAfrican - American sites. Several individuals, suchas Zierden and Trinkley (1984) and Gardner (1983,1986), have consistently noted and discussed thepresence of medicinal plants in botanicalassemblages from specific African - American sites.The preceding comparison thus attempted tocontribute to these observations and synthesizeextant data within the context of herbal medicine.The results suggest that traditional African -American herbal medicine is accessible orpotentially visible in the archaeological record.


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Table 2. Distribution of Botanical Materials From Study Sites.

Number of Number of PercentSite Plants Medicinal Plants Medicinal Plants

Archdale Hall 8 6 75

Cotton Hope Plantation 3 1 33

Gowen Farmstead 26 8 3 1

Greenfield Plantation 14 6 43

Haig Point Plantation 11 5 45Lesesne and Fairbank Plantations 41 15 39

Spier's Landing 7 3 43

Stoney-BaynardPlantation 7 5 7

Yaughan and Curriboo Plantations 11 6 55

Table 3. Medicinal Botanica l Resources in Archaeological Data Set

Blackberry* Maize Smartweed (Knotweed)Black Walnut Nightshade Sourgrass

rassicaceae Oak Stinging Nettle (Spurge)Chenopod Peach SumacCherry* Persimmon* Sweetgum*Chinaberry Pine* VetchConon* Poke* VerbenaDogwood Polygonurn hydropiperoides Watermelon Euphorbiacea Red Cedar Wax Myrtle (Brown Muckle *Ironweed (Sida) Sedge

*Official ly recognized properties; formerly or currently listed in United States Pharmacopeia or The National Formulary.

Table 4. Comparison of Primary Plant Uses, Ethnohistoric and Archaeological Data Sets.

Etbnohistoric Data Set Archaeological Data SetPlant Uses Number Percent Number Percent

Fevers - Colds

Digestion - Elimination

Skin Irritation

Vermifuge

Reproduction -Contraception

Arthritis - Rheumatism

CirculationDiuretic

Snakebite

General Hygiene

Other

Total 108 101- 28 102**Error due to round~ng


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