Cultural transformation within enslaved laborer communities in the Caribbean

The social and cultural systems that emerged under the harsh restrictions of slavery in the New World represent modifications of traditional African cultural systems. Through processes of cultural transformation, African culture in the Caribbean underwent a metamorphosis that incorporated many dimensions of change, including the retention of culturally defined elements that served to perpetuate an African heritage. The emergent cultures were, and are, indelibly linked with their pasts-in Africa and in the Americas. This chapter presents an argument that utilizes the concept of transformation to explain culture change associated with culture contact on Caribbean plantations. It draws on data from archaeological and historical studies of Seville Plantation, Jamaica, to illustrate how this model allows us to better understand the results of culture contact and interaction in the Americas.