Date of Award
7-2006
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Charles Hilton
Second Advisor
Dr. Robert Ulin
Third Advisor
Dr. Frederick Smith
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
In 1996 and 2000, construction workers uncovered unmarked burial grounds in the Pierhead and Fontabelle sections of Bridgetown, Barbados. The human remains were removed in salvage excavation and are now housed at the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. The associated grave goods, documentary record, and initial osteological analysis indicate these individuals were part of the enslaved workforce during the early to mid- eighteenth century. This thesis will explore the presence of vertebral osteophytosis, vertebral anterior wedge compression fractures, vertebral apophyseal facet remodeling and musculoskeletal stress markers among the human remains from Pierhead and F ontabelle in order to gain a better understanding of the physical demands of labor placed upon these individuals. By comparing the analyses of occupational stress markers among the individuals from the Pierhead and Fontabelle burial grounds with skeletal remains from other traditional and enslaved populations, this thesis will also attempt to place the slave regime of Bridgetown within historical understandings of slavery and the larger context of human labor.
Recommended Citation
Muno, Sarah, "Occupational Stress and Slavery: Evidence from Bridgetown, Barbados" (2006). Masters Theses. 3910.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3910