Ceramic Variation between Two Caribbean Islands

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Exploring Globalization and Colonization Through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) provided ten undergraduates the opportunity to conduct research on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius (Statia). This research poster’s goal is to compare ceramic sherds Fort Amsterdam on Statia and Brimstone Hill Fortress on Saint Kitts. The research examines how globalization impacted Statia. Fort Amsterdam was used by military personnel and was in close proximity to numerous trading warehouses. Brimstone Hill was a British fort and we use ceramics from an area occupied by the Royal British Engineers, who would have had enough income to possess ceramics from around the world. Unlike the free port of Statia, Saint Kitts was under strict British trading restrictions; therefore, limited ceramic variety was predicted for the Brimstone Hill assemblage. Ceramic comparison methods involved using a standardized analytical methodology used by St. Eustatius Center for Archaeology Research (SECAR). Ceramics were grouped by ware and decorative types to determine the ceramics’ country of origin. Concluding our research, this project found that ceramic variety was greater at Fort Amsterdam than Brimstone Hill.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24550