Archaeological materials, including ___ from Flowerdew show that traditional West African religious practices were used by slaves in food storage strategies. fruit in fireplaces yam remains dishware with food residues on it southwesterly positioning of plant remains amethyst and oyster shells

1. The question asks which archaeological material from Flowerdew demonstrates the use of traditional West African religious practices in slaves' food storage strategies. 2. Evaluating the options: - **Fruit in fireplaces**: While fruit remains may appear in archaeological contexts, they are common remnants and do not specifically indicate religious or directional practices. - **Yam remains**: Although yams are a staple in West African cuisine, their mere presence does not directly point to the implementation of religious practices. - **Dishware with food residues on it**: Food residues are typical finds and imply daily domestic life rather than a deliberate religious practice. - **Southwesterly positioning of plant remains**: This option involves the spatial orientation of plant remains. In many West African traditions, directional orientation (such as southwest) can have symbolic and religious significance. The deliberate alignment suggests that the positioning was part of a ritualized practice integrated with food storage. - **Amethyst and oyster shells**: These items do not clearly relate to either food storage or documented West African religious practices. 3. The deliberate emphasis in the question on "religious practices" within a food storage context makes the spatial orientation (i.e., the {\( \text{southwesterly positioning}\)}) crucial. This indicates that slaves might have been incorporating traditional beliefs into their daily strategies by aligning food storage with a culturally significant direction. 4. Therefore, the correct completion of the sentence is: \[ \text{southwesterly positioning of plant remains.} \] Final answer: \[ \boxed{\text{southwesterly positioning of plant remains}} \]