Dating the Dead: A Temporal and Demographic Analysis of an Unmarked 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.

Recent investigation of an unmarked historical cemetery located between Fort Amsterdam and a nearby historical plantation on Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean raises several questions. Arguably the most fundamental question involves who is buried in the cemetery: if it was used to inter soldiers from the Dutch fort or enslaved Africans from the nearby sugar plantation. Identifying the cemetery’s temporal context and demographic composition is an important first step in answering this question. This inquiry used artifacts from the grave fill and coffins to provide date ranges for specific burials and estimate an overall time period for the cemetery. Datable artifacts recovered from these burials, such as glass bottle fragments, European ceramic sherds, copper tacks, coffin nails, and clay pipes, were analyzed to date each of the burials. Demographic analysis of the burials revealed that males and females are present and ages range from infancy to middle aged adults which is consistent with a village population, not military personnel. Furthermore, the temporal analysis dates the nearby burials to the 18th century, aligning closely with the active dates of the nearby Godet plantation. This analysis suggests that the burials are enslaved Africans from the Godet 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): 26341