Identifying Genogeographic Affiliation of Burials from an 18th Century Cemetery on Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the 18th century, Sint Eustatius (Statia) was the home to colonial Europeans, including Dutch, British and French, as well as enslaved and freed individuals of African descent.

This research explores the genogeographic affiliation of individuals from an unmarked 18th century cemetery located close to both a Dutch military and trading fort and a sugar plantation. It has long been unclear whether the individuals interred in the cemetery were soldiers from the Dutch fort or individuals of African descent who lived and worked on the plantation. The goal of this research is to determine if there is one or more genogeographic group buried in the cemetery. Ancestry was estimated for burials with the cranium and/or dentition present using statistical analysis of craniofacial and dental morphology Most of these burials closely classify with reference samples of African descent, suggesting that this cemetery was used by enslaved Africans from the nearby plantation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25198