Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Encountering human remains during archaeological excavations within the historic area of Colonial Williamsburg is not uncommon. As ethical and methodological considerations for the archaeological treatment of human remains and cemeteries have evolved, two recent projects in Williamsburg have presented an opportunity to conduct research and engage descendant communities within new frameworks. This session will explore two projects dealing with burials from contexts that couldn’t be more different: the cemetery of one of the oldest Baptist churches established by African Americans and a mass grave for Confederate casualties near the city’s powder magazine. One project was initiated by the descendant community of the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg while the other was conducted out of necessity to remove human remains from areas to be impacted by restoration work. Papers will discuss the archaeological and osteological findings, our differential abilities to identify individuals, the opportunities and challenges of DNA analysis, the role conservators and curators can play in providing humanizing details through material remains, and our efforts to empower the appropriate descendant communities. The ultimate outcome of these projects is to appropriately restore the humanity to the individuals buried at these sites.

Other Keywords
Historic • Mortuary Analysis • Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis • Public and Community Archaeology • Historical Archaeology • Mortuary archaeology • Ethics • Collections • Civil War • Museums

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • Delaware (State / Territory) • Georgia (State / Territory) • Mississippi (State / Territory) • Tennessee (State / Territory) • North Carolina (State / Territory) • Kentucky (State / Territory) • West Virginia (State / Territory) • Virginia (State / Territory) • South Carolina (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • A Complicated Healing Process: Community Engagement at the First Baptist Church and Powder Magazine Burial Grounds (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Crystal Castleberry.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. As an institution that has contributed to the Black community's historical erasure, Colonial Williamsburg is still working to rebuild trust and right many wrongs. Few projects have made that more apparent than the First Baptist Church excavation and the rediscovery of its burial ground. With...

  • Curation and Conservation for Reburial: Balancing Respect and Discovery (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katherine McEnroe. Sean Devlin.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the last three decades, archaeological approaches to the excavation of human burials have radically shifted. These changes have demanded a large-scale reevaluation of the decision-making processes and research practices deployed not only during these excavations, but also in the approaches...

  • Historic Genome from the First Baptist Church on Nassau Street: Reflections on Process and Product (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Raquel Fleskes.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Community members, stakeholders, and congregation members expressed interest in pursuing DNA testing of the Ancestral Individuals from the Historic First Baptist Church. In collaboration with the Let Freedom Ring! Foundation, successive community engagement meetings were held to explain the...

  • The History and Archaeology of Burials Excavated from the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg and the Powder Magazine (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jack Gary.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The recent archaeological discovery of two different burial contexts within Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area has provided the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Department of Archaeology opportunities to employ new strategies for the study and treatment of human remains. Methodologically...

  • Humans Remain: Bioarchaeology and Community at the Historic First Baptist Church of Williamsburg (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katharine Bender. Joseph Jones. David Sevestre. Michael Blakey. Jack Gary.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We present the results of osteological analysis of human remains excavated at the original site of the historic First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, Virginia. The goals and parameters of our analysis were defined through a process of public engagement evolved from the ethical framework of the...

  • Let Them Rest in Peace: Cemetery Analysis of Unexcavated Graves at the First Baptist Church (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katherine Wagner. Aaron Lovejoy.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, VA, revealed 62 burials on the west half of the lot behind the early nineteenth-century church. While three burials were chosen by the descendant community to be excavated, they also elected to leave the remaining 59 burials undisturbed,...

  • Osteological Evidence from a Civil War–Era Grave and Surgeon’s Pit in Colonial Williamsburg (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Sevestre. Joseph Jones. Katharine Bender. Michael Blakey. Jack Gary.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, we report on the study of human skeletal remains recently discovered near a powder magazine in Williamsburg, VA, the site of a mass Confederate grave. Osteological analysis of four discrete burials and additional remains recovered from a nearby surgeon’s pit indicates that these...

  • A Story of Soldiers and Surgeons: Excavating the Remains of Four Individuals and Three Amputated Limbs Interred at the Williamsburg Powder Magazine (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ashley McCuistion.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During recent archaeological excavations at the Colonial Williamsburg Powder Magazine, human remains were unexpectedly encountered and subsequently excavated to mitigate potential impacts from ongoing restoration work at the site. The excavation uncovered a mass grave containing three...

  • “They Are Ours”: Bringing Together Past and Present Church through Burial Excavations at the First Baptist Church Site (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Meredith Poole.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. At the request of the descendant community, Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists in 2022 excavated three burials from among 62 discovered on the site of the First Baptist Church. Despite poor preservation and a dearth of identifying information, archaeological evidence recovered from these...

  • The Tomb of the Known Unknown Soldier: Identifying the Remains of Confederate Soldiers Buried near the Williamsburg Powder Magazine (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Schweickart.

    This is an abstract from the "Individuals Known and Unknown: Case Studies from Two Burial Contexts at Colonial Williamsburg" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In an ironic twist, while the names of the Confederate casualties of the Battle of Williamsburg have been remembered and memorialized, literally carved in stone, the physical remains of the soldiers were lost and forgotten until we accidentally exposed their burials while excavating near the...