The African Burial Ground – an archaeological and cultural rejoinder
An analysis of the view of Jacobs (1969, p. 16) that ‘the separation commonly made, dividing the city’s commerce and industry from rural agriculture, is artificial and imaginary’, with reference to Çatal Hüyük.
August 8, 2021Sutton Hoo revisited – a comparative study with Swedish burial grounds.
August 8, 2021The African Burial Ground – an archaeological and cultural rejoinder
Example archaeology dissertation topic 2:
The African Burial Ground – an archaeological and cultural rejoinder
Located in Lower Manhattan, the aforementioned site has been found to contain the (intact) remains of 400 men as well as those of women and children. Despite initial beliefs that the site had also been home to mass burials, no such evidence was found. This dissertation assesses the impact of the opening of a visitor centre and the decreeing of the site as the 123rd National Monument. In so doing the role that archaeology has had are assessed, through the finding of the site, in reshaping previous preconceptions of black Afro-American history in the New York district as well as issues relating to ‘reclaiming our history’ within the Afro-American New York community.
Suggested initial topic reading:
- Epperson, T.W. (1997). ‘The politics of “race” and cultural identity at the African Burial Ground excavations, New York City’, World Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 7, pp. 108-117.
- Jamieson, R.W. (1995). ‘Material culture and social death: African-American burial practices’, Historical Archaeology, Vol. 29(4), pp. 39-58.
- Lepore, J. (2005). New York burning: Liberty, slavery and conspiracy in eighteenth-century Manhattan. New York: Knopf.
