Youngsters to present paper
at archaeological conference
MADAME ESTATE--The experiences of uncovering the long covered bastion of Fort Amsterdam, searching for ruins on Emilio Wilson Estate, and hunting for a prehistoric village in Cay Bay will be shared by three St. Maarten students with a gathering of Caribbean archaeologists in Jamaica next week.
High school graduates Joy-Ann van Arneman, Shamira Richardson and Kippy Groh, members of the St. Maarten Archaeological Centre SIMARC, will present a paper covering the activities of the centre since its inception in 2006.
The paper was prepared and written by all fourteen SIMARC students who are learning the basics of archaeology while helping to document and preserve the island’s heritage.
The youngsters will be accompanied to the International Association of Caribbean Archaeologists one-week conference by St. Maarten resident archaeologist Dr. Jay Haviser. Haviser, SIMARC director, will also present two papers to the gathering of archaeologists from 23 Caribbean and coastal South American countries.
Haviser co-wrote one paper on the Archaeological Survey of Emilio Wilson Estate with Andre Patrick of the Emilio Wilson Historical and Cultural Park and St. Maarten Historian Mathias Voges. The second paper focuses on the Afro-Creole religious artefacts recovered from around the grave of Father Jordanus Onderwater, the only priest of Dominican Order to be buried on St. Maarten.
Attending the conference is very important for the youngsters, the seasoned archaeologist said. It is an important forum for them to share their knowledge and contribution to the field.
He added that their participation will hopefully fuel other similar programmes in the Caribbean that will be used as a spring board by the region’s youngsters to dive into the world of archaeology. “There is no better way to get them interested than placing them in a room of professionals.”
Haviser has been association president for the past eight years and is up for re-election at this conference, hosted by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
The trip is funded by the Antillean Co-Financing Office AMFO via a grant to the foundation that was allocated before the restructuring of the funding agency. The group leaves for Jamaica Saturday morning.
