Settlement Patterns and the Origins of African Jamaican Society: Seville Plantation, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica

Abstract

Archaeological and historical research at Seville Plantation, Jamaica, are used to explain changes in settlement patterns within the estate's African Jamaican community between 1670 and the late nineteenth century. Sugar plantations, such as Seville, are marked by well-de.ned spatial order based upon economic and power relations that was imposed upon enslaved communities by planters andmanagers. Archaeological evidence is used to explore how enslaved Africans modified this imposed order and rede.ned boundaries in ways that correspond with the development of a distinct African Jamaican society. The rigidly de.ned linear housing arrangements initially established by the planter, and their relations to the Great House, sugar works, and .elds, were reinterpreted by the enslaved residents of the village to create a degree of autonomy and freedom from constant surveillance that was at odds with themotives of the planter class.These changes occurred within the spatial parameters established by the planter, yet they re.ect dynamic and creative social processes that resulted in the emergence of an African Jamaican community.

The Archaeology of Slavery

“…Provision grounds, yard spaces, and other aspects of landscape and building use were ways through which enslaved communities were able to retain a degree of autonomy outside of the spatial controls of enslavement (Armstrong and Kelly 2000;Delle 1999;Heath and Bennett 2000). As discussed in Chap.…”

La vie quotidienne des habitations sucrières aux Antilles : l’archéologie à la découverte d’une histoire cachée

“…Les habitants tenaient bien sûr à surveiller leurs travailleurs asservis mais ne voulaient pas forcément vivre parmi eux ni même à proximité de leurs maisons, par souci des odeurs, ordures, épidémies et autres désagréments 73 . Mais à Grande Pointe le terrain disponible pour la construction du village est restreint et la carte du village montre que la maison de maître se trouvait seulement à quelques dizaines de mètres.…”

Creole Cultures of the Caribbean: Historical Archaeology in the French West Indies

“…Another possible explanation for the wall relates to aesthetic concerns. In many cases, planters wished to be able to exercise a degree of surveillance over their enslaved laborers, but they did not wish to live among or directly adjacent to the villages due to associations of filth, illness, and so forth (Armstrong and Kelly 2000). Yet at Grande Pointe the available land for the village was limited, and a glance at the map of the village shows that the maison de maître lay only a few tens of meters distant.…”