Biotic Manifestations Of Identity In Barbuda: Trees Through Time, A Historical Landscape Approach

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The people of Barbuda have long maintained a profound connection with their land. The island’s ecological diversity embodies the essence of local culture and heritage. The historical processes shaping Barbuda’s present-day ecological reality are deeply intertwined with the arrival of Indigenous peoples and, later, the European invasion, which brought both the forced transportation of enslaved people and the simultaneous introduction of new vegetation and animals. Dry stone walls once demarcated Codrington village, segregating people, domesticated livestock, agricultural fields, and wildlife. However, as the colonial institutions crumbled, so did these barriers, fostering a reciprocal relationship with the land. This dynamic interplay between people and their environment sustains the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) central to Barbudan culture. Now, the impacts of climate change pose a serious threat not only to the tangible cultural heritage of the island but also to the landscapes themselves, which embodies a biotic expression of Barbudan identity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow