Parsons Under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Parsons, Ms. Starr Farr will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological excavation at Bloody Point, an indigenous Native American village site on the island of St. Kitts. The site appears to have both prehistoric and early historic period components. She will analyze the ceramics and other materials collected from both trash midden and household contexts and attempt to reconstruct both ethnic affiliation and social organization based on these remains. In recent years there has been great interest in the collision of European and indigenous American peoples and cultures. Recent scholarship on the Island Carib of the Lesser Antilles has questioned traditional models of native society and the ways in which they adapted to change in the face of contact. Ms. Farr believes that in response to changed conditions, indigenous political and social realignments occurred and that new ethnic identities were rapidly forged. The research is important because it will increase our understanding of how human societies adapt to intense, rapid and unexpected change. It will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
