Multi-Period Landscape Survey and Site Risk Assessment on Montserrat, West Indies

Following a series of devastating and ongoing volcanic eruptions, the archaeological record of Montserrat (West Indies) has been exposed to the dual threats of destructive pyroclastic volcanism, and the construction of new infrastructure and settlements to accommodate those displaced as a result. Yet, with the exception of contributions from a handful of site-based research projects, the scope of prehistoric and historical archaeology of Montserrat remains poorly understood overall, in contrast to many of the other Leeward Islands. In 2010 the Survey and Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat project (SLAM) was established to create an inventory and accompanying risk assessment of archaeological sites and features in the island's non-exclusion zone, an essential resource for Montserrat's preservation officials. This is the initial step in an ongoing research program that also provides the basis for a diachronic and integrated temporal approach to archaeological studies of population movements and distribution, land use strategies, and risk management over the course of the island's human occupational history. The present article discusses the project's overall approach and presents some initial results that illustrate the richness and complexity of archaeological resources in the area most subject to the impacts of rapid redevelopment.