Integrating Material Culture from the Betty’s Hope Archaeological Project: a Multifaceted Approach

Summary

This paper examines how archaeological investigations at Betty’s Hope, a former English sugar plantation on the Caribbean island of Antigua, can encompass a variety of approaches in working with archaeological materials recovered from the site, as well as the site itself.  Betty’s Hope operated from 1651 until 1944, making it one of the oldest and most continuously operating plantations on the island. Its long history, combined with good preservation, provides an ideal laboratory for studying three centuries of archaeological material culture through the efforts of archaeological analyses, museum studies, and archaeological conservation.  This allows for providing a holistic approach to the study of sugar plantation material culture, daily lifeways, and the African Diaspora. The paper will address how this approach works in concert with current cultural heritage efforts on Antigua, the challenges of caring for and curating this collection, and its relevance to Antiguan cultural heritage tourism and heritage management.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Transforming Narratives and Globalizing Access: Curation, Conservation and Social Engagement   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 391