Chapter 1 – Archaeology of the Atlantic Enslavement Systems maps the global origins and lows of enslaved Africans. The Cameroons that sits at the junction of West and Central Africa, stretching from the Equatorial forest to the Sahara margins is used as a microcosm of the combined impact of continental-oriental and Atlantic enslavement systems. Cases studies from each of the major environmental zones feature the disruptions but also adjustment and creative adaptations of local societies. Archaeological data, historical and ethnohistorical sources are relied upon to access the social history of five selected areas: the southern forested zone along the shores of the Sanaga river in the south, the western grassfields highland, the Western Adamawa plateau basin in the north, the Upper Benue and the Fali region, and the mounds from the Chadian plain at the northern end For example labor shortage resulted in the invention of natural draft furnaces for the production of iron in two distinct regions. Ethnohistory also provides very interesting data on the internal workings of the pervasive enslavement systems.

Chapter 2 – Genealogy of the “Negro Burial Ground deals with the social and political circumstances of the “emergence” of the “Negro Burial Ground” as it was called in the 18th century, as well as its use and chronological evolution in the 17th and 18th century. Manumitted Africans were given farm lands 2 miles north of New Amsterdam fortified in order to create a buffer and advance warning system in the ongoing confrontations between Dutch settlers and local Native-Americans groups. The Dutch West Indies Chartered Company created the settlement and owned everything, including the captive enslaved Africans. Africans were part of the Europeans and settlers side of the equation and cultural differences set the stage for long and sustained confrontations between competing nationalities. French, British, and Dutch settlers were competing for access to trade with Native-American nations in the NE North America. Alliances were constantly shifting. For New Amsterdam, the Dutch offered a present considered as a gift by local Native-American leaders, allowing the former to settle and use the land – A collective property of the group -. The Dutch considered to have bought the land for their exclusive use as private property. “the Peach War” – September 15, 1655 – was one of the consequence of such a cultural misunderstanding. The methodology to be used in the organization of the archaeological record, interrogating the different clustering levels to be documented, is outlined in the presentation of the ‘research perspective’. The precise initial use of the African Burial is not known but range between 1640 to 1690. Three phases of the use of the cemetery were identified: The Early Sequence (1640/90-1740), Middle Sequence (1740-1780), and Late Sequence (1780-1796). Interestingly enough, burial orientation is a good indicator of inhumation seasons, allowing to single out different seasonal mortality peaks. Instead of dealing with the deceased of the African Burial Ground as a single population as done in the technical reports and all publications so far, this book investigates at the dynamics concealed in the archaeological record, at different time-scales. There are subtle variations that deserves to be brought to light and explained.

Chapter 3 – The Early Sequence (ca. 1640/90 – 1740) discusses the evidence from the earliest phase of the cemetery use. It starts with a brief presentation of New Amsterdam, the city extent and layout and its population. The general demographic profile (Age, Sex, Sex ratio) of the deceased population is work worked. The analysis of the burial furniture – essentially the presence/absence of coffins – is then carried out. Some intriguing burials, generally interpreted as disturbed burials by the initial excavators, are presented in details. In fact, these burials present incontrovertible evidence of the implementation of harsh punishment, death by decapitation and limbs amputations. The focus shifts on the spatial organization of the cemetery, investigating the patterns of burials clustering through the lens of intentionality, agency, or accident. The final section of the chapter deals with health, pathologies, and diseases issues. The morbidity of the buried population is high in general but varies across the age spectrum. Different age-groups were affected by different combinations of diseases. In general, juveniles appear to have been the most affected age groups, with variation from one chronological period to the next.

Chapter 4 – The Middle Sequence (ca. 1740 – 1780) examines the patterns of the archaeological record dated to that period. It is a particularly ‘hectic’ period in the history of Colonial New York, with the onset of the ‘revolutionary war’ and its abrupt populations shifts. The city is more populated in any case. It witnessed an accelerated pace of urban growth and expanded significantly northward. The proportion of juveniles is abnormally high in the profile of the deceased population. Burials are also packed in a smaller space as a consequence of the construction of a palisade in 1745. Health profiles feature a situation that has deteriorated in comparison to the Early Sequence.

Chapter 5 – The Late Sequence (ca. 1780 – 1796) deals with the archaeological data from the “Post-revolutionary” years to the definitive closure of the African burial ground in 1796. New York was the first capital of the United States of America. Burials dated to the Late Sequence are confined to the west end of the excavated plot, an area heavily impacted by 19th century house construction. There are important variation in comparison to the previous Early and Middle sequence. The sample (53 burials) is relatively small. The juveniles represent a little less than half of the deceased population. Age- group 16-20 and 46-60 years are absent from the population profile. Burial clustering points to many intentional association, very likely siblings or ‘family members’. The health situation is the worst of all three Sequences samples. With the exception of the neonate, all the sampled individuals present one or many affections. The data point to a counterintuitive conclusion: The post-revolutionary years were an extremely difficult time for New York enslaved and free Africans.

Chapter 6 – The African Burial Ground: A Global Assessment sums up the evidence discussed in the previous chapters 3 to 5 and proceeds forward to a comparative analysis. The variables relied on for this comparative discussion include: 1) the number of burials per chronological sequence; 2) the demographic profiles of the deceased populations; 3) the distribution of burials furniture; and finally, 4) health, pathologies and deceases.

The conclusion highlight the dominant characteristics of the mortuary practices implemented in the New York African Burial Ground during the 17 and 18th century. The position of the deceased bodies, the orientation of the burials, the virtual absence of grave-goods points to the adoption of the mortuary script of the dominant Christian European. Ill-health was pervasive as can be expected from enslaved and free Africans living under constant bondage and domination. After the British take over, Colonial New-York legal system was particularly harsh. Courts’ punishment decisions were geared to inflict the maximum pain. The material from the New York African burial ground bring to fore the institutionalized violence in Colonial New-Amsterdam and New-York. Some individuals with multiple peri-mortem fractures were probably beaten mercilessly. One, a young adult female was not only savagely beaten but also shot with a musquet ball in the chest. Harsh punishments, including decapitation and limbs mutilations, were implemented on a number of adult individuals. The testimony of the enslaved and free Africans who contributed to the construction of New York was brought back to life in the early 1990s. After detailed analyses, their remains were brought back for reburial at the African Burial Ground Monument in Downtown Manhattan in October 2003.