Location: Antigua and Barbuda

Season Dates: June 15, 2013 - July 13, 2013
Session Dates: June 15 - July 13, 2013
Application Deadline: May 3, 2013

Website: http://rce.csuchico.edu/antigua/

Program Type
Field school

Affiliation: California State University, Chico

Project Director: Dr. Georgia L. Fox

Project Description

Welcome to the 2013 Betty’s Hope Antigua Archaeological Field School!

Join us this summer for an opportunity to work on a 300-year-old Caribbean sugar plantation on the beautiful island of Antigua.  Betty's Hope, which is being considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, operated continuously from 1651 until its sale by the Codrington family in 1944, allowing for long-term historical continuity in one place.

Research Goals and Objectives

Our research questions concern multiple lines of inquiry, including: aspects of the site's spatial and human dynamics on the landscape; daily life on a sugar plantation; the plantation as an agricultural industrial system; and environmental impacts of the plantocracy system in the Eastern Caribbean region. Betty’s Hope is unique in that it is the only sugar plantation on the island that has been undergoing full-scale excavations since 2007, and one of the few sugar plantations in the Eastern Caribbean with extant standing structures. Currently, in addition to the field school, we have graduate students involved in various areas of research, making for a full, well-rounded experience for all participants. As an island-based economy, sugar, the “green gold” of the sugar plantocracy, profoundly affected the island, its peoples, and ecology, and was integral in the developing Atlantic World and slave trade of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The desire for sugar transformed the lives of those who worked the plantation, as well as those who consumed this luxury commodity as part of their everyday lives and rituals.

Field School Activities

The field school was developed to provide hands-on professional training in archaeological field work.  Students will be trained in:

• How to set up and excavate 2 x 2 m excavation units.
• Being trained on a total station to take elevations, mapping, and surveying.
• Drawing features and profiles, and understanding the basic principles of stratigraphy.
• Field methodology and excavation techniques.
• Creating accurate and professional field notes.
• Developing familiarity and knowledge of British colonial material culture.
• Processing and cataloging archaeologically recovered materials.

Field school students will be assigned weekly readings that pertain to Caribbean colonial history and the methodologies of historical archaeology.

Daily and Weekly Schedule

Weekdays will comprise field work, Monday through Friday.  Students will also have the opportunity to hear evening lectures on Antigua’s prehistory and history.  Weekends will be devoted to field trips, exploring the island’s rich geography and history, points of interest, and trips to Antigua's lovely beaches. Participating in the field school will allow students to experience contemporary Caribbean culture and cuisine.  Students interested in the African Diaspora, Caribbean archaeology, historical archaeology, and/or plantation archaeology are encouraged to apply.  No previous experience is required, and we welcome students from all academic disciplines and in various stages of their academic and professional training (undergraduate, in-between programs, and graduate), who are interested in archaeology and anthropology.  We also encourage students who are interested in architectural history.  Credit and non-credit options are available; both include room and board and ground transportation.  This is an RPA approved field school. For more information, please contact Dr. Georgia Fox at gfox@csuchico.edu.  Applications are now available at http://rce.csuchico.edu/passport/antigua . We still have spots open.  The deadline has been extended to May 3!

 

Period(s) of Occupation: British Colonial, 17th-19th centuries.

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 4 weeks

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: No experience required.

Room and Board Arrangements

Accommodations and meals are provided by the field school. Living accommodations will be in first class guest houses that are fully furnished and located in the quiet residential area of historic Nelson's Dockyard National Park at English Harbor. The houses are set on a hillside, and are cool and spacious, with adequate workspaces and a great scenic view of the sea. Three delicious meals a day are provided by our own fabulous cook. Everyone will meet at the main house for meals. All meals are varied, well balanced, and delicious. Breakfast is light - fresh fruit, cereal, and toast; Lunch is a brown bag sandwich affair to be eaten in the field during the week, with a warm lunch being served on weekends; Dinner is a full hot meal. Meals can be supplemented with snacks that are available at local shops. Students are not permitted to cook in the accommodations houses. All students will be expected to assist with kitchen duties on a rotational basis. Although we always try our best to accomodate those who have dietary restrictions, it is not always possible to provide meals that allow for restrictions in certain instances, as all students must be on the group meal plan.  If you have dietary restrictions, please contact Dr. Fox.

Cost: $4,630 (non-credit); $4,870 (credit)

Academic Credit
Name of institution offering credit: California State University, Chico
Number of credits offered: 4
Tuition: $240.00

Contact Information
Dr. Georgia Fox, Professor
Department of Anthropology, CSU Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0400
USA
gfox@csuchico.edu
Phone: (530) 898-5583
Fax: (530) 898-6143

Recommended Bibliography

Dyde, Brian. 2000. A History of Antigua. New Yor:k MacMillan Education, Ltd.

Mintz, Sydney W. 1985. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Penguin Books. Singleton, Theresa. 1985. Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.