History of Port Royal and the Digital Catalogue of Artifacts

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Ongoing Care and Study Through a Digital Catalogue of Port Royal", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1655, Port Royal, Jamaica was captured as a consolation prize for Lord Oliver Cromwell after the Spanish soundly defeated an English attempt to conquer Hispaniola. Throughout the rest of the 17th century, Port Royal quickly grew to become the second largest mercantile center in the English colonies and served as a haven for privateers and pirates. Unfortunately, Port Royal’s prestige was short-lived as the island was hit by an earthquake in 1692, causing the town to collapse into the sea. Thirty years after the 10-year excavation, the collection is receiving new attention in preparation for repatriation. For the sake of inventory, cataloging, and collection review, nautical graduate and undergraduate students are creating a new digital database of the thousands of artifacts. This paper reviews the site of Port Royal as well as the research and collaborative opportunities that have been implemented to create a digital archive of the collection

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ongoing Care and Study Through a Digital Catalogue of Port Royal   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow