Graduation Year
2009
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Brent R. Weisman, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Kevin Yelvington, D.Phil.
Committee Member
Beverly Ward, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Philip Levy, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Antoinette T. Jackson, Ph.D.
Keywords
archaeology, African Caribbean, grassroots, permits
Abstract
This dissertation research is the study of cultural resource management initiatives and
the extent to which archaeological surveys and excavations include or exclude African
Caribbean contemporary and historic communities, throughout these processes. Varying
types of archaeological sites identified by archaeologists, along with community
inclusionary measures are examined to determine as to the degree to which
archaeological surveys and excavations are reflective of historic and contemporary
African Caribbean communities.
Data were collected through archival research, interviews and surveys and analyzed
qualitatively to examine the degree to which stakeholders, particularly those who have
been historically marginalized, have been incorporated into these processes. It was
anticipated that changes in nationalistic identities and the emergence of an African
Caribbean middle class would bring about a shift in the focus of cultural resource
management initiatives, away from those associated with colonialist Europeans and
Americans towards those associated with African Caribbean communities. A
comprehensive examination of economic, political, social and cultural conditions
provides the framework for an examination of historic and contemporary factors that
have influenced the emergence of African Caribbean middle class communities.
The data suggest that shifts in cultural resource management initiatives do occur as
African Caribbean middle classes emerge from European colonialist societies. However,
in some cases, the emergence of this middle class has been delayed. The data also
suggest that archaeological surveys and excavations are still conducted without
comprehensive community inclusionary measures or the inclusion of aspects of
community based site significance. History, memory, and identity are key components of
community-based concepts of tangible resources and as indicated in this study, differ
greatly from resources as defined historically by colonialist and currently by
archaeologists.
Scholar Commons Citation
Scudder-Temple, Kelley, "An Absence of Presence: The Voices of Marginalized Communities in the Development and Implementation of Cultural Resource Management Initiatives in the British West Indies: A Case Study" (2009). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3678
