Enslaved Life at Betty’s Hope
Enslaved Life at Betty’s Hope
Chapter 10 investigates the life of enslaved Africans at Betty’s Hope who numbered in the hundreds for this large plantation. Excavations of the slaved quarters in 2014 and 2015 revealed information about slave housing, subsistence, and lifeways. The archaeology and archival records support a life under difficult conditions, with few options to exercise any agency. Yet evidence of agency is manifest in the recovery of hundreds of pieces of Afro-Antiguan wares, as well as ceramic game tokens, repurposed bottle glass, a musket ball converted into a fishing weight, and four cowrie shells probably used as a form of currency or talismans. The practice of Obeah is briefly discussed as an act of cultural resistance among those enslaved at Betty’s Hope.
Keywords: Afro-Antiguan wares, agency, Betty’s Hope, cowrie shells, cultural resistance, game tokens, slave quarters
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