The St. Croix Archaeology Museum
We are a small non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. We
are dedicated to, "bringing the past alive", on the
island of St. Croix. We hope that through our efforts we
can bring awareness to the, "Peoples who greeted
Columbus." We are located at #6 Company St., in the
town of Christiansted, on the island of St. Croix, US
Virgin Islands. Our island is rich in Historical and Pre-
Historical evidence. We display Pre-Columbian
artifacts with reverence for the Peoples and celebrate
their triumphs. The dawn of the ceramic age brought
promise and hope for a brighter future for a nomadic tribe. Their work is testimony to their
craftsmanship. The Saladoid, the first ceramic artisans to migrate from the South
American Continent, arrived on St. Croix approximately 2000 years ago. The name is
coined from the Saladero region in Venezuela. Their pottery was painted red and white
and has been the yardstick for all ceramics that followed.
They ground their clay to produce a thin but strong vessel
that made a glass-like sound when struck. The evidence
tends to support that they arrived on St. Croix, before they
populated the Greater Antilles. Their sedentary lifestyle
allowed us a glimpse into their fascinating diets,
customs, rituals, religion and tools. They achieved
greatness without the invention of steel and the wheel. They were
horticulturists, that manufactured tools to extract poisonous juices from cassava. This
practice ensured their survivability over milleniums. Cassava afforded them the fiber
to complement their coastal littoral resources.
The tuberous plants were grown in mounds of loose dirt and
processed into flour after it was de-toxified and dried it was
sparingly made into thin tortillas or bread. They could now
store these cakes for long periods of time while they waited
for the next harvest. They grew cotton and using clay spindle
whorls manufactured cord which they would macrame into
hammocks, fishing nets, fishing lines and string jewelry. They
played a game, where you couldn't use your hands to play, but
could use the rest of your body to strike the ball. The ball was made of rubber which
fascinated the Europeans, because up until then, the only balls they had seen were made
of steel, glass and wood. They smoked meats to preserve them and gave us the
bar-b-que. These beautiful people as they were described by the chronologists that came
with Columbus had never developed greed and gave willfully of all their earthly
possessions. We celebrate their lives and display the evidence of their beautiful
craftsmanship for public benefit and thus enrich ours. Please help us "bring the past
alive".
are dedicated to, "bringing the past alive", on the
island of St. Croix. We hope that through our efforts we
can bring awareness to the, "Peoples who greeted
Columbus." We are located at #6 Company St., in the
town of Christiansted, on the island of St. Croix, US
Virgin Islands. Our island is rich in Historical and Pre-
Historical evidence. We display Pre-Columbian
artifacts with reverence for the Peoples and celebrate
their triumphs. The dawn of the ceramic age brought
promise and hope for a brighter future for a nomadic tribe. Their work is testimony to their
craftsmanship. The Saladoid, the first ceramic artisans to migrate from the South
American Continent, arrived on St. Croix approximately 2000 years ago. The name is
coined from the Saladero region in Venezuela. Their pottery was painted red and white
and has been the yardstick for all ceramics that followed.
They ground their clay to produce a thin but strong vessel
that made a glass-like sound when struck. The evidence
tends to support that they arrived on St. Croix, before they
populated the Greater Antilles. Their sedentary lifestyle
allowed us a glimpse into their fascinating diets,
customs, rituals, religion and tools. They achieved
greatness without the invention of steel and the wheel. They were
horticulturists, that manufactured tools to extract poisonous juices from cassava. This
practice ensured their survivability over milleniums. Cassava afforded them the fiber
to complement their coastal littoral resources.
The tuberous plants were grown in mounds of loose dirt and
processed into flour after it was de-toxified and dried it was
sparingly made into thin tortillas or bread. They could now
store these cakes for long periods of time while they waited
for the next harvest. They grew cotton and using clay spindle
whorls manufactured cord which they would macrame into
hammocks, fishing nets, fishing lines and string jewelry. They
played a game, where you couldn't use your hands to play, but
could use the rest of your body to strike the ball. The ball was made of rubber which
fascinated the Europeans, because up until then, the only balls they had seen were made
of steel, glass and wood. They smoked meats to preserve them and gave us the
bar-b-que. These beautiful people as they were described by the chronologists that came
with Columbus had never developed greed and gave willfully of all their earthly
possessions. We celebrate their lives and display the evidence of their beautiful
craftsmanship for public benefit and thus enrich ours. Please help us "bring the past
alive".
The St. Croix Archaeological Society
The St. Croix Archaeological Society has compiled and scanned to pdf documents the Journals of the Virgin Islands Archaeological Society Volumes 1-10 1974-1980 Please click on the icon to see, read, copy and print the journals. Brief Introduction Prehistory St. Croix By Alfredo E. Figuerado © 2007-2009 St. Croix Archaeological Society |
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