The St. Croix Archaeological Society and the St. Croix units of the National Park Service (NPS) have the honor of being the hosts for the 27th Biennial Congress of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology in July 2017. This was confirmed when the members and Board of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology meeting on St. Martin accepted the invitation that had been extended to them in 2013. The Congress in 2013 was in San Juan, and the 2015 Congress was held July 19-25 of this year on St. Martin.
This meeting brings together about 200 of the leading archaeologists from around the world who work in the Caribbean. They spend a week listening to over 100 papers and visiting sites, and when they are not in session, they discuss what matters in archaeology of the Caribbean. The topics include: pre-Columbian peoples of the Caribbean, the Africa Diaspora, workers in all jobs in the Caribbean, standing structures, forts, villages, industry and homes of everyone. At this Congress, the DNA of the people of the Caribbean is often discussed as well as the complex waves and intermingling of the people who inhabit the Caribbean.
The Congress, which will start on Sunday, July 24, 2017, and run through the following weekend, will be held at the Divi Carina Bay Resort. Trips will be taken to many sites on St. Croix. There may be a post Congress tour to St. John and St. Thomas if ferry service can be obtained. The St. Croix Archaeological Society is raising the funds needed to put this first International Association for Caribbean Archaeology Congress in the Virgin Islands.
For more information, please contact David Hayes M.S. RPA at David_hayes_stx@stcroixarchaeology.org or call 277 4072.
The St. Croix Archaeological Society is an educational society devoted to Pre-Columbian St. Croix with 501 (c) 3 status. Web site: www.stcroixarchaeology.org
