Conclusion
Archaeology of Urban Bondage - The New York African Burial Ground - Augustin F.C. Holl
Augustin F.C. Holl [+]
Xiamen University, China
Description
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.