Assessing Inland Rice Fields
The US Department of Interior and the National Park Service have set out specific guidelines for assessing cultural resources to determine whether they should be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This assessment insures that resources can make an important contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the historical and cultural foundations of the United States. The guidelines set out four criteria:
- The resource is associated with an event that made a significant contribution to our history;
- The resource is associated with a person significant to our past;
- The resource embodies distinct characteristics associated with a particular type, period, or method of construction, is the work of a master, or possesses high artistic value;
- The resource contains important research information that can contribute to our understanding of history or prehistory.
The inland rice field researchers suggest that these kinds of fields can be recommended for the register under Criterion A because they are associated with the development of the economy of South Carolina between 1690 and 1865 and the importation of thousands of African captives into the New World.
They can be nominated under Criterion C because inland rice fields reflect a unique construction method for controlling and managing water, this construction method can be associated with a particular time, and the skills necessary to build these systems can be associated with knowledge brought from Africa by enslaved people.
Finally, the fields could be nominated under Criterion D. This study shows there is much to learn about how embankments were constructed and maintained, how trunks and other devices helped control and move water around the fields, and which varieties of rice were planted and how these changed through time as planters became more knowledgeable about the Lowcountry climate. Further study of rice field systems may also reveal areas where enslaved workers ate meals, repaired tools, or performed other daily tasks. Please see the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form for a more detailed discussion of how to assess the significance of inland rice fields. LINK TO DOCUMENT PDF
Drayton Hall.
Middleton Place.
A slave auction.
An old rice field.
Researchers recording rice field features.