THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF 700 YEARS OF OCCUPATION AT CLIFTON

PLANTATION, BAHAMAS Laurie A. Wilkie and Paul Farnsworth

Abstract:

Recent archaeological investigations at Clifton Plantation have revealed a greater time depth than originally

documented. Clifton has been home to at least two Lucayan village sites, a late 18th century plantation, a 19th

century plantation, as well as the home of various small-scale farmers and adventurers. Each has left a profound

archaeological impact on the property, as well as shaping subsequent site occupations. In this paper, we will

briefly review the archaeological history of this landscape from the period of Lucayan occupation, through the

early colonial period, the Loyalist period, Victorian era and, finally, the early 20th century.

Résumé:

Les recherches archéologiques récemment effectuées ' la plantation Clifton ont révélé qu'elle remontait plus

avant dans le temps qu'on ne l'avait documenté 'l'origine. Clifton a étéle site d'au moins deux village Lucayan,

d'une plantation de la fin du XVIIIe siècle, d'une plantation du XIXe siècle, ainsi que le liu d'habitation de

plusiers fermiers et aventuriers de petite envergure. Chaque époque et chaque événement ont eu une influence

profonde sur l'archéologie des lieux ainsi que sur les occupations ultérieures du site. Dans cet essai, nous

reverrons brièvement l'histoire archéologique de ce paysage depuis la période de l'occupation Lucayan, en

passant par la période coloniale, la période loyaliste, et l'ère victorienne, pour arriver finalement au début du

XXe siècle.

Abstracto:

Investigaciones arqueológicas llevadas a cabo recientemente en la Plantación Clifton revelaron que este lugar

era más antiguo de lo originalmente documentado. Clifton ha sido el hogar de por lo menos dos aldeas

Lucayanas, una plantación de finales del siglo 18, una plantación del siglo 19, y el hogar de pequeños

agricultores y de aventureros. Cada uno de estos grupos ha dejado un profundo impacto arqueológico en la

propiedad y le ha dado forma a subsiguientes asentamientos. En este trabajo, revisaremos brevemente la historia

arqueológica de este paisaje desde su periodo de ocupación Lucayana, a través de principios del período colonial,

el periodo Loyalist, la era Victoriana hasta, finalmente, el comienzo del siglo 20.

INTRODUCTION

The land at Clifton Point, located on the western end of the island of New Providence, Bahamas, and

historically known as Clifton plantation, was the focus of archaeological research from 1996 through

2000 (Wilkie and Farnsworth 1996,1997,1999, 2000), Three field seasons, archaeological survey, test­

ing and excavation have provided evidence of 700 years of occupation in the area. Here, Lucayan

Amerindians, the first settlers of the Bahamas, built villages and used the rich resources of the sea.

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Following them came European settlers in the 1750s, and soon after, Loyalist planters and enslaved

Africans and African-Americans. After emancipation, African-Bahamians continued to occupy and

farm the lands. Small-scale business ventures continued on the site through the Victorian period and

well into the 20th century. These different uses of the land have left their marks on the landscape in

different but still-visible ways. Whether knowingly or not, through time the people who have called

Clifton home have found the ways that they inhabit the land shaped by their predecessors. In this

paper, we will briefly review the development of the historical landscape of Clifton.

LUCAYAN OCCUPATIONS

Clifton is located on the western end of New Providence. It includes a sheltered bay, rich in diverse

marine resources, including reef and deepwater fish species and a range of mollusks and crabs. The

earliest occupation of Clifton was by the Lucayan Amerindians. Two village sites have been located at

Clifton. Designated as NP-13, the Alexandra Site, and NP-14, the Flipper site, each village was locat­

ed along the sandy beach ridges on either side of Clifton Point separated by only approximately 200

meters (Figure 1).

Given the close proximity of the two sites, any attempts at interpretation of daily life there

must consider the possible relationships between them: geographically, economically, socially and, of

course, temporally. Both sites, using Bill Keegan's (1985) classification of Bahamian Amerindian set­

tlements, can be considered to be villages, since their longest linear distances are both over 200 meters.

Neither site seems to have been long occupied, with midden thicknesses of about 20-30 cm at most.

These are thin sites compared to midden thicknesses reported for sites on Bahamian islands to the

south such as San Salvador, Cat Island, Prince Cay and Middle Caicos (Keegan 1985). In addition,

there was no stratigraphie suggestion of multiple periods of occupation. The close proximity of the

sites raises the possibility that they reflect an example of paired villages suggested by Keegan (1985,

1992,1997) for Lucayan settlement.

If NP-13 and NP-14 represent paired villages, radiocarbon dates from the two sites should

reflect contemporaneous occupation and presumably, the artifact assemblages from the villages

should demonstrate similarities based upon the impacts of marriage alliances tying the two descent

groups and leading to individuals moving from one village to another. Unfortunately, the radiocar­

bon dates do not clearly indicate whether the sites are contemporaneous or not. The overlap in the 11

calibrated radiocarbon dates from NP-13, using the one sigma range, suggest a likely occupation

range from about AD 1240-1300. The eight radiocarbon dates from NP-14 do not cluster as tightly as

those from NP-13. The range of occupation suggested by the dates using the one sigma range is AD

1275-1440, but seven of the dates do cluster at the one sigma range between AD 1335 and 1395.

Therefore, it appears that if the two sites were contemporaneous, it was only for a short time between

AD 1275 and 1300 (Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000).

Based upon the artifact analysis, there are some intriguing differences between the sites. From

the earlier site, NP-13, the pottery density over the 62 excavated square meters was 7.1 sherds per

square meter, while at NP-14, the density was 10.0 sherds per square meter over the 30 units excavat-

173

ed within the site. Three main pottery forms were identifiable: griddles, hollowwares, and figurines.

At NP-13, of 162 identifiable sherds, 46.5% were griddles, 52.7% were hollowwares and 0.6% were fig­

urines. At NP-14, 21.5% of the 101 identifiable sherds were from griddles, 78.4% were hollow, and

none were from figurines. At NP-13, 15.4% of the sherds were decorated with incised lines, while at

NP-14, a mere 2.1% were decorated with incised lines (Wilkie and Famsworth 2000).

The difference in the relative amount of hollowwares and griddles between the two sites may

reflect differing subsistence activities (Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000). At NP-13, greater use of griddles,

predominately used to prepare cassava, could indicate greater dependence on horticulture, while the

higher incidence of hollowwares at NP-14 could be suggestive of greater reliance on gathered

resources, such as shellfish. A broader range of species was utilized at NP-13 than NP-14. In hunter-

gather studies employing optimal foraging models, an increase in diet breadth (in this case suggested

by the number of shell species recovered) suggests that a population may be negatively impacting the

abundance of key resources through over harvest. Clifton is the location of the only beach-accessible

reef on the island. Zooarchaeological analyses demonstrate that conch and other marine resources,

utilized first by the Lucayans, remained important sources of food throughout Clifton's occupation.

Other differences exist between the two sites. While shell beads were found from both sites,

the beads from NP-13 were manufactured from conch, sunrise tellin and tiger lucine, whereas the ones

from NP-14 were manufactured of clam, tiger lucine and jewel box. Evidence of shell tool manufac­

ture was recovered from NP-14 but not NP-13. Coral finger scrapers /grinders were more abundant

at NP-13, whereas drills were exclusively recovered from NP-14. Imported chipped stone flakes were

found only at NP-13. Thus, the artifacts also suggest that the sites were not occupied at the same time.

It seems likely that the sites of NP-13 and NP-14 represent two different, yet successive glimpses into

prehistoric life in the Bahamas. The proximity of the sites to one another probably reflect a relocation

of a settlement rather than two contemporaneous and competing villages, with significant changes in

subsistence and cultural activities having occurred over time (Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000).

Other parts of the landscape were undoubtedly used by the Lucayans. Footholds carved in

bedrock leading to a large rock shelter on the property have been attributed to the Lucayans. A num­

ber of large "banana" or solution holes can be found on the property, some with caves and rock shel­

ters. At least one rock shelter has evidence of occupation.

HISTORIC OCCUPATIONS

The earliest occupants during the historic period chose to erect their settlement on top of NP-13. Like

the Lucayans, these settlers found the sheltered backside of the beach ridge easily accessible to the sea,

sheltered from storms and cooled by sea breezes that reduce insect infestations. Two structures from

this period of occupation have been located. The first structure still stands. This limestone block and

mortar structure has been heavily modified through its history. Designated Locus N (Figure 2), we

first thought this structure was constructed in the early nineteenth century. However, during exten­

sive excavations at the structure, mid 18th century materials, including a 1738 British coin, numerous

sherds of Chinese porcelain, white salt-glazed stoneware, tin enameled wares and large-bored tobac­

co pipe stems suggested an earlier occupation. These materials were primarily found to the west and

174

north of the building (Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000).

The second early structure at Clifton is designated Locus R, and no longer stands. The build­

ing was located in line with, and to the south of, Locus N. Its presence was indicated by the discov­

ery of fallen mortar and plaster containing wattle impressions. The wall fall was found in association

with agateware, creamware, Devon gravel-tempered ware and redware ceramics. The materials tend

to date a little later in the eighteenth century than those from Locus N (Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000).

This style of architecture and the associated materials are not unlike those found at the slave cabins at

Promised Land plantation, also on New Providence (Farnsworth 1994,1999, 2001). Locus R was per­

haps built before Thomas Ross was granted that part of the property in 1788 (RGD 1799). The struc­

ture probably represents the earliest slave cabin known in the Bahamas.

Immediately to the north of Locus N is another limestone block building, Locus P (Figure 2).

The construction date for this structure is still unclear. A few tin enameled sherds have been found in

association with the structure, but abundant associated materials date to the late 18th to early 19th cen­

turies. Perhaps the structure was built to complement the other two existing structures in the area

(Wilkie and Farnsworth 2000).

With the onset of the Loyalist period in 1783 came the greatest period of construction and

occupation of the historic period to date. The lands that became Clifton Plantation were granted to

John Wood, Thomas Ross and Lewis Johnson in the late 1780s (RGD 1799). Construction of the com­

plex of buildings that later became known as Clifton Plantation appears to have begun under John

Wood. Wood is credited with building the great house (Locus A, Figure 2) at Clifton (RGBA1806), and

architectural analysis combined with excavation data suggest that the four southernmost cabins in the

enslaved people's village may have been built at this time (Figure 2). Plain creamware vessels and

blue-shell-edged pearlware ceramics seem to have been distributed to- enslaved people by Wood.

Vessels marked with large scratched "X"s on their bases — a common means of marking property —

were found associated with two of these four structures.

After a complex series of transactions beginning in 1799, Clifton Plantation was bought by

William Wylly, Attorney General of the Bahamas, in 1809 (RGD 1809). Although a number of the

structures had been built by previous owners, excavation demonstrated that Wylly's period of own­

ership was associated with the greatest degree of archaeological deposition. As Attorney General,

Wylly prosecuted several prominent planters on charges of cruelty and under-provisioning of slaves

(CO 1816). A convert to Methodism, Wylly advocated a strong paternalistic approach to the manage­

ment of enslaved people and imposed rules regarding morality, family life, and religion on Clifton's

enslaved people (CO 1815). These rules also state that enslaved people were encouraged to tend their

own provisioning grounds by being given extra time off and encouraged to trade or sell their surplus

produce at the market in Nassau. Wylly also provided enslaved families with the opportunity to earn

extra wages by building walls on the plantation for him (CO 1818). These circumstances provide us

with the unique opportunity to study an enslaved community whose people had an unusual amount

of control over their household economies, and therefore, exercised a high degree of agency over their

appropriation of consumer goods.

175

To briefly summarize some of our findings, excavations in the yard areas of the slave village

provide insight into African lives during the Wylly period. Yards were swept away from the house,

with nooks and banana holes in the bedrock surface being filled during sweeping. Concentrations of

materials in these nooks combined with artifacts that had been stamped into the living surface allow

us to understand the distribution of spatial activities within the yards. Extensive excavations have

been conducted in the yard areas of 4 of the cabins and behind the kitchen. An area up to 10-15 meters

behind the cabins was used as the houseyard, where food preparation and consumption, childcare,

laundry, sewing and socializing took place. Behind lay the provisioning grounds. When the spatial

layouts of the yard areas are compared, we are able to see similarities in everyday practice from one

house to another.

Outdoor kitchens seem to have been uniformly located on the northern or southern perime­

ter of the yard, at a distance of about 5 meters behind the houses. Shellfish, fish and other meats were

prepared for cooking in these areas, and cutlery, axes for cutting conch from their shells, mixing bowls,

pot fragments and faunal remains are concentrated in these areas. Laundry activities took place

between the kitchen and the house, as evidenced by concentrations of beads, buttons and fasteners

that were torn from clothing during the harsh process of being scrubbed with limestone or brick, or

while hanging to dry. Concentrations of these materials further suggest that clothing lines were hung

from the houses towards trees located on the yard perimeters. Food and beverage consumption also

took place in the yard.

These were spaces encountered by the community at large, and the commonalties in practices

within these yards would have served to create a sense of community and comfort among occupants

of the quarters. We have found that the composition of the ceramic, tobacco pipe, and personal adorn­

ment assemblages from these houses simultaneously reflect the creation of a new pan-African cultur­

al tradition in addition to the maintenance of specific African ethnic identities (Farnsworth 1999a,

1999b; Wilkie 1999a, 1999b, 2001). Although the materials that the people of Clifton bought were

European in origin, the assemblage of artifacts they collected were African in construction. For exam­

ple, color palettes emphasizing browns, oranges, yellows and greens were chosen. Decorative types

emphasized hand-painted and annular designs. The annular designs frequently included chevrons,

bands and dots, designs common of African pottery. The designs were often produced by cutting

through layers of colored slip, leaving the design apparent in relief as they would be on African pots.

Motifs were selected according to West African cultural standards, not European ones. Designs that

resemble Bakongo cosmograms appear on some vessels, as do peacocks and peacock feathers, birds

with spiritual significance in West Africa.

Wylly's occupation ended in 1821, when he was driven from the island due to his unpopular

political positions. While a small number of his enslaved people were moved to Saint Vincent, the

majority remained on his Bahamian properties and were sold after his death (Wilkie 2001). Clifton

was willed to Wylly's heirs and sold to James Reid and Ann Davis in 1831 (RGD 1831). This couple

owned a small number of slaves, many of whom were rented out as domestics. Archaeologically most

of the cabins appear to have been abandoned at this time. By 1847, Ann Davis had sold the plantation

to Thomas Matthews (RGD 1847). Matthews himself doesn't appear to have lived in the great house,

176

and in 1851, the Nassau Guardian reported that the house and kitchen burned to the ground (Nassau

Guardian 1851). However, there is evidence that one of the old slave cabins was occupied during the

Reid/Davis and Matthews' tenure. Locus L (Figure 2), one of the cabins most remote from the great

house, was occupied through the early 1850s. After that time, there is no clear evidence of reoccupa­

tion of the quarters until the early 20th century.

During the Victorian period, the focus of occupation of the site shifted from the inland loca­

tion of the Woods/Wylly compound back to the area by the sea. Locus N (Figure 2) seems to have

been converted at this time into use as a bar or saloon. A large covered porch with a limestone mor­

tar floor was built on the eastern side of the structure sometime after the Loyalist period. The origi­

nal porch floor was a limestone mortar surface. Sometime after installation, this floor began to decay

from use. Large stones were placed on top of the floor, and based on the recovery of nails from the

floor surface, some sort of raised plank flooring was set above. Debris from the yard area seems to

have been routinely swept under the plank flooring, trapping it above the mortar floor. Materials,

such as clothing fasteners, jewelry, a pocket-watch cover, sunglasses lenses and numerous nearly

intact tobacco pipes were recovered above the mortar floor. Alcohol containers, whole and broken,

were also recovered from the site. Intriguingly, the contents of a small coin purse, including three

Victorian pennies, a can of tobacco and a pipe were found clustered with a clasp (Wilkie and

Farnsworth 2000).

At the same time that the porch was constructed, many of the doorways in the building were

mortared shut. This would make sense if the interior of the building were being used to store liquor

inventories. This basically is identical in style and form to locally owned bars in the smaller villages

of New Providence today.

Locus P was also occupied during the Victorian period—probably by the individuals who ran

the bar. Comparison of artifacts from N and P demonstrate that matching tobacco pipes and ceram­

ics were recovered from the two sites. Locus P seems to be more domestic in nature, as suggested by

the recovery of laundry, healthcare and child-related artifacts. Both of these occupations end before

the 20th century, based upon the lack of automatic manufactured bottles (Wilkie and Farnsworth

2000).

During the early 20th century, and lasting through the 1960s, at least two of the cabins in the

slave quarters were again reoccupied and a small store (Locus C, Figure 2) was run out of one of the

buildings in the old great house compound. The plantation road, probably built by Wood, became the

established throughway to the western end of the island. The visibility of the small plantation office

building from the road made it a perfect place for a store. At the same time, archaeological evidence

shows that the occupations in the old slave village were still shaped by the earlier spatial arrangement

of the quarters. At Locus H, the outdoor kitchen was rebuilt on the same spot as the early 19th cen­

tury one, and the yard appears to have been used for similar activities in similar ways. Food trees,

such as tamarind, were planted at the perimeters of the yard, as defined by the earlier walls, and the

rear provisioning grounds appear to have been cleared and reused. The compromise of African and

planter ideals that structured the shape and layout of the original quarters continued to shape the

everyday practices of families living at the site 100 years later. Elsewhere on the property during the

177

twentieth century small scale farming activities took place, using Loyalist period field walls to define

agricultural plots and pen sheep and goats. Evidence of these activities was found in the vicinity of

Loci N and P.

Today the plantation landscape still shapes the way that the site is visited. Old plantation

roads and walls are followed to the beach. The standing structures are used for temporary shelter and

barbecues. Even "secretive" activities taking place at the site, such as the burial of a modern gun at

Locus N or rendezvous locations for drug deals or lover's liaisons are shaped by the prior land use,

with buildings and roads being important landmarks and meeting places. The same sheltered areas

of the Clifton Bay, once selected by Lucayans for their village sites, are popular with bathers and fish­

ermen.

CONCLUSION

By taking a long-term historical view of an archaeological landscape, we can begin to see how suc­

ceeding generations continue to be shaped by earlier landscapes and land-use. Such a perspective

allows us to see the pervasiveness of practice, even among people and cultures who would not other­

wise see themselves as sharing commonalties with one another. Often in archaeology we construct an

artificial divide between "prehistory" and "history", as if time were not a continuum. At Clifton, 700

or more years of human daily life can be found in one place. The oldest of the occupations continues

to shape the ways that the most recent inhabitants use the land. Questions over the preservation of

the prehistoric and historic sites surround Clifton in political controversy as the most recent occupants

of the land attempt to preserve evidence of the first residents (Farnsworth and Wilkie 2001). To ignore

one archaeological period in favor of another only weakens our understanding of the past and breaks

the chain of interrelated human experiences at a single place.

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180

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Figure 2. Surviving historical features on the western portion of Clifton plantation.

181