an oral tradition that descendants of montpelier slaves have told us is that the periwinkle you see here was planted intentionally to help mark this area. because it blooms in the springtime. and so it linked into ideas of rebirth and resurrection that are part of the christian religion that had become part of their lives. this is not the only slave cemetery here at montpelier. there are archaeological surveys we have found evidence of other slave cemeteries at other locations. this appears to be the largest, and because of its location, its proximity to the mansion, it seems likely that it served the nucleus of the slave population and those that worked in the household, the tradesmen that ran the blacksmith shop and cared for the garden and the stables, this clearly emerges as the most important. we also hosted reunions of descendants of montpelier slaves, so we have learned some of the oral traditions about how burials were carried out during slavery and some of the beliefs attached to that. and that's given us some more insight into the meaning and significance of this cemetery. the

if you're really hungry, you eat marsh periwinkles and get protein. you also get a lot of shell, but you expel that out the other end. and then, of course, the waterways themselves with all kinds of wild fowl, fish, shellfish, et cetera, et cetera. and the more fresh water marsh you got and the more estuaries you got, especially shallow ones, the better off you are. that's the major reason why the rich folks were in the coastal plain in indian times. they were able to get lots of stuff from the land, and also lots of stuff from the water. all eco zones got used. go back a minute to the business of the plants. these are some of the plants, and they're only some of the plants that are useful with a bit less wor