Inclusion and Exclusion in the Moravian Settlement in North Carolina, 1770-1790

The study of the late 18th-century Moravian community in Salem, North Carolina, provides an excellent opportunity to illustrate the value in looking beyond "boundedness" in historical archaeological research. Rather than viewing Salem as an isolated and homogenous community, this article focuses on the ways in which the leaders of this community struggled with conflicting needs. The Moravian leadership needed to balance the maintenance of group cohesion and internal social control with a need to appear as part of the larger Anglo-American world around them. How the Moravians confronted and mediated these conflicting needs is examined through the use of documentary information, the built environment, and archaeological material.