Abstract
Mortuary patterns discernible at the Harney site, despite its disturbed condition, include demographic, burial, and artifact information derived from 17 skeletons, 19 unmatched bones, 10 graves, and 134 artifacts. The cemetery dates to the late 18th century and provides data on the mortuary practices of enslaved persons in Montserrat at a time when sugar production dominated the economy of the British West Indies. A broader perspective on the mortuary patterns of enslaved populations within the Caribbean region is provided by comparable data from burial sites in two other British islands, Barbados and Jamaica, and a mainland South American colony, Dutch Guiana—now Suriname. Collaboration by avocational and professional archaeologists during the Harney site salvage project exemplifies the joint research efforts typical of many small islands in the eastern Caribbean.
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Watters, D.R. Mortuary patterns at the Harney site slave cemetery, Montserrat, in Caribbean perspective. Hist Arch 28, 56–73 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374190
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374190