Type of Opportunity: Field School/Volunteer Excavation
Where: Netherlands Antilles, Dutch West Indies
When: January 15, 2005 - December 15, 2007
Cost : $500 per week, plus food and accommodation
Contact Information: R. Grant Gilmore III, RPA, AIFA, BA, MA, PhD at St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR)
Oranjestad, St. Eustatius,
Netherlands Antilles, Dutch West Indies
Phone: ++44 (0) 7976179755
Email: grant.gilmore@secar.org
Web site: http://www.secar.org/
Excavations will be ongoing at St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles for the next two years. This field school/ volunteer opportunity is through the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR). The general aim of SECAR is to protect and develop the historical resources on this island. With this objective in mind, SECAR is undertaking excavations to educate scholars and laypeople about the important historical resources at St. Eustatius. Volunteers and students will learn about the historical resources of this island through lectures, field trips, laboratory work, and field excavation. Participants in this excavation will also have an opportunity to use state of the art technology such as a mechanical sifter, barcode technology for cataloguing artifacts, and 3-Dimensional ArcView GIS models.
St. Eustatius (or Statia) was the main shipping center between Europe, the West Indies and the Americas between 1770 and 1800. There are over 90 plantation sites, 300 warehouse ruins, 6 church sites, numerous urban domestic and commercial structures, more than 20 fortifications, and an estimated 200 shipwrecks located on and around St. Eustatius. Furthermore, this island is considered to have the densest concentrations of colonial artifacts in the world. Recent excavations on this island have included a military fortification (Battery St. Louis), two urban colonial residences, and the first paleopathological study of a leper asylum anywhere in the New World. This year, excavations will be ongoing at the Pleasures Estate plantation and the English Quarter plantation, two sugar plantations located on the side of the Quill volcano.
No experience is required to participate in this project. The only requirements are that the volunteer be over the age of 18 years and be in good physical condition as the area is extremely hilly. All participants are encouraged to take advantage of the excellent snorkeling and diving conditions in this area.
Cost for this one week program is $500. Room and board as well as transportation to and from the island are not included in this fee.
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Excavating the Pompeii of the New World, Netherlands in Archaeological Vacations is owned by . Permission to republish Excavating the Pompeii of the New World, Netherlands in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
