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The maintenance of cultural and personal identities of enslaved Africans and British soldiers at the Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts, West Indies

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Abstract

The Brimstone Hill Fortress, one of the largest colonial military complexes in the Caribbean, was occupied by the British from 1690 to 1854. Until the 1830s, a workforce of enslaved Africans constructed and maintained the fort. Among artifacts recovered from two buildings occupied by slaves are 155 European-made ceramic and glass sherds, mostly from flatware, plates, and soup plates. They are notched or scratched with a variety of lines and geometric patterns as well as with English letters and X’s. Our studies indicate that these marks were one mechanism that British soldiers and enslaved Africans used to maintain their personal and cultural identities.

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Schroedl, G.F., Ahlman, T.M. The maintenance of cultural and personal identities of enslaved Africans and British soldiers at the Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts, West Indies. Hist Arch 36, 38–49 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374368

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