Anthropology FLEAP: U.S. Virgin Islands 2021
"African Diaspora Archaeology Field Training"
Get a competitive advantage! Join this summer training program designed for undergraduate students to gain real-world field experience in archaeological field methods and lab analysis.
Join us in the U.S. Virgin Islands!
Professor Ayana Flewellen, UCR Anthropology Department
Students will participate in excavations and surveys at the Estate Little Princess, and will process and catalog excavated artifacts. The Estate Little Princess is a former Danish sugar plantation in St. Croix, USVI.
Archaeological research at the estate focuses on sites once occupied by formerly enslaved Afro-Crucians and their later free descendants. This course will provide students the academic experience required to be a competitive candidate for graduate school programs in anthropological archaeology.
Additionally, this course will train students in excavation techniques and lab analysis, both of which are professional skills needed to pursue a career in Cultural Resource Management. Program excursions will expose students to the cultural history of St. Croix and the larger US Virgin Islands.
Two courses:
- ANTH 185 Field Course in Archaeology: Survey and Documentation [4 units]
- ANTH 165E Anthropological Methods [4 units]
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
By the end of the program, students should be able to:
- Conduct basic survey with tape and compass, excavate shovel test pits and units, and complete archaeological field forms
- Identify and sort artifacts in general categories of type and enter them into a database
- Articulate the contributions archaeology has made to our understanding of slavery and the wider history of the African diaspora
Left: Dr. Flewellen retrieving an artifact from the official catalog. Right: Research in action: students sorting and cataloging artifacts.
Working at the excavation site at the Estate Little Princess field site.
Why St. Croix?
"I have worked on St. Croix since 2017 excavating at the Estate Little Princess, an 18th century Danish Sugar Plantation and Rum Distillery. My research at the site uncovers the history of Afro-Crucians who lived and labored at the site during the 18th and 19th centuries. Not much is known, archaeologically, about the Danish occupation period of what is now called the U.S. Virgin Islands. I chose this site because there are histories here buried beneath the soil waiting to be told."
Dr. Flewellen and her team of collaborators were featured in Science Magazine. Click the box below to read the article on the Science Magazine website:
Video from Science Magazine: "Archaeologists train students to peer into the past on St. Croix"
The excavation site at Estate Little Princess (left). Dr. Flewellen working at the Estate Little Princess site (right).
A few of the excursions you will visit on the 2021 U.S. Virgin Islands Program:
01 / 04
1
Estate Little Princess
The Estate Little Princess is a former Danish sugar plantation in St. Croix, USVI. Archaeological research at the estate focuses on sites once occupied by formerly enslaved Afro-Crucians and their later free descendants.
2
Christiansted National Historic Site
Students will be introduced to a key historic site that shaped the colonial landscape of the island and connects directly to the historical context of the Estate Little Princess, where students will be excavating.
3
St. George Botanical Garden
Students will receive a tour of the gardens. The gardens currently operate out of a former 18th century Danish sugar plantation. The Gardens staff have worked to preserve both environmental and cultural aspects of the site which are woven into a tour given to visitors. Students will learn how other plantations operated in the past as well as the flora and fauna of the 18th century.
4
Crucian Free Gut Tour
During this field trip students will participate in a walking tour of Frederiksted’s former Free Persons of Color community, known as Free Gut. Free Gut was a vibrant community during the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries. Students will learn more about the conditions of legally free Afro-Crucians and be introduced to the cultural history of the historic district.
Video: Q & A with Professor Flewellen
FLEAP u21 Anthropology US Virgin Islands
