STRATIFIED SITES AND STORM EVENTS: THE FORMATION AND DESTRUCTION OF BEACH SITES IN , WEST INDIES John G. Crock and James B. Petersen

ABSTRACT Excavations at post-Saladoid sites in Anguilla indicate that storm events have played a major role in the forma­ tion of coastal sites on this low-lying island and also have contributed to their destruction. Stratified cultural deposits and associated radiocarbon dates help reconstruct an environment in which periodic storm events, such as hurricanes and ground seas, contribute sediments to sites, effectively separating cultural horizons. Monitoring of sites before and after storms, uniform, sterile profiles near the interface with the modern beach, and waterworn artifacts along the shoreline indicate that such events also have destroyed portions of the same sites.

RESUMEN Excavaciones indican que casos de tormenta desempen?'aron un papel principal en la formación y destrucción de sitios costeros en la isla baja d'Anguilla.

RÉSUMÉ Excavations inequent que événements de tempête tinrent un rôle dans la formation et destruction des sites dans la côte de cet île basse.

INTRODUCTION A number of severe tropical storms battered the small islands of the northern during late 1990s. The island of Anguilla, the northernmost island in the Lesser Antillean chain, was hit directly by a total of four hurricanes between 1995 and 1999, including two category 4 storms with in excess of 120 miles per hour. Archaeological research conducted from 1995-2001 provided opportunities to witness the effects of hurricanes and other storms on archaeological sites. Anguilla's low coastline is particularly vulnerable to periodic, storm related sea-level changes caused by hurricanes, tropical storms, depressions, and related sea surges. Much of the habitable shoreline lies at less than 2-3 m above sea level. As a result, major archaeological sites within the coastal zone are susceptible to both the formative and destructive effects of tropical storm events. Of the 14 substantial Amerindian sites known on the island, 12 are located immediately adja­ cent to the sea at elevations of between 2-3 m above sea level. From the time the island was colonized by sedentary farmers roughly 1500 years ago (Crock 2000; Crock and Petersen 1999), the preferred site location was on the coast. In many cases, villages were situated between the sea and salt ponds, well positioned relative to naturally available resources and maritime trade networks. The low elevation of these sites and their close proximity to the sea makes them extremely vulnerable locations as settle-

204 ment locations and archaeological sites. In terms of habitation, these locations are convenient for mar­ itime-oriented people, but they do carry a degree of risk, especially during hurricane season. Throughout the post-Saladoid period, the selection of near beach environments for habitation indi­ cates that this was a risk Amerindians considered worth taking. Historic and modern occupation of the same locations indicates that the more recent occupants of the island, like their predecessors, have been willing to live with the same risk, although many people today live well above the sea. In terms of the formation of the archaeological record, these near-beach environments are, at times, depositional in nature. Such contexts have the potential to contain relatively deep stratigraph­ ie profiles. Fieldwork conducted at several beach sites in Anguilla provides evidence of periodic hur­ ricanes and other major storm events in the past contributing significant amounts of sediments to sites, by transporting beach sands inland via (aeolian) and/or wave action. Excavation profiles suggest that these past storm events, represented by rapid accumulations of coarser sands, punctuat­ ed more gradual accumulations of cultural material and lighter beach sands deposited by near con­ stant low velocity winds. It appears that major high velocity storms like , for example, deposited volumes of sand at some sites sufficient to enable separation of temporally discreet occupa­ tional horizons. Such sites have been extremely important for establishing a cultural chronology for Anguilla and for evaluating a variety of diachronic issues (Crock 2000). These deep beach sites are even more significant due to the lack of other depositional settings on the island, except perhaps in rare circum­ stances such as caves. There are no active rivers or streams and therefore no alluvial contexts, for example, due to the island's low elevation and dry climate (less than 100 cm rain/year). While the formative aspect of tropical storms has been a benefit to the preservation of the archaeological record in Anguilla, the destructive nature of the same storms has been, conversely, a serious liability. These sites are frequently endangered by storm-related erosion and periodic rises in sea level. In many cases, significant portions of coastal sites have been lost to the sea since they were first occupied 1500-1000 years ago and abandoned roughly 500 years ago. This paper uses several beach sites in Anguilla as case studies to illustrate the positive and negative effects of storm events on the archaeological record of this small limestone island.

The 1990s: Decade of Hurricanes The role of hurricanes in the burial and erosion of archaeological sites was observed first hand after each of the six hurricanes to target Anguilla between 1995 and 1999. The latter half of the 1990s made the decade the busiest for hurricanes on record (Storm Carib 2002). In 1995, two hurricanes hit Anguilla within a three day period. The first, Hurricane Luis, was particularly powerful. Luis was approximately 700 miles (1,200 km) in diameter and "well-organized" when it hit the shallows of the northern Lesser Antilles. When it hit Anguilla, Luis was a Category 4 hurricane, the penultimate rat­ ing on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the ranking system used to measure the strength of tropical storms. Sustained winds of over 140 miles an hour (225 km/hr) and gusts of over 200 miles an hour were recorded at Wallblake Airport in Anguilla during the 36 hour period it hammered the island in 1995. Hurricane Luis was the first major hurricane to hit Anguilla since in 1960 and only

205 the third category 4 storm to have passed near the island since 1886 (Storm Carib 2002). , a category 2 storm, came only two days after Hurricane Luis had passed. Though its winds were not as strong, Hurricane Marilyn brought much more rain to the island. Together, the one-two punch of the two storms was devastating, particularly to structures and vege­ tation. Over the following four years, four more hurricanes hit Anguilla including Bertha (1996), Georges (1998), and Jose and Lenny (1999). , like Luis, was a major, category 4 hur­ ricane. The storm effects on archaeological sites varied between storms and between sites. The most powerful in terms of deposition and erosion were the major, category 4 storms, namely hurricanes Luis and Lenny. In some areas, beach sands were spread inland across sites, further burying them. In others, the sea cut channels through barrier beaches containing sites, ripping pages from the archae­ ological record. While the fresh deposits of sand added to the protection of some sites, severe erosion in other cases exposed deposits and forever removed artifacts from their primary contexts. A study of Anguilla's beaches following the 1995 hurricane season revealed that while beaches had recovered to 75% of the pre-hurricane levels within five months, the average coastline/dune retreat of 9 m would take much longer to restore itself (Cambers 1996).

CASE STUDIES IN STORM-RELATED SITE FORMATION AND DESTRUCTION Sandy Ground Site (AL03-SG) One of the most significant archaeological sites in Anguilla is located in the modern village of Sandy Ground on a barrier beach separating the sea from the Road Bay salt pond. Road Bay is a well-pro­ tected harbour, but the barrier beach between the sea and pond is only 2.5 m above sea-level making it extremely vulnerable during storms. Hurricane Luis submerged Sandy Ground and joined the sea with the salt pond for almost two days. Houses were blown from their foundations and beachfront restaurants and other buildings were destroyed. In 1997, the authors conducted shovel testing and test unit excavation in an open lot area in the central portion of the site as part of an archaeological field school for the University of Vermont. A light cover of sand deposited by Hurricane Luis about 18 months earlier was still visible on the sur­ face of the site, particularly over portions closest to the modern beach. Block excavations revealed a relatively deep profile of fine sand densely laden with Amerindian midden deposits. A total of five strata were identified at the Sandy Ground site, with Amerindian cultural deposits recovered to a depth of just over 1 meter below the modern ground surface. Ceramics, sub­ sistence shell and faunal remains comprise the major volume of remains recovered. The preservation of faunal remains at the site is excellent due to the "basic," non-acidic, nature of the carbonate sand matrix. Artifacts recovered include diagnostic white-on-red ceramic sherds from the deepest levels attributable to the late to terminal Saladoid period, ca A.D. 300 to A.D. 600. Other notable artifacts include ground stone three-pointed zemis and shell adornments. A total of four radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal excavated from different strata in one of the units. Calibrated, these dates range from as early as A.D. 650 at approximately 110 cm below the ground surface, to as recent as A.D. 1035 at approximately 50 cm below the ground surface,

206 and A.D. 1995 at the surface, represented by the thin veneer of sand deposited by Hurricane Luis. This allows an estimate of approximately 110 cm of vertical accumulation over a 1350 year period, or roughly 8 cm every 100 years at Sandy Ground. Other dates obtained for the Sandy Ground site and other diagnostic ceramics recovered sug­ gest a more lengthy occupation for the site as a whole. It appears likely that it was continually occu­ pied by Amerindians from about A.D. 400 until as recently as about A.D. 1400. This temporal range clearly is indicative of the long-term stability of the barrier beach landform, formed by a combination of storm deposited sand, more regular aeolian factors and cultural material. Unfortunately, the dense midden deposits make it difficult to discern microstrata that might represent individual past storm events at this site. Under regular conditions, of all the site locations across the island, aeolian deposits are lightest at Sandy Ground due to its protected location on the leeward side of the island. During storms, more substantial deposits are possible at Sandy Ground as offshore sands are pushed inland. However, complete submersion of the Sandy Ground barrier beach, as happened during hurricanes Luis and Lenny, apparently does more to erode site deposits. As noted above, Hurricane Luis sub­ merged Sandy Ground, joining the sea and salt pond almost two days and causing surficial erosion across the barrier beach. Hurricane Lenny cut a 10 m wide channel through the northern end of the landform and the northern end of the site, exhibiting a destructive process that likely has occurred at numerous times in different places along the beach.

Shoal Bay East (AL19-SE) The Shoal Bay site is located on a level point of land on the northeast coast of Anguilla at 1-2 m above sea-level. A long reef not far offshore protects the beach and the site from wave activity much of the time. As a result only hurricanes and bad ground seas have a significant impact on the beach in front of the site. Hurricane Luis, for example, had a significant impact on the beach and nearby area of the Shoal Bay site. The storm moved the vegetation line inland approximately 3 m, flattening and bury­ ing the fence that had paralleled the beach (Figure 1). Wind and waves associated with the storm also deposited massive amounts of sand onto the site surface, with the largest accumulation closest to the modern beach and lighter deposits feathering out further inland (Figure2). Testing and excavation were conducted at the site in 1996 and then again with another UVM field school in 1999. The larger excavation units were placed on a raised berm immediately behind the beach in an effort to assess the potential for deeply buried deposits. The excavations revealed that deposits in this portion of the Shoal Bay site are indeed deep and well-stratified, with thick deposits providing greater depositional and temporal resolution than possible at the Sandy Ground site. Amerindian cultural deposits were recovered to a depth of over 1.5 m, with bands of sterile storm- deposited sand evident throughout the profile, separating cultural horizons. The undeveloped, pale- yellow sand within these horizons is coarser than sediments in surrounding strata, reflecting the high­ er energy behind their deposition. A total of three radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal samples recovered from stra­ ta I, III and V (Figure 3). The dates range in age from A.D. 1020 to A.D. 1510. Earlier dates of ca. A.D. 700 were obtained elsewhere at the site, indicating that as a whole it was likely occupied by

207 Amerindians for at least 800 years. Archaeological materials recovered in contexts below 50 cm in this particular unit include mainly Amerindian ceramics and some subsistence remains. The uppermost 50 cm of sediment in this portion of the site appears to have been deposited within the last 500 years. Historic artifacts including kaolin pipe fragments were recovered from stratum 7, the uppermost developed horizon. Based on bore diameter, these artifacts are likely attributable to the late 18tn or early 19m century. The dates for this Shoal Bay profile show a substantial but consistent accumulation of a meter and a half of sediment over about a 1000 year period, or roughly 15 cm every 100 years. This repre­ sents nearly twice the rate estimated at the Sandy Ground site, which is due, in part to the site's greater exposure to wind, and lack of a protective harbour.

Barnes Bay Site (AL14-BB) Field work conducted at several beach sites across Anguilla, regular monitoring over a five year peri­ od and observations made following major storm events indicates that the long-term, cumulative effect of periodic storms likely has been far more destructive to the archaeological record than any measurable rise in sea-level. The destruction of beach sites by storm events is best documented at the Barnes Bay site. The Barnes Bay site is situated on the northwest coast of Anguilla on a point of land at the western end of Mead's Bay. The deepest deposits occur, not surprisingly, in a portion adjacent to Mead's Bay beach. Amerindian cultural materials were recovered to a depth of one meter in this area. The majority of the site lies inland from the rocky point, however, where relatively thin deposits over­ lie limestone bedrock. Portions of the site along the western edge of the beach and near the point are actively eroding as a result of periodic storm events, particularly ground seas which batter the coast­ line with high seas and carry sands from the beach offshore. Ground seas are not necessarily associ­ ated with high winds or heavy rains because they can be caused by more distant weather systems. In the fall of 1996, a particularly "bad" ground sea completely denuded the beach of sand near the Barnes Bay site, revealing waterworn artifacts wedged between limestone boulders and imbedded in beach rock (Figure 4). These artifacts testify to past erosion and scouring along the seaward mar­ gin of the site. Within a month, however, the beach was replenished with sand and most evidence of the erosion was buried under fresh sand (Figure 5). A human burial was discovered after the beach had been replenished, however, eroding from the weakened dune bank. Ground seas appear to present the one of the most destructive forces in the erosion of coastal sites. These events scour beaches and erode site margins and then a natural rejuvenation of the beach occurs and a new berm conceals the eroding site frontage. Though most apparent at the Barnes Bay site, this cyclic process appears to occur at a number of different sites in Anguilla. At both the Sandy Ground and Shoal Bay sites, test pits excavated closest to the edge of the modern beach revealed uniform profiles of pale yellow sand with virtually no soil development, while test pits only ten meters inland exhibited developed cultural horizons. The sudden truncation of site deposits in these cases is likely attributable to the erosion of site deposits during destructive ground seas and the subsequent redeposition of sterile sand in their place.

208 SUMMARY The three sites discussed represent three different environments where site burial and site destruction have occurred due to storm events in Anguilla. At these and other sites, site burial and site destruc­ tion happened at different rates and at different times due to the relative exposure of each site and the vagaries of storm events. The beach berm deposits at Sandy Ground are not as deep or as well-separated as those at Shoal Bay, in part due to the difference in exposure to prevailing winds. Road Bay and the adjoining Sandy Ground site are protected from strong offshore winds and storm surges, most of the time while Shoal Bay is subjected to heavier winds and roiled sea more frequently. This difference alone is like­ ly responsible for many of the differences in the depositional contexts of these two sites. In terms of site destruction, the location of the Barnes Bay site near a prominent point is large­ ly responsible for its endangered status. The headland where the main site area is located is more sus­ ceptible to erosion than the beaches on either side of it. This process exposes this particular site more regularly and makes it even more vulnerable during storm events. Hurricane related blow outs have the most destructive potential of any storm related erosion of archaeological sites. In these situations, whole sections of sites on barrier beaches have been chan­ neled out, connecting the sea with salt ponds behind the beach. Over time, these channels are filled in again and leave scars in the archaeological record. This process was observed after Hurricane Lenny at the Sandy Ground site and the Rendezvous Bay site as well, another major habitation site located on the southwest coast of the island. Excavations at the Rendezvous Bay site by Waiters (Waiters and Petersen 1991) and in 2001 by a UVM field school suggest that storm events have both eroded and helped bury Amerindian cultural deposits at this site. In sum, storm events are both beneficial and detrimental to the understanding of low eleva­ tion sites on the coast of islands such as Anguilla. Site burial provides vertical stratifica­ tion, helping separate periods of occupation. These contexts also provide the means to date specific storm events in the past that undoubtedly had an impact on Amerindians living in Anguilla given their large magnitude. Where site burial is helpful to archaeological interpretation, site erosion is the exact opposite. At present, sites in Anguilla are, in many cases, incomplete relative to their original size due to channeling and shorefront erosion, not to mention the surficial erosion that occurs when sites become totally submerged.

REFERENCES CITED Cambers, G., 1996. Hurricane impact on the beaches of the Eastern Caribbean islands, 1989-1995. Mayagüez: University of Sea Grant Program.

Crock, J.G., 2000. Interisland interaction and the development of Chiefdoms in the Eastern Caribbean. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.

Crock, J.G., and J.B. Petersen, 1999. The Anguilla Archaeology Project, 1992-1993. The Valley: Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society.

209 Storm Carib, 2002. Climatology of Caribbean hurricanes: St. Maarten/St. Martin, location 18.05N 63.12W. Http: / / www.stormcarib.com / climatology / sxm_isl.htm.

Watters, D.R. and J.B. Petersen, 1991. Preliminary Report on the Archaeology of the Rendezvous Bay Site, Anguilla. In A. Cummins and P. King (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress for Caribbean Archaeology. St. Ann's Garrison: Museum and Historical Society, pp. 25-33.

Figure 1. Shoal Bay site following Hurricane Luis in 1995.

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Figure 2. Hurricane Luis sand deposits over the Shoal Bay site in 1995.

Shoal Bay (AL19-SE)

HURRICANE LUIS/MARYUN 1995 HURRICANE DONNA (?) 1960

A.B. J 700-1900 HURRICANE/STORM SAND

A.B. 1400-1640 HURRICANE/STORM SAND

A.D. 1195-1410

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140 A.D. 1005-1285 HURRICANE/STORM SAND N558 E466 West Wall

X Pole yetlow nediurt sand C2.5Y 7/3) Hurricone Luis/Morytin IX Very dark grayish brown fine to nerfîun sand (2.5Y 3/2) Vlll Pole yeito» nedium sand <2.SY 7/3) VII Light ísrownish-gray fine to nediun sand <2.5r 6/2> VI Pole yeito* nediun to coarse sand <2.SY 7/3) V Light oiive-bro*n fine to nediuri send ÍS.5Y 5/3) ÎV Pate yeifo» nediwn to coarse sand C2.5Y 7/3) III Very dark grayish-brown fine to fiediun sand <2.5Y 3/2) II Oiive-brown fine to nediun sand C2.5Y a/4) Ï Pate yettow nediun to coarse sand C3.5Y 7/3)

Figure 3. Shoal Bay profile. Placed under trees at back right of Fig. 1.

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Figure 4. Denuded beach at the Barnes Bay site following a bad ground sea in 1996.

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Figure 5. Replenished beach at the Barnes Bay site one month after Fig, 4. Human burial in cut bank.

213