| Abstract: |
This report describes and discusses archaeological investigations of the 'Liberated African' graveyards in Rupert's Valley, on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic. These works were undertaken between 2007 and 2008, and were funded by the British Government (Department for International Development). They arose from wider environmental studies initiated in response to proposals to build an airport on the island, which is presently only accessible by sea. The graveyards as a whole belong to the middle decades of the 19th century, and relate to Britain's attempts to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. Between 1840 and 1872 a Vice-Admiralty court operated on St Helena, adjudicating cases of slave ships captured by the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron. As a part of this process, the human cargo of these vessels, nearly all of whom had been transported in appalling conditions, were brought ashore on St Helena. The records indicate that over 26,000 'Liberated' or 'recaptive' Africans were received by the 'Liberated African Establishment' on the island during this period. 'Depots' were set up in two valleys, acting as receiving centres, hospitals and quarantine zones. The first of these, Lemon Valley, was abandoned after 1843, but Rupert's Valley continued to receive and treat slaves into the late 1860s. The majority of recaptives survived. Some became residents of St Helena but most were moved onwards to other British colonies, principally in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the mortality rate on the slave ships and after landing was extremely high. The slave vessels arrived with corpses aboard, and many other Liberated Africans died in the days and weeks after landing. Periodic attempts were made to dispose of the bodies at sea, but this measure proved impractical. As a result, burial on land became necessary, and large areas close to the depots were given over to unconsecrated, institutional, graveyards. Over the Establishment's lifetime it is estimated that around 8000 Africans were buried in these graveyards, most in Rupert's Valley. Burials in the valley have been encountered in the past, but the present report is concerned with discoveries made between 2006 and 2008. These began when geotechnical trial pitting in 2006 encountered a small number of burials, work which was followed by more formal archaeological investigations in 2007. Full open-area excavation of a part of the upper graveyard was undertaken during a four month period in 2008. |
