Subsistence as Transformative Practice: The Zooarchaeology of Slavery in the Colonial Caribbean

Abstract

ABSTRACT The colonial Caribbean was the site of dynamic interaction between groups of Europeans, Africans, and Indigenous peoples, structured by vast power inequalities. With the emergence of the plantation system, enslaved Africans and their descendants were forced to navigate a violent and lethal system. Food insecurity remained a central struggle within their lives. In this article, I review zooarchaeological studies from 15 sites of enslavement throughout the Caribbean to examine the strategies developed by enslaved peoples to survive. The data reveal variation in the specific taxa consumed, but also show common practices, marked by some combination of domestic livestock, local fish and shellfish, and the supplemental procurement of wild resources. These practices form the roots of contemporary Caribbean cuisine, which developed through the maintenance and transformation of traditional knowledge, and became resilient features of community and household economies and social identity for enslaved peoples and their descendants.