The Archaeology of Earliest Bermuda, 1610-c.1630

FAIN: RFW-292027-23

University of Rochester (Rochester, NY 14627-0001)
Michael J. Jarvis (Project Director: October 2022 to present)

Archeological excavation investigating the English settlement of Bermuda by the Virginia Company in the 17th century. (24 months)  

Bermuda, Virginia's sister settlement, is Great Britain’s oldest colony yet its early history has never been investigated archaeologically. This multidisciplinary project will situate Bermuda within broader archaeological studies of early Anglo-Atlantic expansion by investigating three 1610s sites where processes of Americanization, ethnogenesis, and environmental adaptation began. It builds on field research started in 2010 that has identified 26 sites spanning 410 years. Our work investigates how Bermuda’s settlers largely succeeded where most comparative Anglo-Atlantic colonial sites struggled in England’s earliest pre-1635 phase of global expansion. By investigating fundamentally humanistic dynamics inherent to colonization across time and space, our project will generate new multi-scalar knowledge about interrelated processes involved in transforming England’s first settlers into a culturally distinctive new American people.

Media Coverage

Archaeological dig seeks to confirm site of first settlements (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Sarah Lagan
Publication: Royal Gazette (Bermuda)
Date: 4/17/2024
Abstract: Archaeologists hope to confirm the site of Bermuda’s first settlements on Smith’s Island in St George’s Harbour when a dig takes place this summer. A team of professionals and volunteers will carry out the excavation and related lab work at Smallpox Bay from May 24 to June 28. The project is part of continuing archaeological and historical research into Bermudian history on Smith's Island, led by Michael Jarvis, a historian and archaeologist at the University of Rochester, New York. The university has carried out fieldwork since 2010.
URL: http://www.royalgazette.com/general/news/article/20240412/archaeological-dig-seeks-to-confirm-site-of-first-settlements/

Students dig up island’s hidden history (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Stefano Ausenda
Date: 7/31/2024
Abstract: A recent graduate is participating in an excavation project on Smith’s Island for a fifth time. Ewan Shannon, who recently earned a Master of Arts in anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York, said the experience on the 60-acre island was a “really awesome learning curve”. He and more than 20 other students and researchers, led by archaeologist and historian Michael Jarvis, excavated almost 200 square metres of land on the island in St George’s Harbour within the past six weeks. Bermuda’s first permanent settlers arrived on the Plough in 1612 and built an early settlement on Smith’s Island before moving to St George’s.
URL: https://www.royalgazette.com/general/news/article/20240627/students-dig-up-islands-hidden-history/

The Hidden History of Bermuda Is Reshaping the Way We Think About Colonial America (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Andrew Lawler
Publication: Smithsonian Magazine
Date: 12/1/2024
Abstract: SIAP was featured as the cover story in Smithsonian Magazine, reaching a very large international readership.
URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hidden-history-bermuda-reshaping-way-think-colonial-america-180985439/