Holl/Archaeology of Urban Bondage, 5. The Late Sequence (ca. 1780 – 1796)

Chapter 5 - The Late Sequence (ca. 1780 – 1796) deals with the archaeological data from the “Post-revolutionary” years to the definitive closure of the African burial ground in 1796. New York was the first capital of the United States of America. Burials dated to the Late Sequence are confined to the west end of the excavated plot, an area heavily impacted by 19th century house construction. There are important variation in comparison to the previous Early and Middle sequence. The sample (53 burials) is relatively small. The juveniles represent a little less than half of the deceased population. Age- group 16-20 and 46-60 years are absent from the population profile. Burial clustering points to many intentional association, very likely siblings or ‘family members’. The health situation is the worst of all three Sequences samples. With the exception of the neonate, all the sampled individuals present one or many affections. The data point to a counterintuitive conclusion: The post-revolutionary years were an extremely difficult time for New York enslaved and free Africans.