UC Santa Cruz

This research presents the first archaeological study of marronage as a form of resistance in Saint-Domingue (nowadays Haiti). In 1791, Saint-Domingue, then the most profitable plantation colony of the eighteenth-century Atlantic world, began a massive uprising, which became the most successful slave revolt that culminated in the creation of the first independent Black nation. While scholars have debated the significance of marronage in this process, interpretations remain divided. Two schools of thought emerged. One argues that maroons played a pivotal role in that success across the colony, whereas the other claims that the impact of marronage was limited, framing the Haitian Revolution primarily as a by-product of the French Revolution. Both perspectives, however, lack evidence from maroon settlements. Their discourse was supported by archival documents and oral history. This research addresses the gap by introducing archaeological data from the first maroon site excavated in Haiti.Using an interdisciplinary methodology that combines archival documents, map analyses, predictive modeling, interviews, and archaeological regional survey, I identified several enslaved fugitives involved in maroon activity, numerous colonial settlements, and excavated a maroon site, in Dondon, located in northern Haiti. Findings and spatial analysis demonstrate that proliferation of coffee habitations throughout the landscape constrained opportunities for long-term maroon settlements. Nevertheless, the mountainous and rugged terrain, along with concealed and secret places like caverns, provided sanctuary for ephemeral maroon activity known as petit marronage. Material remains recovered from the maroon site reveal strategies of survival, adaptation, and resistance within a colonial landscape designed to restrict enslaved peoples’ movements. The spatial position of the site and assemblages recovered illuminate broader historical questions concerning the degree of relationships between maroons and the habitation system and shed light on the nature of the social networks into which maroons were embedded. Furthermore, this study argues that limitations on the expansion of maroon communities might constitute a structural factor that propelled enslaved people towards direct confrontation with the colonial system, consequently contributing to the revolutionary momentum of 1791-1803.