The Landscapes of Disease and Death in Colonial Mauritius

Abstract

The recurring ebb and flow of epidemic diseases profoundly impacted how colonial administrations dealt with death. This article focuses on the role disease played in shaping the “necrogeography” of colonial landscapes, a key point of intersection between funerary and landscape archaeology. Using an extensive corpus of evidence from cemeteries that capture inhumation practices from formerly enslaved and indentured populations, this article provides an assessment of these burial contexts as part of the cultural landscape in Mauritius. Drawing together functional and emotional dimensions, their features and development will be considered against the backdrop of the island’s specific and dynamic disease ecology.