Impact on food provisioning in Barbuda, Lesser Antilles, during the American Independence War

Summary

The island of Barbuda, located in the Lesser Antilles, was mostly governed by the British Codrington family who lived both on and off the island between the 17th and 19th centuries. Historical documents confirm that Barbuda’s English settlers had a primarily European diet imported from Britain and American colonies. Other than cotton, few European and local plant species are documented to have been successfully cultivated on Barbuda. Analyses of seeds, phytoliths and starch grains from a possible cooking house at the Highland House site provides evidence that the American War of Independence may have affected the food provisioning of Caribbean colonies like Barbuda. The importance of native and exotic food as alternative or complementary component of the daily diet is demonstrated, and results suggest that the British occupant of Barbuda consumed unconventional non-European food during the late 18th century, which coincides with the concurrent state of the American colonies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Environmental Archaeology: Building from Successes

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-55,02