Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda," at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Power shapes and conditions social relations: who has or does not have access to it, what symbols showcase it, what activities are or are not acceptable, what is kept, and what is discarded. This session explores Barbuda as an inhabited space where plants, fortifications, and the scatter and accumulation patterns of modern garbage all show a relationship between people, the land, and the sea in the context of global dynamics that span well beyond the island. The presentations will share the results of the 2024 Field Season with the Barbuda Research Complex under the larger topic of landscapes of power. A closing discussion will analyze the 2024 projects in the context of the wider Indigenous and Historic archaeology of Barbuda and the northeastern Caribbean Archipelago.

Other Keywords
Identity • Barbuda • Landscape transformation • Power • Material Culture • Photogrammetry • Climate Change • Colonialism • Cultural Heritage • Cultural Practices

Geographic Keywords
Caribbean • Antilles • Antigua and Barbuda

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Advancing Conservation Efforts Through Photogrammetry: Documenting At-Risk Cultural Coastal Resources in Barbuda (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Diana D Pena Bastalla. Mathew Matsulavage. Javier J Garcia Colon. Isabel Rivera-Collazo. Edith Gonzalez. Sophia Perdikaris.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Coastal Cultural resources in Barbuda face imminent danger from climate change and real estate development. This presentation demonstrates how photogrammetry serves as a vital tool for documenting at-risk cultural heritage at Castle Hill. By integrating photogrammetry for data collection,...

  • Biotic Manifestations Of Identity In Barbuda: Trees Through Time, A Historical Landscape Approach (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Javier J García Colón. Diana Peña Bastalla. Matthew Matsulavage. Kendri Griffin. Edith Gonzalez. Sophia Perdikaris. Isabel Rivera Collazo.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The people of Barbuda have long maintained a profound connection with their land. The island’s ecological diversity embodies the essence of local culture and heritage. The historical processes shaping Barbuda’s present-day ecological reality are deeply intertwined with the arrival of...

  • Contemporary Archaeology of Barbuda's Camping Sites: Cultural Practices, Identities, and Landscape Management (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel Archambault. Sophia Perdikaris. Sheville Charles.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Barbudian community has maintained a profound and multi-faceted relationship with its land for generations, encapsulated in their concept of "living from the land." This connection is notably expressed through traditional practices such as camping in caves, rock shelters, and cabins along...

  • Controversial Commemorations: How Institutions Are Interpreting Sites of Enslavement (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bernard A Dent. Edith Gonazalez. Sophia Perdikaris.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Universities and museums have been called upon to reevaluate the necessity of memorials to figures who profited from slavery. In many cases, institutions benefitted from these profits, which were earned through the exploitation of enslaved people, thanks to the charitable donations of their...

  • Landscapes of power: Human Ecodynamics in Barbuda, Lesser Antilles (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sophia Perdikaris. Isabel Rivera-Collazo. Edith Gonzalez.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Over the last 20 years, archaeological research in Barbuda has partnered with the descendant and resident community on the island to register and study their tangible and intangible cultural heritage. While the colonial machinery shaped and transformed Barbudan landscapes, introducing deer,...

  • Use of Archaeological and Archival Data in Interpreting Barbuda’s Coastal Fortifications (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew F Matsulavage. Edith Gonzalez. Diana Peña Bastalla. Javier J García Colón. Isabel Rivera Collazo. Sophia Perdikaris.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. During Barbuda’s colonial period, the Codrington family maintained an exclusive lease over the island. It would be during this lease that a series of coastal fortifications were established on the land. Sites such as Gun Shop Cliff, the Castle Hill Ruins Complex, and Martello tower are just a...