By Donald H Keith Yesterday marked the end of our two weeks of field work on Ft. George Cay. It was a little sad to backfill the test excavations, take down our base camp, and shuttle everything back to Pine Cay. We didn’t accomplish as much as I hoped, but there’s nothing new about that. Read more ›

By Toni Carrell We went back to the Poison Wood Area with instructions to “. . . see if those conch shells mean anything.” Fortunately, we’d already expanded the cleared area of leaf litter and done some limited testing. Elizabeth and Toni comparing notes. Here is a list of what turned up as a result: Read more ›

A Guest Blog By Dr. Charlene Kozy Authority on the Loyalist Planters in the Turks & Caicos Islands A short while ago I was asked if I knew who built Fort St. George. Without hesitation, I answered, “Thomas Brown, one of the American Loyalists that settled on the Caicos Islands.” My answer was based on Read more ›

By Toni Carrell For the past couple of days we fanned out across the island to see if we can locate any other structures from the fort. We’ve hacked, crawled, and swatted lots of mosquitoes along the way and have learned a lot.  One of the things we’ve learned is that it is likely that Read more ›

By Neal Hitch We found a cannon today. Off of the north shore of Fort George there are cannons in the water. They are a snorkeling attraction. Thomas Brown wrote that he outfitted the battery at Ft. George with 16 cannons in the 1790s. In 1967, the British Directorate of Overseas Survey completed an Ordnance Read more ›

By Will Allen, Volunteer As a professional photographer I often travel to remote destinations photographing or filming whatever I can, usually sharks or some sort of underwater life. Just before I head out on a new expedition I get comments from friends back in Montreal along the  lines of … “Poor you, working in an Read more ›

By Donald Keith Last night we visited Pine Cay home owners Jack McWilliams and his wife, Mary.  They had some things they wanted us to see. Jack and I go way back. He is the one who took me to see Ft. George Cay for the first time at least 10 years ago. Jack spent Read more ›

By David Stone, Volunteer I am writing this blog on day five of the survey from the comfort of my hotel suite in Provo. The other team members are slaving away in the hot sun while my wife and I had to take a day off and recuperate. Reality is slowly setting in and the Read more ›

By Elizabeth Stone Day 1 Today we went out to the Cay and met our fellow adventurists…a really fascinating bunch from all over…3 Phd’s, a professional underwater photographer, a doctor, a couple of year-rounders, and, of course, us. Armed with machetes, metal detectors, saws and the like…today’s focus was on clearing brush around the remnants Read more ›

By Toni Carrell, Ships of Discovery I discovered early in my career that archaeologists have this love-hate relationship with artifacts. Or at least I have a love-hate relationship with them. It would be so much fun to just go out and dig up “stuff” and then go back to camp and take a shower and Read more ›

By Neal Hitch For the last five days we have been cutting paths through the bush on Pine Cay. The first paths are cut with a machete as you try and work your way into the areas that have not been explored. You have to keep your eyes open for the small things. A brick, Read more ›

By Donald H Keith, Project Director We knew before we started that Ft St George has an underwater component as well as the walls and foundations that we are uncovering on land.  People have been finding artifacts on the beach for decades and literally thousands of snorkelers have seen the cannons lying in shallow water, Read more ›

By Randy Davis, Ships of Discovery Many people ask me what archeologists do. “Are you a treasure hunter?” Yes I am but not like most people think. My treasure and what gives the value to any object, be it a car or a piece of furniture, is the story. Think of it like this. The Read more ›

By Robert Krieble, Ships of Discovery As a kid I remember a dinner time conversation between my Father and Grandfather discussing the cannons off Fort George.  I couldn’t believe that “real cannons” could be right there in the water across from Pine Cay and nobody had gone and taken them away.  Since then I have Read more ›

By Neal V. Hitch, Museum Director This was our second day on Ft George Cay. One thing is clear. There are a lot more artifacts than we thought there were. The hurricanes of last September wreaked havoc and accelerated the erosion on known foundations. We have found several ceramic artifacts in the water and in the exposed Read more ›

By Donald H. Keith, Project Director The first time I heard about Ft. George was almost exactly 18 years ago in October 1981.  There was a local uproar about how a fly-by-night treasure hunting outfit called (believe it or not!) “Nomad Treasure Seekers” suddenly appeared off Ft. George Cay and started trying to raise some Read more ›

Ships of Discovery Dr Donald H. Keith – Trustee of the Turks and Caicos National Museum and lead archaeologist with Ships of Discovery. Donald Keith is the Principal Investigator of the 2009 Fort St George Archaeological Expedition. Dr Keith is well known in the islands having recently directed the Search for the Slave Ship Trouvadore Read more ›

Ships of Discovery and the Turks & Caicos National Museum are teaming up to delve into one of the most interesting, but little known, stories in the islands. Tiny Fort St George Cay receives nearly 20,000 visitors a year, yet very little is known about the soldiers and civilians who manned the fort in the Read more ›