Military Sites and Social History: The Fort Charles Archaeological Project in Nevis, West Indies

Summary

The site of Fort Charles, first set aside as a military outpost during the early 1600s, is home to one of the earliest British forts in the Caribbean. Following unsuccessful attempts to colonize the North American mainland, the British quickly turned their attention towards the Caribbean and established settlements in St. Kitts and Nevis during the 1620s. Today, these settlements remain occupied by a diverse group of descendants. This paper presents an overview to the Fort Charles Archaeological Project (FCAP) and our first field season during May and June, 2013. Work began at the request of a diverse stakeholder community in Nevis whose interests extend beyond the traditional archaeological focus on plantations and similar contexts associated with slavery. The site’s occupation for more than two and half centuries supports new theorizing on the colonial experience of the Caribbean, one focusing on the myriad ways a diverse citizenry coped with the changing realties of the early modern era. The paper concludes with a discussion of the use of new technologies to communicate our preliminary results with a broader audience and our future plans for the ongoing project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Historical Archaeology in the Caribbean: New Directions and Current Perspectives

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-6,14