Project funding
Bitter Island: exploring Portuguese colonial landscapes in São Tomé’s sugar plantation cycle (16th-17th century)
Praia Melão (São Tomé) 16.07. – 25.08.2023: Archaeology field school at Praia Melão, the remains of a sugar plantation whose ruinous water powered mill and estate house building stands as testament to the lives of enslaved workers brought to São Tomé some 500 years ago. The field school included four students of the University of São Tomé e Príncipe as well as three members of the local community. The project at Praia Melão is the first archaeological research in São Tomé. It is bringing the island to the attention of discussions on the emergence of the modern Atlantic world, plantation archaeology, and colonial identities. The work is adding to the comparative body of knowledge on plantation slavery through focus on perhaps the earliest known site of its kind. Research is revealing how aspects of the plantation system developed in this island and how observations from São Tomé fit within the broader picture of nascent colonialism in Africa. Archaeological research at Praia Melão is unearthing clues about a critical period that fundamentally changed global economic and cultural currents, spotlighting one small island’s place at the fulcrum of history.
Cologne Summer School „Environmental Archaeology: dealing cultural and natural heritage”
Dakhla Oasis (Egypt), 22.09. – 01.10.2023. The Cologne Summer School brought together 6 Egyptian and 3 German students and scientists with the aim of imparting and practicing knowledge on heritage management, culture and nature conservation in an intensive interdisciplinary dialogue.
