Expedition Costa Rica: East Carolina University’s Summer 2015 Maritime Studies Field School in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo
Other Keywords
Fishing •
Costa Rica •
Art •
Site Formation •
Brick •
Photogrammetry •
Music •
Folklore •
Slaves •
Maritime
Temporal Keywords
18th Century •
20th Century •
1700-1886 •
1400 to 1720 •
20th- century •
20-th century •
Historical (1650-1800)
Geographic Keywords
North America •
Coahuila (State / Territory) •
New Mexico (State / Territory) •
Oklahoma (State / Territory) •
Arizona (State / Territory) •
Texas (State / Territory) •
Sonora (State / Territory) •
United States of America (Country) •
Chihuahua (State / Territory) •
Nuevo Leon (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
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Black Female Slave in the Caribbean: An Archaeological Observation on Culture (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The relationships between white men and black female slaves resulted in the formation of new ethnic identitites and social structures associated with their mixed-heritage or "mulatto" children. Sources like artwork and ethno-historical accounts of mulatto children in areas of the Caribbean and the role of African female slaves lend unique insights into social dynamics and cultural markers of modern populations. This paper examines the historical narratives and archaeological findings of black...
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Bricks as Ballast: An Archaeological Analysis of a Shipwreck in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Ships wrecked in Caribbean waters seldom preserve their structural integrity. Often only ferrous artifacts and ballast remain as the cultural indicators. The ballast of a wreck, if carefully documented, may have significant interpretive value to the site. An East Carolina University team investigated a wreck site in Costa Rica consisting of yellow brick stacked in a concentrated, organized pile. This paper examines the function of brick as both ballast and cargo in the historical record of the...
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"El Lanchon": Investigation of an Industrial Relic at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Known to the people of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica as El Lanchon (the barge) this intertidal structure was one subject for study at the Program in Maritime Studies’ 2015 summer field school. What began as an opportunity to experiment with photogrammetric techniques soon turned into a more detailed examination of the site’s various functions and multi-layered history. This presentation will outline the present day use of "El Lanchon" as well as its connection to successful and failed industries...
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Fleets of Cahuita: Recording and Interpreting the Costa Rica Fishing Boats (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Today Cahuitan fishermen often build and design their own fishing boats used for snorkel tours, lobster diving and artisanal fishing. These watercraft come in a variety of sizes, design and hull decorations. The builders have detailed knowledge about functions and features. Up until the early 1980s all these watercraft were log boat designs, evolving rapidly into modern fiberglass or dugouts covered in fiberglass. Distinctively designed oars are handmade with machetes and used to propel boats...
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Folklore, Fishing Art, and Free Divers: The Cahuita Community (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Cahuita, a small Afro Caribbean town in southern Costa Rica, boasts a vibrant community of painters, musicians and fishermen. The plethora of colorful murals on buildings, stone statues, lyrics and sounds of calypso and reggae music, small fishing boats and folklore expand the maritime historical narrative. Themes include dramatic stories about shipwrecks and survivors, nature conservation debates, earthquakes, local wildlife, and fishing adventures. The ECU maritime studies team will present an...
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Investigating a Cannon Site Conundrum in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica (2016)
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A site comprising cannons, anchors, and dispersed bricks on the seabed of Cahuita National Park may represent scenarios of a scuttling trail, a wrecking event, or dramatic crew mutiny where sailors set fire to their ship after a disastrous voyage. Danish West Indies historic records and local Afro-Caribbean folklore center around stories of pirate ships and two 18th-century slave ships that were burnt or broken up by surf in this location. The ECU team investigated the distribution patterns of...
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Pirates and Slave Ships: The Historical Context of Two Wrecks in Cahuita, Costa Rica (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Cahuita, Costa Rica is a secluded part of the Caribbean coastline where, historically, pirates hid away to escape capture and to restock their supplies. It was also an entry point to bring slaves into the mainland Spanish colonies. Two shipwreck sites, which have yet to be positively identified, are part of the attractions in the bay for snorkel tourism. The stories about the origins of the wrecks are very diverse, ranging from French and Spanish pirate vessels (Palmer 2005) to the Danish slave...
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Port of Badagary, a Point of No Return: Investigation of Maritime Slave Trade in Nigeria (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Two Danish ships that wrecked at Cahuita Point in Costa Rica carried many slaves of Yoruba ethnicity from a geographic locale in the vicinity modern day Nigeria in Africa. Danish Company records reveal that in addition, to human cargoes of around 400 slaves each, one ship included 4,000 pounds and the other 7, 311 pounds of ivory. Founded in 1425 A.D., the port city of Badagry played a strategic role in both the transatlantic slave and ivory trade. Maritime Cultural Landscape Theory is a useful...