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Cited by 3Historical and Cultural Archaeology StudiesColonialism, slavery, and tradeAfrican history and culture studies

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Entangled Landscape: Spatial Discipline and Liminal Freedom in Coastal Sierra Leone

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Agbelusi, Oluseyi Odunyemi·2024·American Antiquity
DOI 10.1017/aaq.2024.44
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Abstract

In this article, I present the freedom narratives of the diverse enslaved Africans who were liberated from barracoons and captured slave vessels and resettled at Regent Village on the Sierra Leone peninsula in the nineteenth century. Following the British abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807, the British Royal Navy patrolled the West Atlantic Sea and redirected illegal slave vessels to Sierra Leone, where the Vice-Admiralty Court (which became the Mixed Commissions in 1820) would set them free from slavery. While legally free from bondage, liberated Africans became colonial subjects living in a nascent British colony. What can historical archaeology reveal about the history of freedom among diasporic ethnic identities at Regent Village? I answer this broad question by drawing on historical and archaeological data to demonstrate how people navigated and transformed the village landscape, as well as the decisions and choices they made at the household level, focusing on selected two house loci, which serve as a case study. I concentrate mainly on the identities, experiences, and historical narratives of liberated Africans in the village and extend the discussion to the lives of their descendants who continue to negotiate issues of power and control in contemporary Sierra Leone., ResumenA partir de este trabajo, presento las narrativas de liberación diversos grupos de población esclavizada liberados de los barracones y embarcaciones de esclavizados capturados y reasentados en Regent Village en la península de Sierra Leona en el siglo XIX. Tras la abolición británica del Comercio Atlántico Esclavista en 1807, la Marina Real Británica patrullaba el Mar Atlántico Occidental y redirigía las embarcaciones legales con población en cautiverio a Sierra Leona, donde el Tribunal de Vicealmirantazgo (que se convirtió en las Comisiones Mixtas en 1820) los liberaría de la esclavitud. Aunque legalmente libres de la servidumbre, la población africana liberada se convirtió en súbditos coloniales que vivían en una colonia británica incipiente. ¿Qué puede revelar la arqueología histórica sobre la historia de la liberación entre las identidades étnicas diaspóricas en Regent Village? Respondo a esta pregunta amplia utilizando datos históricos y arqueológicos para demostrar las formas en que las personas navegaron el paisaje del poblado y los transformaron, así como las decisiones y elecciones que tomaron a nivel doméstico, centrándome en dos lugares seleccionados de casas, que sirven como estudio de caso. Me enfoque principalmente en las identidades, experiencias y narrativas históricas de africanos liberados en el poblado y amplío la discusión a las vidas de sus descendientes, que continúan negociando problemas de poder y control en la Sierra Leona contemporánea.

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TL;DR

This historical archaeology study examines how liberated Africans and their Krio descendants at Regent Village, Sierra Leone, navigated colonial spatial discipline and created “liminal freedom” after abolition. It combines landscape survey, household excavation, and documentary research to argue that residents actively shaped the village landscape and participated in local and global exchange networks.

Key findings

  • Regent Village’s colonial landscape—church-centered cadastral grids, King’s Yard wall, and ordered house lots—was intended to discipline liberated Africans, but residents manipulated and transformed it through regrouping, mobility, yard use, and land transactions.
  • Pedestrian survey covered 4.66198 km² (1.8 square miles); of 16 streets, 14 had architectural remains and colonial-period deposits, and the team recorded 48 loci: 41 residential and 7 nonresidential.
  • Excavations at two Fitzjames Street house lots—the King family lot (Locus 6, 168 m² excavated) and Johnson family lot (Locus 9, approximately 384 m² excavated)—yielded late nineteenth- and twentieth-century artifacts showing participation in global exchange networks, with imports from Great Britain, Canada, and the United States alongside locally made ceramics and ground stone tools.
  • Emancipation produced liminal freedom rather than full freedom: liberated African children faced apprenticeships, adult women forced marriages, and men forced naval enlistment; the paper notes that the Provinces Lands Act 1960 and related statutes restrict Krios from acquiring customary land rights or freehold title in the Provinces, limiting them to leasehold interests.

Methods

  • Historical archaeology combining documentary sources—registers of liberated Africans, parish registers, land conveyances, probate records, censuses, topographic maps, old photographs, tax records, newspapers, and police reports—with secondary historical sources.
  • Pedestrian surveys and excavations at Regent Village, conducted as part of the Syracuse University Archaeological Initiative in the Sierra Leone Estuary (AISLE), with permissions from Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and Monuments and Relics Commission.
  • Excavations from March 2020 to August 2020 focused mainly on backyards of two house lots: Locus 6 (King family, 168 m²) and Locus 9 (Johnson family, approximately 384 m²); analysis centered on artifact assemblages, features, and spatial data.

Limitations

  • Stated in the paper: earliest artifacts date to the mid-nineteenth century, making the earliest stages of rebuilding lives after emancipation difficult to study; the occupancy history of the two house lots, especially Locus 9, is fragmented; the names and identities of liberated Africans who lived at Loci 6 and 9 in the mid-nineteenth century are unknown; censuses after 1871 were defective, complicating assessment of emigration pace; and a colonial-period map showing land grants and partitioning was unavailable at the time of study.
  • Evident from the text: the household analysis is a two-lot case study within one village, so it cannot represent the full range of liberated African and Krio experiences across Regent or the peninsula; land conveyances provided only a limited occupational history for the properties.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/aaq.2024.44

Cites

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Figures

Figure 1 Map of Western Area showing numerous liberated African villages, including Regent. Inset: Map of Africa showing Sierra Leone ( above ) and a map of Sierra Leone, showing the Western Area and the Provinces ( below ). (Computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)
Figure 1 Map of Western Area showing numerous liberated African villages, including Regent. Inset: Map of Africa showing Sierra Leone ( above ) and a map of Sierra Leone, showing the Western Area and the Provinces ( below ). (Computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 2 (a) A view of the King ' s Yard at Regent Village, showing St. Charles Church and a wall built around the settlement. The wall and its entrance are indicated in the circle (Poole 1850:frontispiece). (b) The remnant of the wall. (Photograph by the author.) (Color online)
Figure 2 (a) A view of the King ' s Yard at Regent Village, showing St. Charles Church and a wall built around the settlement. The wall and its entrance are indicated in the circle (Poole 1850:frontispiece). (b) The remnant of the wall. (Photograph by the author.) (Color online)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 3 Regent ' s Town, circa 1821. St. Charles Church is shown in the circle (https://liberatedafricans.org/digital-resources/imagegallery.php). (Color online)
Figure 3 Regent ' s Town, circa 1821. St. Charles Church is shown in the circle (https://liberatedafricans.org/digital-resources/imagegallery.php). (Color online)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 4 Locations of colonial period house structures that survived at Regent Village indicated on a georeferenced 1966 topographic map. (Courtesy of Mr. Tamba Dauda, Director of the Department of Surveys and Lands, Freetown, and used with permission.)
Figure 4 Locations of colonial period house structures that survived at Regent Village indicated on a georeferenced 1966 topographic map. (Courtesy of Mr. Tamba Dauda, Director of the Department of Surveys and Lands, Freetown, and used with permission.)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 5 The site plan for Locus 6 -the King family lot -indicating excavated and unexcavated portions. (Hand drawing by the author; computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)
Figure 5 The site plan for Locus 6 -the King family lot -indicating excavated and unexcavated portions. (Hand drawing by the author; computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 6 The site plan for Locus 9 -the Johnson family lot -indicating excavated and unexcavated portions. (Hand drawing by the author; computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)
Figure 6 The site plan for Locus 9 -the Johnson family lot -indicating excavated and unexcavated portions. (Hand drawing by the author; computer illustration by Abayomi Diya and used with permission.)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Image 7
CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 7 Locally produced objects: (a) a pot lid refitted from several fragments (Locus 6); (b) two local ceramic pots refitted from several fragments (Locus 9). (Photographs by the author.) (Color online)
Figure 7 Locally produced objects: (a) a pot lid refitted from several fragments (Locus 6); (b) two local ceramic pots refitted from several fragments (Locus 9). (Photographs by the author.) (Color online)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Figure 8 Imported objects from Europe: (a) a glazed earthenware, possibly from the nineteenth century (Locus 6); (b) English stoneware penny ink bottles dating to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Locus 9). (Photographs by the author.) (Color online)
Figure 8 Imported objects from Europe: (a) a glazed earthenware, possibly from the nineteenth century (Locus 6); (b) English stoneware penny ink bottles dating to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Locus 9). (Photographs by the author.) (Color online)CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
Image 10
CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

40 Own interpretation · 33 No basis given · 29 Sources not found · 12 Own result · 7 Own method · 1 Not checked yet

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 26
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 49
65 of 65

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Krios are descendants of the liberated Africans resettled at Regent Village.

    “the liberated Africans and the Krios-as their descendants came to be known”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 1831 census accurately records the housing types of villagers at Regent Village.

    “Entries in the 1831 census indicate that most villagers lived in huts made from wattle and daub with thatched roofs”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The toponyms Mocco Town, Aku Town, and Katunga/Katanga square reflect the ethnic origins of the residents of those areas.

    “The results of the pedestrian survey revealed toponyms of spaces within the village, such as Mocco Town along Gloucester Road, Aku Town along Jeremiah Street, and a Katunga/Katanga square”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Some liberated Africans and Krios left the villages on the peninsula as early as the 1840s to search for family members, find better opportunities, or spread Christianity to other parts of West Africa.

    “As early as the 1840s, some liberated Africans and Krios left the villages on the peninsula to search for their family members in their homeland, to find better opportunities, or to spread Christianity to other parts of West Africa.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Not all liberated Africans sought the achievement of freedom abroad; some stayed in the villages to maintain new family and community ties.

    “It is important to note that not all liberated Africans sought the achievement of freedom abroad.Some stayed in the villages to maintain new family and community ties.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Those who left the villages either rented their lands and houses to locals or sold parcels of land.

    “Those who left the villages either rented their lands and houses to locals or sold parcels of land.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Those who left organized, moved around, and created new settlements in their homelands where they had once been enslaved, or moved to the British Caribbean islands as indentured laborers.

    “They organized, moved around, and created new settlements in their homelands, where they had once been enslaved, or they moved to the British Caribbean islands as indentured laborers.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Migration patterns show that many liberated Africans and Krios returned to the seaboard cities of the Bights of Benin and Biafra.

    “The migration patterns show that many returned to the seaboard cities of the Bights of Benin and Biafra.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Liberated Africans and Krios who migrated would have lived in a constant state of migration and fear or self-protection to avoid being re-enslaved or imprisoned.

    “They would have lived in a constant state of migration and fear or self-protection to avoid being re-enslaved or imprisoned.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The ongoing rapid expansion in the villages is a way to revitalize aging settlements, which is uprooting old buildings and neighborhoods.

    “The ongoing rapid expansion in the villages is a way to revitalize aging settlements, which is uprooting old buildings and neighborhoods.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Krios dominated the population in the village during the second half of the nineteenth century.

    “I present the artifact assemblages from two house lots at Fitzjames Street, possibly occupied in the second half of the nineteenth century, during the period when the Krios dominated the population in the village.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The elites among the liberated Africans and Krios had political influence in their communities, which was drastically reduced due to the European 'Scramble for Africa' in the last decade of the nineteenth century until Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961.

    “The elites among the liberated Africans and Krios had political influence in their communities, which was drastically reduced due to the European”
12 of 12

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1 of 1

Citations

Cites

The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.

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Metadata

Authors
Agbelusi, O. O.
Affiliations
George Washington University (US)
Corresponding author
Agbelusi, Oluseyi Odunyemi
ORCID
Agbelusi, Oluseyi Odunyemi
Venue
American Antiquity
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2024-10
Volume
89
Issue
4
Pages
574-590
ISSN
  • 0002-7316 (ISSN-L)
  • 2325-5064
DOI
10.1017/aaq.2024.44
OpenAlex
W4408121589
Cited by
2
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2
FWCI
1.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
American Antiquity (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • American Council of Learned Societies
  • George Washington University
  • Syracuse University
  • Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › African history and culture studies
Keywords
freedmen, colonial subjects, liminality, household archaeology, British colonial rule, Sierra Leone, 19th century, historical archaeology

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