Life Among Ruins: Bermuda and Britain’s Imperial Debris

Summary

Bermuda was settled in 1612 by the Virginia Company Colonists of England’s expanding colonial realm. While still a British Overseas Territory, Bermuda finds itself caught between its colonial past and its (post?) colonial present and future. From Royal Forts to Watch Houses, the vestiges of the British colonization still saturate its shores. Ironically it is primarily the remains of the historic colonial landscape that are the means and infrastructure for the island’s economic survival through tourism. It is in this uneasy climate that Bermudians still work through the anxieties of Imperial life; imported cultural practices and material culture are forms of resistance and provide a means for forming manifold identities all the while eschewing earlier colonial-dominated cultural forms. This paper will begin to explore this uneasy material landscape as Bermudians live in a fluid colonial environment with an uncertain post-colonial future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Colonial Institutions and Their Enduring Material Aftermaths   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-12,09