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Cist graves on Saba: funerary traditions in the colonial Caribbean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2019

Ryan Espersen Open the ORCID record for Ryan Espersen [Opens in a new window]  and
Jay Haviser
Ryan Espersen*
Affiliation:
Saba Archaeological Center, 3 Fort Street, Windwardside, 00000, Saba, Dutch Caribbean
Jay Haviser
Affiliation:
St Maarten Archaeological Center, 33 Welgelegen Road, Unit 1, Cay Hill, Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Stone cist graves dating to the Bronze Age through to the late medieval period are well attested across Western Europe. In the Americas, such cist graves are found only on the island of Saba in the Dutch Caribbean. First starting in the colonial period, this funerary practice continues on Saba to the present day, representing a cultural continuity with rural seventeenth-century populations—probably settlers from the British Isles. This article discusses the recent excavation of several cist burials on Saba, their structural forms and their relevance for understanding cultural continuity in the Caribbean of the historical period.

Keywords

CaribbeanSababurial practiceshistorical archaeologycolonialismslavery
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 371 , October 2019 , pp. 1322 - 1338
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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