New York African Burial Ground Archaeology Final Report, Volume 1. Chapter 1. Introduction

This report is one of three disciplinary reports on the African Burial Ground Project. One report focuses on the skeletal biological analysis of the remains recovered from the site (Blakey and Rankin Hill 2004). A second report focuses on the documentary history, from a Diasporic perspective, of Africans who lived and died in early New York (Medford 2004). The present report, consisting of four volumes, presents the archaeological research on the African Burial Ground. General background on the African Burial Ground project is presented in the beginning of the skeletal biology component report (Blakey and Rankin-Hill 2004). Here we provide background information that is specifically relevant to the excavated site, the archaeological fieldwork undertaken in 1991-92 (its planning, personnel, extent, duration, termination, etc.), and the analysis and disposition of non-skeletal material from the excavation.

本报告为非洲墓地项目（African Burial Ground Project）的三份学科专题报告之一。其中一份报告聚焦该遗址出土遗骸的骨骼生物学分析（skeletal biological analysis）（Blakey与Rankin Hill，2004）；第二份报告从散居视角（Diasporic perspective）出发，梳理早期纽约地区非裔人群的生平与逝世相关的文献史料（Medford，2004）。本报告共计四卷，呈现针对非洲墓地项目的考古学研究成果。非洲墓地项目的通用背景信息已在骨骼生物学分册（Blakey与Rankin-Hill，2004）的开篇部分进行了阐述。本文将提供与本次发掘遗址直接相关的背景资料：包括1991至1992年间开展的考古田野工作（涵盖其规划、参与人员、作业范围、持续时长、终止缘由等），以及本次发掘出土的非骨骼类遗存的分析与处置情况。