Argues that archaeologically recovered so-called gizzard stones were not utilized for playing wari, the African board game, by African descended populations in the United States, reviews documentary and ethnographic evidence for the presence of wari in the United States and the Caribbean, and discusses the documentary evidence for the presence of African games aboard British slaving vessels during the Middle Passage.

Discusses a distinctive short-stemmed earthenware pipe that was excavated in a plantation slave cemetery in Barbados in the early 1970s; since its excavation nothing similar has been reported from African descendant sites in British America. Archaeological and documentary evidence argue for a Gold Coast provenience sometime during the late 17th or early 18th centuries.

From West Africa to Barbados: A Rare Pipe from a Plantation Slave Cemetery

In the early 1970s, archaeological investigations at Newton plantation in Barbados recovered the skeletal remains of 104 individuals, interred from approximately 1660 to around 1820. Twelve of the burials were associated with close to 900 beads. These beads represented a variety of types, including two distinctive large reddish-orange carnelian beads. Despite the excavation of additional burials at Newton in the late 1990s which also recovered some beads associated with several burials, and considerable archaeological work since the early 1970s in African diasporic sites in the Caribbean and North America (including the massive “African Burial Ground” in New York City, as far as I can ascertain the two Newton specimens are still the only examples of their kind from New World sites. They remain unusual and unique material legacies of the transatlantic slave trade to Britain’s American colonies.

From Cambay in India to Barbados in the Caribbean: Two Unique Beads from a Plantation Slave Cemetery

An early colonial period church cemetery in Campeche, Mexico yielded the skeletal remains of persons who investigators identified as African born; some reports claimed these remains represent the earliest evidence of African slavery yet found in the New World. However, physical evidence in and of itself does not unequivocally demonstrate the social status of the people concerned. Persons of African descent in Campeche at this period could have been free or held other social statuses that were not chattel slaves. Whatever the case, the Campeche remains raise the issue of archaeological interpretations of social systems, in this case the social system of chattel slavery. In this article we reproduce excerpts from the final chapter of our 1978 book on plantation slavery in Barbados; we argue that archaeological remains alone cannot determine the presence of slavery and documentary data are needed to establish its existence.

This paper discusses two virtually identical small translucent glass objects of apparent European manufacture that were found associated with two different burials in 1973. Similar objects have not been reported in African descendant sites in British America. This paper describes the physical properties of the objects, their burial contexts, and possible derivation from European buckles or finger rings.

An adult male buried in the late 1600s or early 1700s and excavated from a plantation slave cemetery in Barbados had the cemetery’s richest assortment of grave goods: an iron knife, several types of metal jewelry, an earthenware pipe, and a necklace of money cowries, fish vertebrae, dog canine teeth, European glass beads, and a large carnelian bead probably from India. Most of these artifacts are unique to New World African descendant sites. The individual was probably an African-type diviner/healer whose high status in the slave community is reflected in his relatively elaborate artifact inventory.

An African-Type Healer/Diviner and His Grave Goods: A Burial from a Plantation Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies

Dating to the late 1600s or early 1700s, a burial excavated from a slave cemetery at Newton Plantation in Barbados had several unique characteristics. Buried in the largest artificial earthen mound in the cemetery without grave goods or a coffin, this young adult woman was the solitary interment in the mound and the cemetery’s only prone burial. Her skeleton showed no signs of unusual death although analysis of lead in her bones suggests she suffered from severe lead poisoning. Documentary evidence on Barbados slave culture in general and ethnographic/ethnohistorical evidence on West African mortuary practices suggest interpretations for this burial: She may have been a witch or some other negatively viewed person with supernatural powers who, following African custom, was feared or socially ostracized.

A Prone Burial from a Plantation Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies

Tooth mutilation existed in sub-Saharan Africa, and was found among slaves transported to the New World. A small number of mutilation cases have been identified in early New World “Negro” skeletons from the Caribbean and Florida. The skeletal evidence alone precludes determining if the individuals were African- or American-born, but limited ethnohistorical data suggested the former. This hypothesis is considerably strengthened by evidence from 18th-century runaway slave advertisements found in the newspapers of five mainland British colonies. Analysis of these ads shows that every runaway who is identified with tooth mutilation came from Africa. This ethnohistorical evidence supports other sets of bioarchaeological and ethnohistorical data that the African custom of tooth mutilation was not generally practiced by Caribbean or North American slaves. Where filed or chipped teeth appear on skeletons “racially” identified as African in New World sites, there is an excellent chance that the individuals were African-born.

Determining African Birth from Skeletal Remains: A Note on Tooth Mutilation

This monograph describes the results of a ten week bioarchaeological project which also involved archival and ethnographic research. Major objectives of the fieldwork were to locate sugar plantation slave cemetery sites from which skeletal and artifactual remains could be recovered. Archaeological survey and testing focused on five plantations (Guinea, Malvern, Hanson, St. Nicholas Abbey, Bissex-Parks; also, Castle and Lamberts) with histories extending deep into the slave period, and where strong oral and documentary evidence existed for slave cemeteries. This research, however, failed to discover traces of any cemetery or recover any contextual evidence of human remains. Possible explanation for this failure as well as suggestions for future research are also discussed. Chapters of the monograph are:

1. Introduction: Ethnohistory, Archaeology, and Bioanthropology in the Study of Barbados Slaves
2. Objectives of the 1987 Fieldwork
3. Cemeteries during the Slave Period: Whites, Slaves, and the Newton Cemetery
4. Plantation Fields: Naming Practices, and the Negro Yard and Graveyard Fields
5. Searching for Cemeteries Before the 1987 Season
6 Plantation Research in 1987: Ethnographic and Historical
7. Plantation Research in 1987: Archaeological
8. Conclusions
Appendix A. Cholera Burial Grounds
Appendix B. Excavation of Human Skeletal Remains in Barbados
Appendix C. Regulations Surrounding Archaeological Research in Barbados
Appendix D. Tabulations of Excavated and Surface Collected Materials, by Rebecca House

Searching for a Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies, Chapters 1-5

Searching for a Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies, Chapters 6-7

Searching for a Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies, Chapter 8 and Appendix

Drawing from experiences in the study of slavery in Barbados, but also utilizing comparative data, we argue that an ethnohistorical approach, which combines archaeological and documentary data, is the most fruitful way to investigate slavery and the lives of the enslaved.