ARCHEOLOGY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 



By HERBERT W. KRIEGER 



Curator, Division of Ethnology, U. S. National Museum 



Chi a recent visit to Washington, Robert Nichols, Superintendent 

 of Agriculture of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, informed Dr. Wet- 

 more, Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, of a large shell 

 mound on the Island of Anegada, the most northerly of the British 

 Virgin Islands. As a result of this information, an expedition was 

 organized to explore the mound, the scientific objective being a com- 

 parison of the Indian relics to be recovered there with the large col- 

 lections obtained by previous Smithsonian expeditions from the 

 Bahama Islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Puerto 

 Rico. The writer sailed October 14 from New York, and returned 

 at the close of the year. 



Since the immediate objective was an exploration of the Anegada 

 mound, the cooperation of the United States Coast Guard Service 

 was obtained within a few days after arrival at the beautiful port of 

 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Captain Walsh of the Coast Guard 

 boat, the Marion, and his entire crew were quite willing to embark on 

 the expedition since they had not heretofore sailed in the British 

 waters immediately adjacent to Anegada. 



Many fertile suggestions were forthcoming from officialdom in Char- 

 lotte Amalie regarding the proposed sojourn on Anegada, for many 

 dark tales had been told regarding its native population, whose naive 

 occupation of steamer wrecking is still listed in current encyclopedias. 

 No one at Charlotte Amalie had ever seen Anegada, and stories of 

 shifting and disappearing lighthouses, of shoals, hulks of wrecked 

 freighters, and of the mysterious splendor of house furnishings of a 

 marine flavor in the huts of the leading citizens of Anegada were freely 

 circulated among the credulous members of our expedition from Cap- 

 tain Walsh down to the courtly cook. Nevertheless, all were anxious 

 to go, including most of the small American colony of Charlotte 

 Amalie. 



En route to Anegada, an official call was made on the Commissioner 

 of the British Virgin Islands, at Road Town, on the Island of Tortola. 

 The Commissioner was highly pleased with the prospect of placing 

 Anegada on the map archeologically. Mr. Roy, Agricultural Super- 

 intendent of the British Virgin Islands, who was thoroughly familiar 



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