Environmental Imperialism: Colonial Activity in Mauritius

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Introduction

This project, funded by the British Academy, British Council and McDonald Institute, integrates a range of archaeological methods to address issues surrounding both the socio-cultural and environmental impacts of colonialism. The geographic focus on Mauritius is an important one. Modern Mauritius had its naissance in 1721 when a group of French colonists named it听脦le-de-France. Its strategic position made it the focus of successive waves of colonising powers all of whom left their material markers. Despite this, there has been limited examination based on systematic methods-driven archaeology addressing the islands role as a colonial enclave. It was an important trading post between the Spice Islands and Europe and became a long-term colony with European, African and Indo-Chinese influence. As a volcanic island lacking any indigenous population it also presents an exceptional opportunity to establish baseline data detailing specific environmental conditions. To explore the archaeological potential of the island a pilot project was undertaken on a site in Mont Choisy. To date, the project has managed to establish the initial condition of the virgin soils for one region of the island, and also provide evidence for the timeframe of agricultural implementation, and wide-scale trade / exchange.

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Project Director

Dr Krish Seetah, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge.

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Aims

The project aims to understand how European colonial activity influenced environmental and cultural transformations in this region of the Indian Ocean and focuses on the following objectives:

To reconstruct environments associated with activities of the colonising groups and to measure how land use and biogeography changed from the post-medieval to early modern period;
Study the diet of slaves and indentured workers to establish the influence of different colonial powers, religious indoctrinations and available resources;
Trace trade and resource routes, both from the east and west, for the material cultures left on the island;
Establish signatures, both dietary and material, of the different colonial groups that used the island either as a short-term base / trading post or longer-term colony.

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Ongoing Research

First season

The first season of excavation focused on a site (overall size of 800m2) to the north of the island in Mont Choisy. A near-pristine location was identified within a region that is undergoing extensive development. The site was formerly plantation and as such the stratigraphic signature offered a valuable opportunity to record the transition from virgin soil to agriculture. The team excavated three trenches over the site. It was already clear from initial 鈥榝ield walking鈥� that artefactual evidence would be limited, particularly considering the sites former uses. Despite this, small finds were recovered, although the main focus was aimed at the recovery of environmental data. Coring was a crucial component and important results were forthcoming from cores taken on-site.

Post-excavation results and interpretation

Following excavation, it was clear that one of the trenches (Trench 2) evidenced a clear stratigraphic transition from virgin to agricultural soils. Core samples were taken and these were subsequently analysed by Chris Rolfe of the Physical Geography Laboratory, Dept. of Geography, Cambridge. The results showed a clear distinction between the lower (virgin) and upper soils. The upper layer (interpreted as agricultural soils by Andrea Balbo) demonstrated soil enrichment, potentially as a result of ploughing, or even translocation of soil. Of the small finds, three ceramic artefacts demonstrated the breadth of trade that this island has evidenced. A piece of refined, white, earthenware with a blue transfer decoration probably originated in England; a piece of Chinese export hard-paste porcelain was also recovered, along with a fragment of salt-glazed stone wear originating from Germany or Holland (expertise provided by Andrew Hall). Though the ubiquity of these pieces makes dating problematic. However, their presence on an island in the Indian Ocean is tantalising and bodes well for future research regarding trade in the region. Charcoal samples (analysed by Tomasz Goslar, Pozna艅 Radiocarbon Laboratory, Poland) for C14 dating provided an AMS date for the transition from virgin to agricultural soils of 130yrs BP, corroborating historical records for the advent of agricultural management on the island. Pollen grains (studied by Malika Virah-Swamy, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, an expert on Mauritian and Madagascan flora) where not recovered from the virgin soils, but those found in the upper layer where indicative of imported species.

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Future work

Longer term aims

Excavate a series of 鈥榩ristine鈥� locations to establish faunal and floral baseline data that can then be used comparatively with other sites excavated on the island and as an environmental marker;
Excavate sites within the heart of Port Louis and other regions for which historic records indicate established settlement that will provide data on colonial activity;
Establish a protocol for sampling maritime archaeological materials in order to reinforce the material cultures evidenced from land-based investigations. This will provide an important data set to study trade and trading routes and the movement of material cultures;
Visit archives in the former colonial states: Britain (British Library), France (Le Centre de Archive d鈥橭utre Mer), Holland (Catalogue Koninklijke Bibliotheek) and Portugal (Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal), in order to gain a clear historical context for the archaeological investigations.

The archaeo-historic results from the proposed project will be integrated with current research on ethnicity and nation building, the longer-term socio-political and economic implications of imperialism and colonial activity and the environmental consequences of colonialism. No comparable study has ever been carried out and once completed this project will provide, amongst other things, fresh insights into the cosmological, ecological and economic aspects of the fundamental cultural transformations that shaped this unique jewel in the Indian Ocean.

Forthcoming publications

In prep. An environment of change: ecology and agriculture in post-medieval Mauritius. For submission to听Historical 91探花视频.
In prep. (with Dawson. H, Pluskowski. A, &. Grima. R.). Island archaeologies: themes and challenges. Edited for a special edition of听SHIMA, The International Journal for Island Cultures. Vol 4. No 1.

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Collaborating Institutions and Personnel

Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund, Port Louis, Mauritius
Raju Mohit, Officer in Charge
Satyendra Peerthum
Vikram Mugon
National Heritage Fund, Port Louis, Mauritius
Diane Bablee, Chairperson
Anwar Janoo
Mauritius Oceanography Institute, Quatre Borne, Mauritius
Mitrasen Bhikajee, Director
Department of 91探花视频 & Natural History, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia听
Atoll Anderson
Department of 91探花视频, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland听
Keith Dobney
Ca'Foscari University, Venice, Italy听
Sauro Gelichi
Diego Calaon
Peterhouse, Cambridge听
Joanne Bennett, Site Photographer and Illustrator
Institute of Spatial and Anthropological Studies, Ljubjlana, Slovenia
Kri拧tof Ostir
Sa拧a 膶aval
Dept. of 91探花视频, 91探花视频, Cambridge, UK听
Andrea Balbo, Environmental Archaeologist
Andrew Hall, Ceramics Experts
Chris Evans
Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, UK听
Rose Ferraby, Geophysical and Magnetometry Surveyor
Dept. of 91探花视频, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Aleksander Pluskowski
Department of 91探花视频, Durham University, Durham, UK听
Greger Larson

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Financial Support

D M McDonald Fund for Archaeological Research, Cambridge

91探花视频

Department of 91探花视频