| Archaeology | |
Often though many or these pieces are missing. This means that the archaeologists must take the pieces that they can find and fit them together the best they can. This is how they come up with a "story". This is how the galleries on the Molasses Reef Shipwreck and the Lucayans have developed. Archaeology here is not new. What we know about the original inhabitants of the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Lucayan Tainos. comes from a mix of Archaeology and History. Lucayos refers to the Bahamian archipelago, which includes the Turks & Caicos Islands. Three archaeologists are responsible for all we know about these inhabitants: Theodoor DeBooy, who visited all of the islands except West Caicos in the latter half of 1912. Dr. Shaun Sullivan, who worked here in the mid-1970s. Most of his work was on Middle Caicos. Dr. William Keegan, who has worked in the Islands since discovering the first Taino site on Grand Turk in 1989 The Molasses Reef Shipwreck recovery is a story of how Archaeology won the day. The site was originally discovered by Treasure Hunters. Their interest lay in what they could get out of the wreck in financial terms. They would have sold what they could to have made money with little regard in recovering the information which is so important in understanding the past. Luckily for the Turks and Caicos Islands archaeologists were given the licence to scientifically recover the finds. This archaeological project was the catalyst to develop a museum on Grand Turk. Lucayan life on the Islands came to end within a few decades of the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th century. The major exhibit at the Museum, occupying the entire bottom floor, is the archaeological remains of a Spanish ship wrecked on Molasses Reef sometime 1492 and the early 1500s. The exhibit symbolizes the encounter between the Lucayans and the Europeans. This has only been possible through Archaeology. To find out more about the work of archaeologists both on site and after the excavations visit the Molasses Reef Shipwreck gallery and the Lucayan Gallery at the Museum. Contents of this story: Turks and Caicos National Museum |
Printed On: Sunday, July 20th, 2008