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Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. (2010) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/oa.1170
The End of Slavery: Disease Patterns and Cultural Behaviours of African Americans in Suriname
M. OKUMURA*
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, The Henry Wellcome Building, University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QH, UK
ABSTRACT
There have been few bioanthropological studies related to African Americans, either slaves or free people. The results of an analysis of eight skeletons of African ancestry (ve males and three females) acquired in Suriname at the end of the 19th century by Dr J. Spilzley and currently housed in the Duckworth Collection (University of Cambridge) are presented. Dental abrasion related to habitual pipe smoking was observed in four individuals, conrming the widespread use of pipe to smoke tobacco among slaves observed in other related sites. Our results indicate a very poor state of oral health for these individuals, with females presenting a higher frequency of dental carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss in comparison with males. The presence of cribra orbitalia in some individuals suggests, as observed in other diaspora skeletal series, individuals suffering from severe stress, caused by poor nutrition, infectious diseases, or both. Such appalling life conditions agree with many written records, which describe very harsh work conditions and very deprived diets. Our results, although based in a small sample, contribute to a better understanding of the cultural behaviours as well as the patterns of disease that aficted the African Americans in Suriname in the 19th century. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key words: bioarchaeology; South America; dental modication; dental health; pipe smoking; African diaspora
Introduction
From the 17th century to the early 19th century, enslaved Africans were traded from West Africa to the Americas to labour on plantations producing sugarcane, coffee, cacao and cotton. A remarkable change in terms of lifestyle, including work, diet and diseases, certainly happened. However, the study of slavery as an area of research in the historical archaeology of the Americas only began to develop after the 1970s. The research has largely focused on either the material culture of slavery, slave diet and subsistence, and the development and maintenance of slave craft industries, or the archaeological dimensions of slave religions, myths and eschatological symbolism (Orser & Funari, 2001). Most of the information about health, medicine and quality of life for enslaved Africans is inferred
* Correspondence to: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado 1466, Sao Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil. e-mail: mmo23@cam.ac.uk
throughout written records like letters and plantation documents. These are often vague, contradictory (some of them reporting quite good life conditions, some of them mentioning very bad lifestyle, including poor diet, precarious settlements and hard labour) and biased (since most of the documents were written by the individuals who enslaved) (Khudabux, 1991; Shuler, 2005: 1). Thus, the quite scarce bioanthropological studies on African skeletons related to the slavery system can be a rich source of information and can offer unique insight into [these] un/under documented populations (Shuler, in press), especially when osteological data can be compared with written records. This allows a clearer picture of the consequences of enslavement in terms of lifestyle and patterns of disease. Furthermore, comparative studies among different skeletal series can be used to test the hypothesis that local environment and social features would have played a major inuence in creating a considerable variability in the lifestyle within and between groups (Rathbun, 1987; Rathbun & Steckel, 2002).
Received 25 September 2009 Revised 2 March 2010 Accepted 17 March 2010
M. Okumura
slaves refused to work and the former owners were dissatised with the inefciency of the new free labourers, because it caused a decrease in production (Goslinga, 1979: 157). The low compensation received by the owners was also a problem, because it did not take into account that the value of slaves varied with age and sex. Regardless the efforts to keep the freedmen on the land, many former slaves left the plantations and went to the capital, despite the increase in unemployment. It is estimated that between 1860 and 1900, the number of plantations decreased in 75% (Goslinga, 1979: 158).
to what can be observed in the skeletal material, which potentially excludes many important aspects related to health and nutrition (Wood et al., 1992). Nevertheless, we will analyse skeletal anomalies that may reveal relevant and/or new information on disease patterns and cultural behaviours in this group. Our data will be compared with the body of data which is available on other African American bioarchaeological studies and lastly, it will be contrasted with the documental evidence which is available for these groups.
Skeletal material
The skeletal material was collected in the late 19th century by Dr J. Spilzley and it is currently housed in the Duckworth Collection at the University of Cambridge. The original information found in the catalogue, as well as written on skulls, indicates African ancestry for all these individuals. It also made us suppose that most of (if not all) these individuals died in the hospital and that nobody claimed their bodies (Table 1). Two individuals (AF 1161 and AF 1168) possibly died before 1863, the ofcial date of slavery abolition in Surinam and ve individuals died after that date1. It is difcult if not impossible to know the specic social status of these individuals, but both nature of the acquisition of these bodies as well as the associated description and date of death suggest that they were either slaves (at least for a period of their lives) or free black people of low socio-economic standing. However, very rarely can any archaeological data be interpreted as an unequivocal indicative of slavery (Handler & Lange, 2006), that is, regardless the presence of indicators of poor health and low social status, no other inferences can be done concerning slave status. This lack of unambiguous indicators can be observed both in terms of physical remains (slave status cannot be undoubtedly associated with any distinctive phenotypes2 or genotypes) as well as the associated material culture, which was possibly available to African slaves, whites and free Africans (Orser, 1990). Locally available raw materials such as wood, clay and gourds, as well as imported items like cloth,
There is no information on date of death for one individual. For example, some characteristics as tooth mutilation have been used to infer African afliation; still, it is not possible to state that such individuals were slaves or free individuals (Handler, 1994). The same can be said about some cranial morphological characteristics which can indicate African ancestry.
2 1
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Table 1. Original information found in catalogue and written on skull Catalogue number AF 1159 AF 1160 AF 1161 AF 1163 AF 1164 AF 1166 AF 1167 AF 1168 Original catalogue information Surinam negro no.67, bought from Dr J. Spilzley Collection from Guyana Surinam negro, fem, bought from Dr J. Spilzley Collection from Guyana Negro from Barbados, died aged 30 in Suriname on May 24 1888 No 135 Skull, Demerara Negro. No.144 Skull, Suriname mulatto, Fem, aged 30. No. 75 Mulatto (Carbouger), aged 50. No 21 N. Skull (Carbouger) - Aurora Madena, Fem, aged 48, Nov 27, 1885. No. 33N Suriname Negro, No.35N Written on the skull Deettnnbosch A. Negro of Surinam 11 May 1886 Surinam. J.H. Spitzly M.D., aet. 33 (purchased for Mus. Anat. Cant.) 56.56 Dora de Bruto of Surinam Aet. 60 11 March 1886 Surinam. 2HS Delson John negro of Barbados (. . .) 30 24 May 1856 Surinam 2HS On the mandible: 135 135 4204 Bombrey Benjamin typical negro from Demerara AET, 44 31 January 1889 Surinam J.A.S., On the mandible: 144 144 4204 Dr Spitzly Negress Mulatoo (Hospital case) Pernanbuco or Suriname No 6 75 75 21N Dark Mulato Carbouger Aet 50 1885 S Aurora Maclena Carboger woman Aet. 48 17 November, 85 Surinam 33 (. . .) 5 Jos? Kraas? Negro of Surinam aet 65 5 December, 25. JHS
clay pipes, tools and utensils would be available to all segments of society. Slaves would have obtained more expensive or rare items through theft, plantation allocation and rewards, purchase and exchange. Sometimes slaves would reuse such items after they were discarded by free persons (Handler & Lange, 2006). Since material culture and human remains cannot by themselves reveal the presence of slavery, it is critical to use historical records related to archaeological sites to identify the possible presence of slavery. Handler & Lange (2006) add that the lack of mention of slavery in prehistoric contexts is also a result of this phenomenon, since archaeological data cannot identify slave status and slavery. Skulls from eight adult individuals (ve males and three females) were analysed. No associated post-cranial material was available. Although information on sex was present in most of the associated written records; sex was re-assessed based on the cranial morphology (Buikstra & Ubelaker, 1994). Archival data on age were considered instead of attempting estimation from the skeletal remains. Reliable age assessment based on dental wear requires the seriation of an entire biological population (Lovejoy, 1985), which would not be possible given our small sample. The use of cranial sutures to estimate age is still an unresolved matter, as there is a great standard deviation associated to each age range group (Meindl & Lovejoy, 1985; Galera et al., 1998) and there may be important sexual and interpopulational variations (Key et al., 1994).
Activity markers
Several non-masticatory behaviours, such as habitual pipe smoking can leave a distinctive type of dental
Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
wear: an approximately equal abrasion on the upper and lower teeth, often resulting in an ellipsoid hole observable when teeth are occluded (Scott & Turner II, 1988) that is typically a mirror image of the adjacent tooth. According to Capasso et al. (1999: 157), this wear pattern could be indicative of several activities where an object is habitually held in the month: policemen who hold a whistle, wind instrument musicians, glass blowers, teachers who hold a pen or pencil and pipesmokers. However, whereas policemen, musicians, glass blowers and possibly teachers would present this kind of wear mostly on the incisors, dental wear caused by pipe smoking is not necessarily found in incisors, with canines and premolars sometimes being involved as well (Wells, 1968; Handler et al., 1982). Multiple apertures can also be observed (Kvaal & Derry, 1996). Wells (1968: 379) characterised this pattern of attrition as taking the form of a concavity affecting the occlusal margin of adjacent pairs of teeth. It may be unilateral or bilateral and reach any degree from a slight scalloping of the tooth margin to an oblique erosion which penetrates through most of the crown. Such unique dental feature has been described in several sites associated with enslaved Africans (Handler & Lange, 1978; Corruccini et al., 1982; Handler & Corruccini, 1983; Mann et al., 1987; Khudabux, 1991, 1999; Shuler, 2005: 272273), as well as European skeletal remains recovered from the bombed site of the St. Michael at Thorn Church, Norwich (Wells, 1968) and human remains from the 17th and 18th centuries found in Scandinavia (Kvaal & Derry, 1996). There is virtually no information on pipe manufacture in the New World during the slavery period; however, Kvaal & Derry (1996) provide some interesting information on pipe production in Europe
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Pathological assessment
Classic palaeopathological markers, including cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, dental carious lesions (caries in Table 2) and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL in Table 2 and Figure 2)3, were used to assess general health state. Macroscopically, cribra orbitalia can range from small isolated apertures spread over the roof of the orbit to conuent openings that result in the formation of trabecular bone (Brothwell, 1981: 165). Morphologically similar, porotic hyperostosis can be observed in the cranial vault as areas of pitting and porosity (Walker et al., 2009). Both have been traditionally linked to iron deciency anaemia, undernutrition, intestinal parasites and infectious diseases, among other factors (Stuart-Macadam & Kent, 1992). Walker et al. (2009) recently refuted this idea, although the link among anaemia, infectious diseases and undernutrition still persists in their model. In this case, porotic hyperostosis and many cases of cribra orbitalia could be related to megaloblastic anaemia in infants at the time of weaning and the combination between the lack of vitamin B12 and unsanitary living conditions would be responsible for further nutritional impairment caused by gastrointestinal infections.
Table 2. Number of units (U) and individuals (I) affected by pathologies in relation to the total number according to sex AMTL (U) Male Female Total 8/142 12/71 20/213 Caries (U) 13/142 13/71 26/213 Cribra (U) 4/10 2/6 6/16 AMTL (I) 2/5 2/3 4/8 Caries (I) 3/5 2/3 5/8 Cribra (I) 2/5 1/3 3/8
Results
Dental abrasion characteristic of pipe smoking was observed in three males and one female. In the male sample, one individual presented pipe wear on the left side, including maxillary second incisor and canine, as well as mandibular canine, and rst premolar (Figure 1a), another individual presented wear on both the left (Figure 1b) and the right (Figure 1c), maxillary
Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. (2010)
M. Okumura
Figure 1. Bucal view of dental abrasion characteristic of pipe smoking. a: individual AF 1163; b and c: left and right side of individual AF1166; d: individual 1168; e and f: left and right sides of individual 1160. This gure is available in colour at www.interscience. wiley.com/journal/oa.
and mandibular second incisor, canine and rst premolar; and the third male presented wear on the mandibular left dentition, second incisor, canine and rst premolar (Figure 1d). One female presented abrasion on both left (Figure 1e) and right sides (Figure 1f), including both maxillary and mandibular canine and rst premolar. Raw data are presented in Table 2, where the number of units or individuals affected by pathologies is shown in relation to the total number. Frequencies of pathologies according to sex and obtained from Table 2 can be observed in Figure 2. Porotic hyperostosis was not observed in any of the individuals of the sample. With exception of cribra orbitalia, the results point to a higher frequency of pathologies in females compared to males. Females present a not quite signicant higher frequency of carious lesions per teeth
(Fisher p-value 0.0744) and a signicantly higher frequency of antemortem tooth loss per teeth (Fisher p-value 0.0118) in comparison with males.
Discussion
Pipe smoking
The unintentional dental modications occurring from pipe smoking were observed in both sexes, with males being the majority of the cases. Pipe smoking related dental wear have been described in skeletal remains of enslaved Africans from many different locations: about a quarter of Barbadian skeletal remains at Newton Plantation (Handler & Lange, 1978; Corruccini et al., 1982; Handler & Corruccini, 1983; Shuler, 2005: 272), three skeletons excavated in South Africa in 1936 and 1981 (Morris, 1988), at the Harney site in Montserrat, where two individuals exhibited pipe wear grooves (Mann et al., 1987), and in virtually all human skeletal remains from Waterloo Plantation in Suriname (Khudabux, 1991, 1999). In fact, the use of clay pipe to smoke was very common among slaves. There is an account from Pinckard (1806: 369; Handler & Lange, 1978: 133) about an evening scene in the negro-yard in Barbados in the late 18th century that describes some people sitting at the door with the pipe in their mouths. In the Newton Plantation, Shuler (2005: 249) describes the presence of facets associated with pipe wear in one adolescent, which can indicate that these individuals were beginning to smoke in a quite early age (Handler & Corruccini, 1983).
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Figure 2. Frequencies of pathological markers according to sex. U: frequency per unit (tooth, socket or orbit); I: frequency per individual.
M. Okumura
number of carious teeth was 3.2 and 5.17. Females also expressed more dental pathologies in general. Also from South Carolina, the 18th century Belleview Plantation data presented ve teeth lost antemortem per male in contrast with 12 per female. The number of cavities per individual was also uneven: two per male and four per female (Rathbun and Steckel, 2002). At the First African Baptist Church from 19th century Philadelphia, Angel et al. (1987) reports an average of 13.8 and 12.5 lesions per individual (females and males, respectively), which included carious lesions, abscesses or antemortem tooth loss. Although the fairly small sample size of this study must be heavily inuencing the frequencies of observed pathologies, still it is possible to say that such frequencies are roughly within the range of observed pathologies in other 18th19th century African American groups and support the idea that those groups were being severely affected by extremely bad oral health conditions. virtually no immunity to the New World species and strains of pathogens (Kiple & Kiple, 1980). The main sources of information on slave diet are historical documents like plantation records, eyewitness accounts and slave narratives (Reitz et al., 1985). Several variables would have been affecting the dietary intake of slaves: the location (farms or cities; coastal or inland places), the size of the farm, the size of the slave family, the presence of children, the ability of the slaves to produce food themselves, the time available to procure wild foods, the amount of food slaves could barter, purchase or steal (Reitz et al., 1985), as well as master-imposed factors (Kelley & Angel, 1987). Besides this, the amount of food acquired daily varied also between blacks and mulattoes, the latter being given better food, better clothes and less physical demanding activities (Blassingame, 1972; Goslinga, 1979: 114). There is also evidence that some categories of slaves (e.g. male industrial slaves) got preferential treatment in recognition of their skills (Kelley & Angel, 1987). Important differences in health patterns were also observed between free and enslaved Africans in the United States, possibly reecting a differential access to good quality food, as well as fairly distinct working conditions between these groups (Rathbun & Steckel, 2002). Kiple & Kiple (1980) estimated that, ideally, Caribbean slave diet allotment would provide about a third of the daily calorie needs and two times more protein as the current recommendation, in the form of half pound of either dried beef or salted sh, and a pint of cornmeal or rice. Whereas some authors (Savitt, 1978; Gibbs et al., 1980) report that the diet of plantation slaves would provide enough calories, less optimistic accounts are given by many authors, like Dickson (1789: 14; Handler & Lange, 1978: 88): when in health, the eld-Negroes never do taste, at least they are not allowed, butchers meat, milk, butter, or any kind of fresh animal substance and Handler & Lange (1978: 87): sh was ideally distributed once a week although, in actual fact, it was sometimes distributed no more than three or four times a year. Such calories decient diet could explain the importance of slave provision grounds to supplement the provided core, although plantation slaves had to produce part of their own food on allotted grounds, but in towns slaves received either rations or cash (Higman, 1979). The poor diet could be directly related to the high incidence of death by marasmus (starvation) observed in one in ten non-adults in Philadelphia during the early-mid 19th century (Blakey et al., 1994). Accordingly, a poor diet must have caused a major negative impact on young children, which were usually given
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tasks so heavy, the treatment so strict, and the care of the negroes in general so neglected. This is conrmed by Goslinga (1979: 114), that says that compared to the Dutch Antilles, life on the plantations in Suriname was hellish. Those slaves lucky enough not to have to work a full 7-day week, nevertheless had to utilise the Sundays to cultivate their own little gardensif they wanted to eat that is. Conditions on the sugar and cotton plantations may have been somewhat better than at the logging plantations, where the big trees were cut, sawn by hand into boards, and carried to the river to be soaked. According to Steckel (1979), factors like plantation type (reecting climate and special features of cultivation), as well as size of plantation (large plantations may have facilitated the spread of infectious diseases) would have played an important role in determining the patterns of morbidity and mortality in different groups.
Conclusion
So far, most of our knowledge on the slavery period comes from historical written sources, which, in the same way that bioarchaeological studies, present its own bias and problems. Collaboration between these two disciplines would be highly desirable in order to unravel the impact of slavery on the way of life of African enslaved groups in the New World from the 16th to the 19th century. Despite the small sample size, the results obtained from the skeletal material presented in this paper represent an important contribution in a eld were archaeological studies are still quite scarce, especially when taking into account that the material here presented, together with the one from Waterloo Plantation, represent all skeletal remains which had been analysed and their results published for the whole continental circum-Caribbean area. Our data conrm the popularity of use of pipe to smoke tobacco among slaves described in many written records and also observed in other individuals from African diaspora archaeological sites. Although both sexes presented very bad oral health conditions, females presented a higher frequency of dental carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss in comparison with males. High levels of stress caused either by undernutrition, infectious diseases or both would account for the presence of cribra orbitalia in some individuals, following a trend that has been observed in other related skeletal series and conrming the miserable work conditions to which these individuals were submitted during their lives.
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I hope this study will encourage future research on human remains from African diaspora archaeological sites. As such, the study of human skeletal remains has much to say about human history.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks Heather Hillenbrand for the English corrections. Suggestions and commentaries from two anonymous reviewers and Terry OConnor greatly improved the former version of this paper, which are deeply appreciated.
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