Ancient Cultural Preservation Effort at Long Bay Dig
An important 14th Century Lucayan archaeological site is to be excavated this October near the west end of Long Bay. The "South Bank Site", near the Caicos Marina, is to be explored and analyzed in search of information on Lucayan relationships with local marine resources, kinship networks and trading partners among the indigenous people from Hispaniola and Cuba.
The dig will be led by archeologist Dr. Shaun Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan began work in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1976. Much of the work he has done was on Middle Caicos, however, Providenciales has its own deep culture history and archaeological sites. At the Long Bay site Dr. Sullivan has conducted test excavations and found that it was the location of a Lucayan village, occupied during the 14th century A.D. (according to radiocarbon dating) and found it to be unusually rich in ceramics imported from contemporary Lucayan brethren from the Greater Antilles.
Windward Long Bay Ltd. - developer of the South Bank development - is a major underwriter of the project and is facilitating this scientific research, as a contribution to island cultural preservation in anticipation of follow on development of the site. Sail Beluga, along with the non-profits Turks and Caicos Reef Fund, and the Anthropological Research Council are sponsors of this project. Materials recovered from the site will be curated by the Turks and Caicos National Museum. Students from local schools are expected to be participants in the excavation.
We need your help. The South Bank dig is in search of volunteer field crew members and financial contributors. We invite you to help with this important cultural preservation effort in any way you can.
Those interested in taking part in the dig as field crew members please contact Dr. Shaun Sullivan sullivans@anthrop-research-council.org 703-966-3219
The anticipated project costs, including the excavations and follow on laboratory analyses, are $24,000. We are beginning with pledges of $18,000, including a donation of $1,000 from the TCRF.