On slaves and beer: the first images of the South Sea Company slave market in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Images of the Retiro slave market in Buenos Aires had never been seen previously and the possibility of excavating the site has long gone. The discovery of etchings of the underground cellars in 2010 of the Bieckert Brewery, which occupied the site years later, has made it possible to see the nature of the market and understand the functioning of the construction that preceded the brewery. This market was unique in the city in that it functioned almost underground. The issue of the presence of the African population in Buenos Aires has had a great impact on archaeology. All information regarding the black population's material culture and architectural places, whether made by them or for them, is important; such is the case here of accessing a system of vaulted subterranean constructions quite different from the city's other architecture.

Keywords:

• urban archaeology
• slave market
• Retiro
• architecture

Acknowledgements

The etchings that illustrate and inspired this article were kindly provided by Santiago Aguirre Saravia on behalf of his father, Aníbal Aguirre Saravia, a great connoisseur of the history of Buenos Aires and an expert in its iconography. This study would have been impossible without them.