New York African Burial Ground Archaeology Final Report, Volume 1. Chapter 5. Overview of Mortuary Population, Burial Practices, and Spatial Distribution

This chapter presents an overview of the archaeological evidence for population, burial practices, and spatial arrangements at the African Burial Ground. After providing a demographic profile of the population whose graves were disinterred, we turn to the overall evidence for burial practices, viewing the evidence from the site as the physical signature of the repeated performance of funerary ritual. Seven material aspects of mortuary practice are examined: coffins, grave orientation, body position, individual/co-interment, burial attire (shrouds, winding sheets, street clothes), adornment and other goods in direct association with the deceased, and grave marking. In subsequent chapters, we will look sequentially at the four temporal groups of burials, noting possible evidence for change over time. As will be seen, however, continuity overshadows change with regard to burial patterns.