E-book
Digital Version
Télécharger | Copier/coller | Impression
Ryzewski, Krysta | Cherry, John F.

An Archaeological History of Montserrat in the West Indies

2020 - Oxbow Books

208 p.

  • Montserrat is a small island in the Leeward islands of the eastern Caribbean and at present a British Overseas Territory. It has suffered greatly in recent times, first from the devastations of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and since 1995 from the still-ongoing eruption of the Soufriandegrave;re Hills volcano that has caused two-thirds of the islandandrsquo;s population to emigrate and left half the island a dangerous exclusion zone. Archaeological research here began only in the late 1970s, but work over the past four decades has now made it possible to present an archaeological history of Montserrat, from the earliest known traces of human activity on the island about 5,000 years ago to the present. This book draws on all the available archaeological evidence (including that from the co-authorsandrsquo; own island-wide survey and excavation project since 2010), as well as newly available archival documents, to trace this little islandandrsquo;s long history and heritage. This is not the story of an isolated and re
  • mote island: Montserrat is shown rather to be a place intricately connected to the flows of people and goods that have travelled between islands and across the Atlantic at various points in time, both Amerindian and historical. Despite its small size and seeming irrelevance, Montserrat has in fact always been networked into regional and global systems of connectivity. An underlying theme of this volume is resilience. It presents insights from the archaeological and documentary evidence on how the islandandrsquo;s inhabitants have coped with often adverse conditions throughout the course of its history andndash; hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, slavery, disease, invasions, and impoverishment andndash; all while remaining proudly connected to heritage that celebrates the accomplishments of island residents. [Publisher's text].
  • Special access authorizations may apply; please contact us for further information.