Brookgreen Gardens, Georgetown County, South Carolina, includes the remains of Brookgreen Plantation and other historic rice plantations. The property contains archeological resources associated with enslaved African, African-American, and Native American people. Visitors are told that the piers and chimneys of the homes of the enslaved were made of local brick, from clay dug, processed, and fired on-site. The clay mining allegedly formed the ponds and water features still visible today. To test that assertion, the authors conducted experiments, including collecting and geochemically analyzing local clays from these water features, to better understand the brick-making practices of Brookgreen's enslaved workers. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, we determined that these ponds were not the source of clay used for bricks. Instead, a deposit of clay located closer to the historic rice fields, where much of the work on the plantation occurred, was geochemically consistent with the archeological bricks.

中文翻译：

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对南卡罗来纳州乔治敦县布鲁克格林种植园砖粘土来源的初步调查

南卡罗来纳州乔治敦县的布鲁克格林花园包括布鲁克格林种植园和其他历史悠久的水稻种植园的遗迹。该财产包含与被奴役的非洲人、非裔美国人和美洲原住民相关的考古资源。游客们被告知，被奴役者房屋的码头和烟囱是用当地的砖砌成的，由现场挖掘、加工和烧制的粘土制成。据称，粘土开采形成了今天仍然可见的池塘和水景。为了验证这一说法，作者进行了实验，包括从这些水景中收集和地球化学分析当地粘土，以更好地了解布鲁克格林被奴役工人的制砖做法。使用 X 射线荧光光谱法，我们确定这些池塘不是用于制作砖块的粘土的来源。反而，