Home >

Tropical Terrestrial Ecology Program

Archaeology

Human occupation of the Bahamas Archipelago spans almost a millennium and a half, from when Classic Taíno mariners from the Greater Antilles first ventured into the low lying limestone islands of the archipelago. For nearly 1,000 years, the Lucayan Taíno, as they are known, employed their skills as seafarers and farmers to exploit the marine and terrestrial resources of the islands. Sadly, the Lucayans were the first victims of European diseases and mistreatment, vanishing from the islands a mere 25 years after first contact. As a result, little is known about these early inhabitants of The Bahamas.

Similarly, there is a dearth of written documentation to provide insight into the lives of the most important settlers in The Bahamas. Shortly after the American War of Independence, a group of colonists loyal to Great Britain were granted lands in other British holdings, including The Bahamas. At the time the archipelago was only sparsely populated by 17th century Puritan settlers from Bermuda; consequently, the impact of the Loyalists was profound. Though many of the European plantation owners would eventually leave the islands after cotton crops failed in the early 19th century, their institutions, along with the slaves and freemen of African descent, would remain, completely altering the cultural landscape of the colony.

The Archaeology Research Program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute is working to fill in the gaps in the archaeological record of The Bahamas by providing valuable cultural resource information to both the inhabitants of Eleuthera and government officials charged with managing those resources. In collaboration Justin Symington (The Island School humanities teacher), Dr. William F. Keegan (The Florida Museum of Natural History) and students from The Island School are working to complete a thorough coastal surface survey of south Eleuthera with the aim of identifying unrecorded Lucayan sites and to document in detail important Lucayan and Loyalists sites in jeopardy of being destroyed by natural and anthropogenic forces.