Near-Surface Geophysical Survey of a 17th/18th century trading factory at LaSoye, Dominica.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Colonial Encounters on the Caribbean Frontier: Archaeology at LaSoye, Dominica", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2017, storm surges exposed archaeological deposits near LaSoye Point located on the north-eastern coast of Dominica. A year later, a small-scale excavation—focusing on the exposed coastal features of the site—revealed remnants of a structure, an extramural activity area, and a wide range of artifacts of European and indigenous origin associated with commerce and domestic use. Following a two-year hiatus archaeological investigations resumed to document the internal structure, organization and extent of the trading post and adjacent indigenous settlement. In this paper we present the results of an intensive, high-resolution, near-surface geophysical survey designed to detect structural features and associated activity areas at LaSoye. During the survey we focused primarily on results from magnetometry and ground penetrating radar that highlight signatures of igneous rocks—that served as building material for foundations of surface structures, iron nails, and thermal features, associated with pottery production and cooking.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Colonial Encounters on the Caribbean Frontier: Archaeology at LaSoye, Dominica   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow