of crosses into vessels encountered in the rivers surrounding plantations in South Carolina, particularly on the underside of bowls, where these symbols could be found in the foot rings. The author associated these marks with the cosmogram used by the Bakongo, a population from the south of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo and the north of Angola, historically linked to the kingdom of Kongo and its neighbouring territories. Most of the enslaved people in South Carolina came from this region. The cosmogram was a central element of Bakongo cosmology, formed as it was of a cross within a circle representing the four "moments" of the sun in its trajectory between the world of the living and the world of the dead, with a horizontal line representing the water separating the two worlds. These pieces were thus interpreted as part of a ritual practice linked to the cult of the spirits of the waters, serving as evidence of the upholding of the Bakongo belief system in the diaspora, which would have influenced later generations of enslaved people born in the region, as well as Africans from other ethnic groups. More recent studies have remarked upon the presence of similar symbols etched on vessels with other morphologies and in other contexts in South Carolina. Joseph (2011, pp. 149-151) suggests that when made on ceramic vessels without ritual purposes, such as vases and pots produced by Afro-Americans in stoneware factories in the district of Edgefield, such marks may have served as an emblem of Afro-American identity recognized by Africans who came to use these pieces in a variety of contexts.  
Some archaeologists have, however, expressed their scepticism towards the identification of ceramics with such symbols. Steen (2011) alleges that the same mark was used by Indigenous groups in the south-eastern United States that may have been responsible for depositing the pieces in the rivers. Espendale (2007) also alleges that the use of crosses may be due to the Christian influence on populations of enslaved people.