I am privileged to tell the story of the rediscovery of 17 Stones Cemetery. Over the last two years ever since I first encountered the 17 Stones grave markers in the cemetery, my energies have been focused on answering the many questions presented by the existence of the site and its relics. The grave markers reflect creolized Igbo marks made by enslaved people brought from the Bight of Biafra to Amherst County Virginia. They are important because they represent the transmission of African culture to the New World, and demonstrate the existence and survival of an Igbo community despite the subjugation of slavery.
