African Spirit Bundle Found; Hints at U.S. Slave Ritual

Kimberly Johnson in Washington, D.C.
for National Geographic News

October 31, 2008

Protective spirits were summoned to the streets of Maryland's capital hundreds of years ago in ancient African rituals, according to archaeologists who discovered a rare ceremonial relic.

The bundle of metal objects dates back to the early 1700s. It was found earlier this year in the port city of Annapolis—once a node in the African slave trade—and is the only object of its kind to be found in North America.

The dig was commissioned by the city's mayor to commemorate the city's 300th charter anniversary.

The artifact is one of the earliest examples of African spiritual practice in the U.S., researchers say.

"Bundles are found throughout West Africa, and they're usually used to control the spirit world and to influence the supernatural," said lead researcher Mark Leone, an anthropologist with the University of Maryland.

"It's part of a coherent religious structure. It's there for worship as well as invoking protection."

Bundle of Magic

The clay and sand bundle was unearthed about 1,000 feet (305 meters) from the state's capital building. The artifact was under about four feet (1.2 meters) of dirt in what would have been a canal used to channel rainwater into the city's harbor.

The relic measures about ten inches (25 centimeters) tall and six inches (15 centimers) wide. It may not have been obvious to passersby, but it would have been visible, said Frederick Lamp, curator of african art at the Yale University Art Gallery. Lamp was not affiliated with the archaeological dig, but was consulted by Leone to verify the African context.

The bundle's covering was likely cloth but has since disintegrated. Textile fragments in the soil, however, showed evidence that there had been a wrapping, said Lamp.

An X-ray showed that inside the relic is filled with hardware—300 pieces of lead shot, 25 straight pins, and 12 nails. Atop the bundle was a prehistoric stone axhead with the blade pointing upward.

Some of the straight pins were bent at acute angles, Lamp said. "It's obvious they were purposely bent in ritual preparation."

Normal street surfacing and repaving was likely the reason the object was found so far below ground, Leone explained.

The bundle was found at a crossroads, which is significant, he said.

The roadside canal bordered an unpaved road dating back to the 1680s, which linked two bodies of water—College Creek and the city's harbor.

The bundle was likely placed in the canal before 1720, which makes it one of the earliest U.S. examples of African spirit practices, Leone said. It is the first example of such a bundle with its contents found completely whole and intact in North America, he added.

The discovery points to an evolution of rituals. "This one bundle was deposited in public, and by 1790s, they were buried and used in rituals that were secret." Why the bundles began to be hidden by the late 1700s is not clear, Leone said.

Spirit World

"In Africa there are a lot of things like this, often placed by the roadside," Yales' Lamp said. "They are meant to protect things, usually to protect what is beside the road."

Researchers looked to the bundle's contents for clues in pinpointing the bundle's origins.

What's most unique about the bundle is the inclusion of the axhead, which suggested the Yoruba culture of West Africa found in southwestern Niger and Benin. The ax could indicate both Shango, the god of thunder and lightning in the Yoruba culture, Lamp said.

The ax could also evoke the image of Eshu Elegba, god of the crossroads, according to the Maryland researchers.

Africans brought to the U.S. in the slave trade were thought to maintain at least some of their religious beliefs, and the discovery of the relic points to the preservation of those rites, Leone said.

If groups of transported slaves from the same African kingdoms were placed in a specific area, it could be assumed that their religion would have survived and been kept whole, he said.

"That's an important point that keeps this from being a mere artifact," he said.

Allen Roberts, an African culture expert at University of California, Los Angeles, called the find "spectacular." He said it confirms that Africans who traveled to the U.S. brought with them certain skills. The bundle is evidence of intellectual tools that helped them cope, he added.

Discerning the bundle's purpose, or why it was found where it was, however, would be pure speculation, Roberts said. African spiritual practices eventually became part of more eclectic religions, such as voodoo (see video) and Santeria, which are blends of Christian and African spiritualism. These practices are found throughout the Americas where Africans were transplanted.

"What becomes voodoo or hoodoo is part of that as well—people trying to make do with what they have," said Roberts, who was not affiliated with the dig in Annapolis.

"That's what's interesting about these practices. They are really a gauge of independence. People were doing something that was theirs."