A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Two Unmarked Graveyards in Bridgetown, Barbados
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 8-2005 A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Two Unmarked Graveyards in Bridgetown, Barbados Christopher Crain Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Crain, Christopher, "A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Two Unmarked Graveyards in Bridgetown, Barbados" (2005). Master's Theses. 3916. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3916 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A BIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF TWO UNMARKED GRAVEYARDS IN BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS by Christopher Crain A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillmentof the requirements forthe Degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2005 Copyright by Christopher Crain 2005 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere appreciation to the members of my committee, Dr. Frederick Smith, Dr. Pamela Stone, and Dr. Catherine Julien for their technical, methodological, and personal support throughout this project. I am also thankful for the many roles they played as scholars, teachers, and friends. I would also like to thank Dr. Karl Watson of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, and Kevin Farmer of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society for both allowing the analysis of the skeletal material and their enthusiasm for this project. Finally appreciation must also go to Brian Lee, first for his assistance during the analysis of the skeletal materials and second forhis ability to always see the lighter side. Christopher Crain 11 A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF TWO UNMARKED GRAVEYARDS IN BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS Christopher Crain, M.A. Western MichiganUniversity, 2005 In 1996 and 1999 two previously unknown graveyards were discovered in separate sections of Bridgetown, Barbados. Emergency excavations of the sites recovered the skeletal material of at least thirty-two (MNI=32) individuals as well as a number of grave goods. While the artifacts were from the historical period there was continuing speculation as to the ancestry of the individuals interred within these graveyards. During the summer of 2004 the first preliminary osteological analysis of the skeletal material was conducted to identify the biological characteristics, including the ancestral affiliation, of these individuals. The analysis determined that the individuals interred at these sites were of African ancestry and were most likely part of Bridgetown's enslaved population. While archaeologists have previously investigated the lives of enslaved peoples in Barbados using skeletal evidence from Newton Plantation, a rural sugar estate in the parish of Christ Church, the materials from the Bridgetown are the first of their kind and are beginning to shed new light on urban slave life. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................................................................... u LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................. V CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Premise forthe Investigation . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 The History ofBioarchaeological Investigation in Barbados............. 3 II. BACKGROUND TO THE INVESTIGATION.......................................... 7 Location ofthe Cemeteries . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 Grave Goods........................................................................................ 11 III. METHODS . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15 Minimum Number ofIn dividuals....................................................... 15 Sex Determination............................................................................... 16 Age Estimation.................................................................................... 16 Ancestral Affiliation............................................................................ 17 Analysis forPathological Lesions....................................................... 17 IV. RESUL TS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19 Pierhead............................................................................................... 19 Fontabelle............................................................................................ 25 V. DISCUSSION................................................................................................ 40 Ill Table of Contents-continued Biological Summary............................................................................ 41 Observed Indicators of Stress.............................................................. 41 VI. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................. 46 Future Directions................................................................................. 47 APPENDIXA......................................................................................................... 49 REFERENCES ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .... .. ... ... .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... ... .. .. ... ... .. .. ... ... 50 IV LIST OF FIGURES 1. Copper stains upon the skull fromPierhead.................................................. 10 2. Smoking pipes excavated fromPierhead and Fontabelle.............................. 13 3. Smoking pipes excavated fromPierhead and Fontabelle.............................. 13 4. Lateral view of the skull of the individual fromPierhead............................. 21 5. A sub-adult eye orbit fromFontabelle exhibiting lesions associated with cribra orbitalia . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 27 6. A mandible exhibiting advanced antemortem tooth loss and alveolar resorption....................................................................................................... 29 7. A left ilium portion with a wide greater sciatic notch indicating it belonged to a female...................................................................................... 30 8. A view of the skull fromFontabelle showing some of the traits used in the estimation of sex and ancestry................................................................. 31 9. A rather complete femaleindividual from the Fontabelle graveyard located in Bridgetown, Barbados (30 bu 85)................................................. 34 10. The inside portion of an occipital bone with lytic lesions............................. 38 V CHAPTER! INTRODUCTION The archaeological investigation of human skeletal remains and their conditions of interment have been significantin studies of past populations. Graveyards and the human remains they contain are invaluable sources of informationabout both individuals and communities that may not be included in historical or ethnographic accounts. The burials excavated often reflect both the social and behavioral parameters of the past societies they represent. Consequently there are two main areas of investigation involving mortuary materials. One involves the study of the actual construction of the interments themselves and their associated grave goods (Trigger 1989), analyzed as a reflection of that which created them. The second involves the osteological analysis of human skeletal material. Such analysis can provide informationthat is relevant to the understanding of the general health, nutrition, occupational stress, and mortality rates of the past populations such samples represent (Jurmain 1999; Kelly 1984, 1989, 1991; Kennedy 1984, 1989; Lovell 2000; Larsen 1995, 1997; Martin et al. 1985; Orser 1981; Pfeiffer2000; Stuart-Macadam 1989). Though such informationmay be somewhat subjective and unrepresentativeof the true population (Wood et al. 1992), 1 2 it provides hard evidence of the interaction between the population and their environments. Understandably when used in conjunction both methods can provide a reservoir of informationabout archaeologically based populations and the surrounding world. Premise for the Investigation During the summer of 2004 I was asked by Dr. Frederick Smith ifl would be willing to accompany him to Barbados to assist him with a continuing project he had been involved with fora number of years. My primary functionwas to conduct a preliminary osteological analysis of a skeleton he and Dr. Karl Watson had recovered fromthe Pierhead section of Bridgetown the capital of Barbados. I was informed that an articulated and rather complete skeleton had been recovered fromthe site which was an unmarked graveyard unrecorded in historical documents. The primary goal for the analysis was to discernas much information as possible about the individual recovered, including their ancestral affiliationwhich had become a matterof importance due to the speculation that had developed over this issue. Consequently, on a visit to the Barbados Museum and Historical Society in Bridgetown, I was introduced by Dr. Smith to the Assistant Curator