Archaeology
and Cinnamon Bay
Just a few
weeks before hurricane Irma hit a team of climatologists came and gave a presentation on
what to expect from future super hurricanes. We took them to Cinnamon Bay and
discussed what will be lost and what we had done to prepare for the inevitable.
Twenty-five
years ago I along with fellow archaeologist Regina Leabo of the NPS excavated a
small test unit at Cinnamon Bay. What we found was astonishing and completely
unprecedented. The dirt at the beach edge had unbelievable preserved in near
exact sequence, century atop century the last 500 years of prehistoric life
here in the Virgin Islands. While we were there we saw how Hurricane Hugo had
just recently demonstrated just how threatened this shoreline and site were by erosion.
So when the
Friends asked in 1998 what was an urgent and critical need that they could help
with; it was without question saving these pristine chapters of the Caribbean’s
history. So began the park’s archaeology
program. Over the next several years
excavations continued nearly non-stop and though only a small portion of the
site was dug what was saved was remarkable. We discovered Classic Taino culture
was here with all its elaborate art. That the site was their version of a church
where ceremonial offerings were made providing us an insight into the meaning
of Caribbean petroglyphs, prehistoric life, and the extent of cultural
interaction from Puerto Rico to Dominican Republic to Antiqua, and along the shores of South
America.
We also discovered
that the little white house on the beach was one of the oldest standing
structures in the Virgin Island’s dating back to the sixteen hundreds. All the
while we knew time to share all this new knowledge about this historic place
and ancient site was limited. So the Friends helped us create a working lab with
archaeological exhibits. It was designed so that the artifacts could be removed
quickly and we could continue to work and interpret these ancient sites before
they would be lost forever.
Well the massive
hurricanes came a little sooner than even the climatologists predicted and yes
it would have been nice to have had a few more years to share these wonderful
discovers on site. Nevertheless, the NPS mission was achieved, we had saved
what we could and interpreted to our community and visitor as much of this
treasured past and special place as was possible.
Having
objects made by the people and cultures that came before us on display,
provided us a timeline of physical proof of our islands rich past, inspiring a
new appreciation for our island’s heritage in both an older and younger
generation and a desire to preserve these treasure for all to enjoy. Now we
have that chance to create a truly special place where we can insure our
heritage is safe for all to see.
