Archaeological Preservation on Saint Kitts
Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis
At the request of the KHT Land Holdings Limited, HRA Gray & Pape team members have completed several phases of archaeological investigations for Christophe Harbour. Christophe Harbour is a 2,500-acre development on St. Kitts' southeast peninsula that includes residences, hotels, shops, a golf course, and a mega-yacht marina. Initial work included a reconnaissance inventory of the development recording the condition of known archaeological sites, the identification of several new sites, and management recommendations. As there is no heritage resource significance framework on St. Kitts, the HRA Gray & Pape team members developed a preliminary model based on historic preservation laws in the United States, which was used to rank the significance and integrity of the identified sites.
A complete pedestrian survey was undertaken for the development's proposed golf course, resulting in the recording of several new sites including the remains of standing structure that may have been a location where Maroon's lived in the early eighteenth century. This site has been preserved and incorporated into the design of the golf course.
Subsequent work has included limited investigations at five sites.
Testing at two eighteenth to nineteenth century sugar plantation sites focused mostly on the slave habitation area where the remains of several habitation areas were investigated. Testing at a late eighteenth-early nineteenth century cotton plantation site resulted in collecting evidence for the use of stone tools by enslaved Africans.
Staff archaeologists, historians, and preservation planners are working with Christophe Harbour to ensure that the history and prehistory associated with the development is presented to the visiting public in a sensitive and meaning manner.
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