2016 Excavation-based field school in Bioarchaeology on St. Croix, USVI

This archaeological and bioarchaeological field school will take place at the Aklis site, a prehistoric shell midden, habitation, and cemetery site, located on the beach in Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The Aklis site is being jeopardized by rising sea levels; excavations and mapping in 2016 will focus on salvaging exposed, endangered human burials and related features. Students will gain “hands-on” experience in excavation methods, mapping, artifact identification and classification, skeletal excavation, and osteological data recording. Students will also learn about the ecology, history, and prehistory of St. Croix through visits to local museums and national parks, such as Buck Island Reef National Monument, Estate Whim Museum and Plantation, a paleoethnobotanical tour of the local rainforest, activities with the National Park Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and interactions with scholars and experts on St. Croix.