What a long strange Spring this has been! I have been unpardonably slack in posting about all things SIAP, especially when we have achieved some major milestones.
The culmination of our NEH Archaeological Fieldwork grant proposal entailed public and professional communication of our research, which occurred in January 2025 at the Society for Historical Archaeology's annual conference in New Orleans. It was a packed but somber gathering, since only a week before someone maliciously drove his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, just two blocks from the conference venue, killing 14 and injuring 57. We passed the memorial site daily going to and from the SHA sessions.
Our panel, Archaeology at an Atlantic Crossroads: Bermuda’s Smith’s Island Archaeology Project (SIAP), 2010-2024, dropped on Saturday afternoon, which either reflects the usual marginalization of Bermuda as a place/topic vis a vis US, European, and Caribbean foci OR a "save the best for last" honorific - I'd like to think the latter!
Seven of us presented, a mix of SIAP old timers (Leigh! Ewan! Xander!) and new research specialists - faunal analysis (Ty), early Bermuda daub formulation and properties (Charlie), and public archaeology community engagement (Rhiannon). We were allotted only 15 minutes each for a two-hour slot, so the session was akin to a speed metal version of an academic panel, but it was surprisingly well attended for an afternoon session on the final day.
SIAP veterans Flo, Chloe, Rose, Emily, and Skyler came down to the Big Easy to support us, and friend and former Historic Jamestown head archaeologist Dave Givens chaired the session and wonderfully summarized our work within the larger context of early Anglo-American archaeological sites.
This was the first time for most of the team presenting at a national conference and I really enjoyed hearing them buzz each evening, talking about the papers they heard, the contacts they were making, and the cool stuff in the SHA book room, as well as their explorations of New Orleans itself. More than a few hurricanes were imbibed. This was also the first time I attended a conference with my daughter Charlotte and boy did she give a fantastic paper!
A lot more has happened this spring concerning SIAP, both good and grim, but that is another day's post... In the mean time, some Big Easy snapshots.
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