The field school lasted about a month, of which I joined in the last week. Most of the participants were employees from DAACS, second year archaeology students who were required to volunteer for class and other Jamaican archaeologists. Using the aid of old maps and information from past excavations we set out to locate the enslaved Africans' living quarters by digging shovel test pits (STPs) every six meters. The theory is that as we get closer to the old habitation site we will see a heavier concentration of artifacts. The finds were interesting. We came across beads, smoking pipes, broken glass bottles, ceramic fragments (most likely made by the enslaved population), iron nails, and various other related items. All of these will be taken back to Virginia for cataloging and analysis then returned to Jamaica.
Working on the dig proved a humbling experience. I met some really interesting people and learned a lot about archaeology in Jamaica. I also got a chance to try my hand at cataloging artifacts, which although not as fun as digging is equally as important. I'm going to try to see if it is possible to come down for more excavations next year.More information on the excavations from last year can be found here.
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