From Sun-Up to Sun-Down: A Bioarchaeological Study of Stress and Community Care Practices During Chattel Slavery in Colonial New Amsterdam (New York City)
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Authors
Isable, Kendra Briana
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Bioarchaeology , Enslavement , New York African Burial Ground , Paleopathology , Resilience , Stress
Alternative Title
Abstract
The reality and existence of chattel slavery in the United States have often been viewed as a stain on the fabric of American History. Efforts to silence the survivors, descendants, historians, political activists, and scholars have been pervasive, as truths about the events of slavery continued to be revealed. The enslaved individuals who endured endless suffering at the hands of the slave owners were not only subject to silence and erasure in life, but also in death. With respect to the individuals unearthed in the New York African Burial Ground, their existence, their sacrifices, and their vital contributions to the development of the state of New York were buried below the ground and covered, repeatedly, as life continued as if they did not exist. Therefore, this dissertation aims to: 1) explore the evidence of age-dependent biological stress, resilience, and establish a framework of community care necessary to survive this environment; 2) explore the relationship between the present skeletal indicators of pathological conditions and enthesopathies within the adult and subadult populations as well as males and females, and continue the exploration of a social network of care; and 3) examine the barriers to infant care through the assessment of hypoplastic enamel defects and mortality in the subadult population and if a network of care was feasible for this suffering population. The results illustrate patterns of stress, neglect, violence, and exploitation in the skeletal population, across age groups and sex categories. With the use of statistical analyses across all three aims, it was determined that stress was high in the adult population, and a potential network of care was developed based on the present pathological conditions as well as reliance on the historical and cultural contexts. The analysis also indicated a relationship between the presence of enthesopathies and pathological conditions, revealing a pattern of both age-dependent correlations and statistical significance between these and other supporting variables. Finally, it was determined that care for the subadult population was severely and repeatedly interrupted causing high infant and childhood mortality.
With the acquisition of the data from the Institute of Historical Biology at the College of William and Mary, this dissertation joins several doctoral and master’s dissertations and thesis with efforts to continue the discourse surrounding these enslaved individuals who had previously been disregarded by the state of New York and history in general. This dissertation strives to contribute to and continue the discourse on the realities of enslavement and racism in New York as it follows the historical thread from the Dutch to the British colonial rule, and eventually to the establishment of New York State, while centering the burial ground and the enslaved individuals.