Historical and chemical traces of an Ozark cemetery for enslaved African-Americans: A study of silhouette burials in Benton County, Arkansas

The identification of human graves in situations where there is little or n o evidence of skeletal material of coffins has been a problem for archaeolo gists. In the spring of 1998, the Arkansas Archaeological Survey was hired to find the location of the 'lost Anderson family slave cemetery on propert y slated fro a new airport. Field methods included front end loader blading and hand excavated units. The location of the slave cemetery on a low knol l in an agricultural floodplain was only identifiable by three features of disturbed soil thought to be grave-fill and the chemical remains of human b urials. One feature contained a light colored stain identified as the archa eological phenomenon referred to variously as a ghost, silhouette, shadow, or degraded burial. In an attempt to confirm human burial by soil analysis, chemical tests were run on a limited number of samples for total digestion and exchangeable levels of elements present in human bodies. This study ex amines several elements that previous investigators have suggested as relia ble indicators for silhouette burials. Because of frequent inundation and t he addition of phosphorus to the field as a fertilizer, only the ratio of Z n/Cu is indicative of possible human burial. Zn/Cu ration show clearly elev ated levels at burial depth int he suspected cemetery features relative to control samples.