Jesuits Missionaries Establishment in French Guiana: Archaeological Potential and Research Perspectives

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Jesuit Missions, Plantations, and Industries" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

From 'flying' missions, to more fixed establishment, Jesuits missionary activities have had a profound impact on the development of the colony of Cayenne and its inhabitant, more particularly to the Natives groups. For now, Jesuits plantations have been documented from the archaeological perspectives. But concerning mission's sites, none have been discovered yet.

Most of the missions established by the Jesuits might have been profoundly altered by urban developments. However, two missions: Karouabo (1706) and St-Paul-d'Oyapock (1727), still remain hidden under the dense tropical forest. In this paper, we focus on the mission of St-Paul (ca.1750-ca.1790), which have been circumcise on the French side of the Oyapock river, based on the analysis of historical maps and descriptions of explorers from the 19th century. This paper seeks to explore research perspectives that could emerge from the comparison between the plantations and the mission's, within the Jesuits sphere of interaction.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Jesuit Missions, Plantations, and Industries   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 367