Things you need to know about the Mona Village before using the data

• Field measurements are in meters and centimeters.
• All excavated sediment was passed through 1/4 inch mesh.
• Shovel-test-pits are on the UTM grid system.
• 97 shovel-test-pits were excavated at the Mona Village in January 2010.
• An alphanumeric system was established for naming STPs that combine the Area, the Transect Letter, and the STP number. The Mona Village site was divided into two areas, Area 1 and Area 2. Transects were labeled alphabetically across the site. STPs were numbered consecutively within each transect. As a result, STP context numbers follow this format: 3-J-01, which translates into Pit 1, on Transect J, in Area 3.
• In the DAACS database, the Mona Village site is designated as Project "1217". Artifact ID numbers for artifacts associated with the village therefore begin with the 1217 prefix.
• Architectural and landscape features were selectively mapped with a total station.

The University of West Indies, Mona and The DAACS Caribbean Initiative

The UWI, Mona Department of History and Archaeology has facilitated DAACS's research in Jamaica since 2005, when DAACS staff began work analyzing Barry Higman's Montpelier Plantation Archaeological Collections, which are curated by the UWI Archaeology Laboratory. Dr. Swithin Wilmot, then Chair of the Department of History and Archaeology, welcomed the DAACS project and helped us find on-campus housing for our five months of work in Kingston.  Dr. Philip Allsworth Jones, then Lecturer in Archaeology, welcomed DAACS archaeologists and included us in the laboratory's events.  Galle taught H28A for Dr. Jones in Spring 2006, while conducting analyzing the Montpelier collections with Leslie Cooper and Henry Sharp.

In May 2007, Galle taught a Field School in Historical Archaeology at Stewart Castle, on the north coast of Jamaica, for The University of Virginia.  Although not directly affiliated with UWI Mona, DAACS offered paid internships and scholarships for UWI, Mona History and Archaeology undergraduates.  Four students attended the field school as UVA students and received academic credit for their participation.  Another four UWI students received internships with the project.  The Reed Foundation generously provided funds for these students and interns through a grant made to DAACS.

 A similar model was followed in 2008, when Galle and Neiman ran an eight-week field project on Nevis and St. Kitts.  They once again received funding from The Reed Foundation to bring UWI Mona graduate and undergraduate students to Nevis for a three-week internship.  Seven UWI Mona interns, three graduate students and four undergraduate students, participated in the program.

In 2008 DAACS began a more directly collaborative program with UWI Mona by helping run the annual UWI Mona Archaeological Field School.  Dr. Sabrina Rampersad had recently been hired as lecturer in Archaeology upon Allsworth-Jone's retirement.  Dr. Rampersad welcomed DAACS's interest in working at Papine and Mona Villages and generously agreed to work with DAACS to design an archaeological field school program that offered experience in survey and unit excavation, as well as laboratory methods and digital technology such as the use of total stations and GPS in the field.  DAACS and Dr. Rampersad worked together in 2008, 2009 and 2010. 

In 2011, Galle and Ivor Conolley, a PhD. candidate in the UWI Mona Department of History and Archaeology, co-directed the 2011 H28A Archaeological Field School.  Dr. Rampersad left UWI Mona in May 2010 to take a position at UWI Cave Hill and Mr. Conolley served as lecturer for the 2010/2011 field school.  Galle and Conolley currently hold a three-year permit for work at the Mona and Papine Estates.

DAACS staff is deeply grateful for the help and support of UWI Mona's Department of History and Archaeology and the Principal's Office. We look forward to continuing the UWI Mona/DAACS collaboration in future years.

 

Acknowledgments

The work at the Mona Village was supported by the DAACS Endowment and the University of West Indies, Mona Department of History and Archaeology (http://myspot.mona.uwi.edu/history/).

None of this field work would have been possible without the consistent, engaged support of the University of the West Indies, Mona Principal's Office and the Department of History and Archaeology.  Special thanks goes to Professor Gordon Shirley, Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Mona Campus, for granting permission to the UWI-DAACS archaeological excavations at the Papine and Mona Villages and the Mona Great House.  Professor Swithin Wilmot, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Professor Kathleen Monteith, Chair, Department of History and Archaeology, Professor Waibinte Wariboko, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Dr. James Robertson, and many others in the Department of History and Archaeology have demonstrated a sustained interest in, and support, of the fieldwork since the beginning.  We are ever grateful for their support and friendship.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) supported the fieldwork through excavation and export permits.  Mr. Dorrick Gray and his staff were enthusiastic volunteers and engaged visitors throughout the field seasons.

Jillian Galle and Sabrina Rampersad co-directed excavations at the Mona Village in 2010.  Ivor Conolley played a significant role in organizing and supervising fieldwork. Leslie Cooper, Ivor Conolley, Lynsey Bates, and Karen Hutchins played particularly significant roles on insuring each field school ran smoothly on all fronts.

The short but intensely productive field seasons would not have been possible without our invaluable DAACS crew:  Lynsey Bates (2008-2011), Suzanne Francis-Brown (2009-2011), Ivor Conolley (2008-2011), Leslie Cooper (2008-2011), Sarah Corker (2008), Krystle Edwards (2009-2011), Christopher Graham (2011), Clive Grey (2009-2011), Karen Hutchins (2008-2010), Brian McCray (2008-2010), Chris Mundy (2008), Fraser Neiman (2009-2010), Rim Patterson (2009-2011), Karen Spence (2008-2011), and Derek Wheeler (2008).

Dr. Suzanne Francis-Brown has provided invaluable historical research and advice on all manner of UWI-related concerns.

Karen Hutchins and Karen Spence supervised all laboratory work between 2008-2010. 

Leslie Cooper digitized all of the site maps (.dgns, .pdfs, and .gifs) and artifact distribution maps.

Leslie Cooper, Lynsey Bates, Jesse Sawyer, and Sarah Payton analyzed the contexts and artifacts at the DAACS lab at Monticello.

This research would not have been possible with the energy and commitment of the students in H28A: Methods in Archaeology. These students remained upbeat and engaged in the face of hundreds of pits to dig.

2010 H28A Archaeological Field School Students: John-Marc Evans, Cornelia Francis, St. Marie Gibbs, Keri Goulbourne, Christopher Graham, Danielle Green, Jermaine Lambert, Krystina Laurence, Janice Malcolm, Ka-Sheena Minott, Mavis Morris, Machela Osagboro, Tanel Panton, Latoya Senior, Roslyn Smith, and Winston Watson.