The Smith's Island Archaeology Project: Amphibious Archaeology, Temporal Democratization, and Creolization over Four Centuries

Summary

Since its 2010 inception, SIAP has holistically pursued study of all human activity on a largely undeveloped 60-acre island in Bermuda and its surrounding waters to better understand this significant Atlantic colonial outpost's history. SIAP's 25+ sites reflect famous "firsts" as well as historically fugitive peoples and activities. This talk surveys how SIAP's widely ranging sites facilitate a better understanding of Bermudians' early settlement and continuous adaptation to change across more than fourteen generations. SIAP's agricultural, maritime, commercial, medical, military, and industrial sites speak simultaneously to intimate multiracial dynamics and global integration, the benefits and costs of intense maritime engagement, and human transformations of marine and terrestrial environments. As a well-preserved microcosm of larger Bermuda, Smith's Island's archaeology tests and expands upon broad historical studies through architectural and material evidence and a longue duree approach to multiracial and multicultural ethnogenetic evolution in England's oldest colony,

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow