BMHS appoints Newton Slave Burial Ground sub-committee

The Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS) has appointed a sub-committee to the Newton Slave Burial Ground, located at Christ Church, “due to its historic significance”.

In a release the BMHS said, the sub-committee will not only advise the council and the BMHS staff on the development, interpretation and promotion of the archaeological site, but also assist with its the monitoring and management.

The sub-committee which was implemented on Emancipation Day, Saturday August, 1 2020 will also recommend strategies for fundraising to support the development of the Newton Slave Burial Ground which is under the BMHS’ control and ownership.

Chair of the Committee, Dr Tara Inniss, lecturer in History at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, said, “the committee has much work to do to continue to highlight the role of enslaved Africans in building our society.

“We have gleaned so much of the lives of enslaved Barbadians from Newton plantation from both the archaeology and the records that exist for Newton and we are called on to make this an important site for the commemoration and reflection of their contributions to Barbados.”

The BMHS said the Newton Enslaved Burial Ground is the largest and earliest undisturbed sugar plantation communal enslaved burial grounds found in the Western Hemisphere. “This site is a resting place for our African ancestors who were so cruelly removed from their homelands and forced to endure the horrors of slavery.”

“Extensive archaeological excavation at the site has revealed information about the lives of our ancestors. Some of the artefacts uncovered included jewelry, smoking pipes and eating utensils. Artefacts and burial practices have also provided insights into the religion and culture of enslaved Barbadians.

“The archaeological site helps document the daily struggles of our ancestors, and is widely considered an important site of memory for the slave trade, slavery and emancipation,” the release said. (strong>PR)