The Mauritian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Project: exploring the impact of colonialism and colonisation in the Indian Ocean.

Seetah, Krish, Balbo, Andrea, Calaon, Diego, Caval, Sasa, Farr, Helen, Pluskowski, Aleksander, Appleby, Joanna, Durand, Carine, Lightfoot, Emma, Morales, Jacob and Moreno Escobar, Maria (2011) The Mauritian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Project: exploring the impact of colonialism and colonisation in the Indian Ocean. Antiquity, 85 (330).

Abstract

Modern Mauritius was born in the early eighteenth century when a group of French
colonists named it Île-de-France. The island has seen waves of colonial intervention
both previously and subsequently, resulting in a contemporary population that is
diverse and a past that is highly turbulent and infinitely interesting.
The archaeological potential that Mauritius offers, as a colonial enclave with Dutch,
French and British influence, and as a multicultural melting pot derived from forced
(Allen 1999; Vaughan 2005) and 'free' labour (Teelock 2009), has barely been
explored (Figure 1). Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Aapravasi Ghat and Le
Morne Cultural Landscape) commemorate the transition from and resistance to
slavery. Mauritius was the seat of Britain's 'Great Experiment' to replace slaves with
indentured labour following abolition. This experiment in human exploitation proved
highly successful and caused the largest diaspora to take place in the Indian Ocean.
The volcanic island presents an exceptional opportunity to establish baseline data
detailing specific environmental and landscape transitions as they relate to human
agency. In addition, despite the fact that Mauritius is noted for having no indigenous
population, this should not rule out the possibility that humans interacted with the
island prior to the later medieval period. Its strategic position in the Indian Ocean
should stimulate interest at least in the potential for early exploration and visitation, if not outright colonisation. Since May 2008, in collaboration with local partners, the
Mauritian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Project presented here has studied
aspects of the island's past through the systematic archaeological investigation of a
series of sites on Mauritius.

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Contributors

Author: Helen Farr

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