PHILIPSBURG:--- On 22 April 2025, the Opening of a new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Leiden took place, with the presence of Queen Maxima and representatives from all of the Dutch islands in the Caribbean. The theme of this exhibition was ’25 years of Archaeology in the Kingdom’ and although primarily regarding Netherlands sites, it also included a variety of archaeological evidence from the Dutch Caribbean islands. For each island, a specific representative site was selected for exhibition. For St. Maarten, it was the ZOUTSTEEG THREE, a group of three, first-generation enslaved Africans, excavated in 2010 by SIMARC archaeologist Dr. Jay Haviser, who was there for the presentation. The Zoutsteeg Three became internationally famous in 2015, being identified as one of the Top-Ten archaeological discoveries by Archaeology Magazine. The basis of this top-ten status, was innovative genetics research on these skeletons, by the University of Copenhagen, that produced, for the very first time, a whole genome reconstruction (maternal and paternal), of tropical-ancient samples, and combined that data with a Strontium isotope analysis, to identify the exact birth location of these three Africans, in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. In 2015, this was the first time such precise origins identification had been identified for enslaved Africans in the Caribbean.
All three of the Zoutsteeg Africans had all of their incisor teeth intentionally modified into sharp points, a painful and rebellious act, which is a common aesthetic tradition in Africa, that was dramatically stopped in the Caribbean colonies, and is an indicator of first-generation enslaved Africans. Dr Haviser gave the Zoutsteeg Three presentation at the Opening, along with colleagues from Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Saba, and Statia, speaking for their islands. This Rijksmuseum exhibition will remain open until September of this year.
There were several strong key points made in Haviser’s lecture, including; the need to confront Hard Truths in heritage; the need for a memorial plaque/statue at the site; as well as, the responsibility to eventually re-bury these human remains, and it was proposed to establish an international cooperation program with those African countries from which these remains come, to have an intercontinental repatriation of the remains for reburial in their homelands of West Africa.