Archaeology Field Visit 2008
On Thursday, 29th May, a team of archaeologists from Faber Maunsell will be arriving on St Helena to carry out advance mitigation work as part of the Airport and Supporting Infrastructure project. The team of four will be present on the island for ten weeks, and will be undertaking a variety of tasks across the Airport Development Area.
The main focus will be on Rupert’s Valley, and in particular on the cemeteries that are known to exist there. These graveyards contain the remains of slaves that were freed by the Royal Navy’s West African Squadron between 1840 and 1865, during which time St Helena played an important role in Britain’s anti-slavery campaign, and served as a Vice-Admiralty court.
Captured ships were brought to St Helena to be broken up, and the slaves released into a receiving depot in Rupert’s Bay. From there, the survivors were eventually repatriated to Africa, or more commonly were shipped on to the West Indies as free labourers or enlisted in the British Army. However, those individuals who did not survive the sea passage to St Helena, or who died at the depot, were buried in unmarked cemeteries within Rupert’s Valley. Three such graveyard areas are known in the valley, one close to the bay and the others around the mid-valley fuel farm and the power station, roughly shown in green shading in the following image:
The airport haul road avoids the known cemetery areas, but their boundaries are not defined on the ground or by maps; moreover, many unrecorded burials could exist elsewhere in the valley. Archaeological excavations will therefore be undertaken along the proposed course of the haul road, with the aim of recording and lifting any burials that lie along its route. Any such burials are to be respectfully re-interred. Other excavations will take place behind Rupert’s Lines, where buried military remains may coincide with the area intended for the enlarged landing wharf.
Building restoration and recording forms a second strand of the field visit. Conservation work will be undertaken on the Boer War desalination chimney behind Rupert’s Bay Lines, and potentially on military remains on Prosperous Bay Plain. The objective is to produce the first detailed record of these monuments, and except for minor losses arising from the building of the runway, to ensure the long-term preservation of archaeological interests in and around the airport site.
The team will also be involved in a variety of other activities, such as the fencing off of archaeological sites and monuments to negate the possibility of accidental damage during construction. They will also, in conjunction with the St Helena National Trust, be training a number of volunteers in excavation and building recording, with a view to providing the necessary basic skills for future archaeological work on the island.
Further volunteers are welcome, and should contact Vince Thompson at the St Helena National Trust.
________
Posted on 29 May 2008
Filed Under General Information | Leave a Comment
Comments
Leave a Reply