Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In June and July 2018, students from universities across the United States were part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius (Statia). A collaboration between Texas State University and the Saint Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR), the project provided field and laboratory experiences for students. Through the scientific study of archaeological, bioarchaeological, historical, and geospatial data, students gained a better understanding of how individuals, families, communities, and governments shaped the natural and built environment and developed strategies through consumer purchases and social networks to respond to globalization and colonialism. The 2018 session focused on Fort Amsterdam and a nearby cemetery where investigations found occupations and human remains dating from around 1720 to circa 1810. In this poster session, student research addresses ceramic exchange, diet, use of ceramic pipes, ancestry, health, mortuary patterns, and demography to better understand the effects of globalization and colonialism on Dutch military soldiers and officers and enslaved and freed Africans.