Skull, crossbones and hour glass on the tomb of Jan De Windt (amended 22/01/2008)not Johannes De Graaff - sorry!), Governor of St Eustatius. De Windt worked towards maintaining a peaceful relationship between the Jewish communities on the island. The skull, crossbones and hourglass is believed to be a Jewish symbol meaning death before one's time.
Welcome to everyone who have come to view the SECAR blog!
The intention of this blog is to bring together a collective of written and photographic memories (and of course experiences) shared by those who have come all over the world to this little island (8km by 4km!) in the Caribbean, and to tempt you into joining us!
There are currently 6 participants in the SECAR excavation program (3 student volunteers and 3 interns) whom are staying on Statia between 3 weeks to possibly 3 years! Most are staying for 3 months and it is currently the 2nd week into the program. So far we have conducted a historical tour around town (and parts of the island), began test excavation of a probable Free Black Village site (our focus for 2008) and had an overview of the ceramics and glass found on the island.
During our free time we've gone hiking on the Quill (the volcano of the island) and swam almost every day in the Caribbean. Life is quiet and quite sleepy, but it's relaxing and absolutely beautiful. To loosely paraphrase the Director of SECAR, Dr. R. Grant Gilmore III, the Excavation Experience should also be a Life Experience.
Hope you'll keep coming back to read our entries and visit Statia one day!
View of Oranje Bay from Fort Oranje.
View of Zeelandia from Quill
View of the Quill, the (dormant) volcano
View of St Kitts from Fort De Windt
(In photo: Gudrun and Cate)
View of Statia's 1739 Synagogue Honen Dalim
Sunset along Oranje Bay
(In photo: John)
(In photo: John, Angie, Cate and Elizabeth)
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