Examining the Colonial Timber Extraction Economy through Archaeological Survey, Metal Detection, and Local History at Dover Camp, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological investigations in modern-day Belize have primarily focused on understanding the ancient Maya polities which once dominated the landscape. Comparatively little archaeological investigation has focused on colonial timber extraction economy during the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Following the devaluation of the primary timber export, logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla) became the primary export. Unlike logwood which grew along waterways, mahogany thrived further inland leading British loggers to begin favoring claims farther from the Bay of Honduras. Riverine corridors like the New River, Belize River, and their tributaries were vital for floating mahogany to the coast. The historically documented site of Dover Camp, situated at the confluence of the Belize River and Barton Creek in modern-day Cayo District, was one such logging site. Dover Camp was identified in 2024 through a combination of oral history and archaeological survey. Metal detection and test pitting revealed spatial clusters of logging tools, weapons, and domestic items across the site. We present our initial findings and outline future plans to conduct historical and ethnographic research to further our understanding of Dover Camp in the context of the shifting colonial economy.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53514