Falmouth Field School

On the morning of the 13th, there was a feeling of mournfulness in the air, and the sound of suitcases being packed was all that could be heard. The time had come for us to return home, and leave Jamaica behind. Our last moments at the tree house were spent together in the main room, where we all took pictures to solidify and make the moment last forever. They say that all good things must come to an end, and today was that day. The plane ride back was one spent reflecting on everything that had happened over the past ten days. When we arrived back in the States it was a beautiful homecoming. Parents were running up to their offspring, embracing them and showering them with love and kisses. Questions such as “How was it?” and “Did you have fun?” rippled throughout the air. It was good to be home, yet it was also bittersweet, because coming home meant leaving Jamaica. Although we are happy to be returning home to our loved ones, it was difficult to leave behind the new friends and

I'm excited to say that today the archaeology group uncovered another Taino bowl! We think this bowl could have been used as either a cooking pot, a water bowl, or something else. We aren't sure what it's original use was, but we do know that we found the bowl near some lines in the ground that might indicate the outer boundary of a house. We were  able to help Dr. Conolley and Mr. Gooden dig a trench around the bowl. The trench was rather wide, it was about 50 by 50cm. We lifted out the bowl still embedded in the earth so that way it wouldn't break. Although we don't have time to do it this year, the next phase would be to excavate the boundaries of the house. One piece of evidence that would support the idea that this was a house is that, while we found two intact bowls, there isn't much discarded material like shells and flint flakes. It was a rather tidy area; we had found a lot of discarded material in other test pits ouside of the perimeter.

Daniel works to unearth a Taino pot which might have been used for holding water. Exciting!  The archeology group carefully digs up a rare find. Cole works diligently on a drawing of a privy for Falmouth Heritage Renewal. Dua'a models our FFS 2017 shirt in front of the Tharp House which is on the back.  The drawing and filming crews pose for a photo inside the port next to a fact board about Good Hope, where we are staying.

Over the last couple days, Claire, Destiny, Dua'a, and I have been working on a sociology project involving women in Falmouth. We have been interviewing women to find out their views on beauty. Along with typical interviews, today we had a really interesting time at the corner store. The corner store is the place that we go to almost every day to buy snacks and drinks during lunch which is right down the street from Falmouth Heritage Renewal. We have built a very strong relationship with the owner of corner store and so she has helped us along the way during our project. This afternoon we went over to the corner store to interview patrons of the store. Crystal, the store owner's daughter, told us it would be a good opportunity to interview some teenagers as they walked through the store on their way home. We got a couple interviews, but what we really walked away valuing were the conversations we had with Crystal about youth culture. It was first really interesting to see h

The Oral History group meets in the morning to discuss  their plan for the day, while John spectates Members of the Architecture Group, Andrew and Cole, work with Mr. Harding to sketch plans for a Privy (outhouse) John measures the length of the window frame on the Privy The Archeology Group discovers what may have been a cooking pot used by the Taino The Oral History Group interviews a woman in Water Square for their project

This Blog will focus our Archaeological dig on a Taino site which is on the Kent estate, a working farm, that is located in the Trelawny Parish. The Kent Taino site is an area where a group of people who were the original inhabitants of Jamaica lived, and this tribe of indigenous people dated from before Spanish discovery by Christopher Columbus and his crew. The Taino people as mentioned before are indigenous to Jamaica and the Caribbean, and since they were discovered so late and nearly wiped out so early, they are considered a prehistoric group of natives.   Our group leader is Dr. Conolley, an expert on Taino Archaeology. He discovered the site by talking to a local farmer who pointed him to the site, and the farmer told him that the Tainos used to "drink and fight" up on "Spaniard Hill" (Kent Taino site) and that story was passed down to him through generations. So on the site we started measurement to make a grid of the site to establish a boundary of the preh

   The oral history group developing new interview questions Andrew, Garrett and Cole listening to Mr. Harding about the Tharp House Garrett, Andrew and Cole working on Sketch-Up projects  Connor unveiling the first decorated pottery fragment from the Kent archaeological site   A beautiful sunset to end a great day

Ocho Rios Beach  Had a wonderful lunch in Port Royal at Gloria's Seafood Restaurant! Destiny enjoying lunch at Gloria's John & Cole splashing around  Dr. Lee is having a great time at Dunn's River Fall

For the last day of our weekend trip we left Kingston, went to Port Royal, and swam at Dunn's River Falls at Ocho Rios. In Ocho Rios, we swam at the beach, and a couple people went up the waterfall. We had a great learning experience in Port Royal and had some very interesting site reports given by our students. Port Royal was one of my favorite historical places we visited so far and it was very interesting. Port Royal was once was a trading port home to pirates and a naval base, but an earthquake in 1692 killed a large portion of the population and parts of the town sunk into the water. The town was partially rebuilt but was destroyed once again by earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes. What was particularly interesting to me is that Port Royal seemed so desolate despite its rich history and many historical buildings. It is also considered one of the most important historical sites in Jamaica, but it still sits being forgotten. We had a very enthusiastic tour guide who taught us a l

After our three hour drive we finally arrived at Spanish Town. Spanish Town contains such a rich history. It was colonized by Spain in the 16th century and was made the seat of government of Jamaica in 1536. One hundred and twenty years later, in 1655, after many failed attempts, the English took control of Spanish Town and the rest of Jamaica as well. Spanish Town continued to be the seat of government in Jamaica for England until 1872 when Kingston was made the capital. It is strange that it was continued to be named Spanish Town even after England took control of it.  The most historically rich and interesting place in Spanish Town is the Spanish cathedral, which is nicknamed "The Red Church." It is the oldest cathedral in the western world and has the oldest organs in the western world as well. The cathedral is around 500 years old. In the cathedral, there are black and white tiles that are as old as the church. Our guide told us that they wanted to remove these tiles

Post Oak students during the tour of the St. Jugo De La Vega, Catholic Church, in Spanish Town Claire giving her Spanish Town site report, in Emancipation Square A night out on the town! A group photo taken during our dinner in Kingston at JoJo's Jerk Pit! There is always room for dessert, especially at the Devon House, a historic preservation institute in Kingston 

As we began on our long-term projects today, my group received our first introduction to the historic site that we will be working to document over the course of the next week. After a short introduction to Sketch Up, the 3D modeling program we will use to complete the task ahead, it was the time time to learn about the historical significance of the project's subject matter. With the help of Mr. Harding, the project's leader and our instructor, we learned about Tharp's Wharf, storage and shipping port for the many sugar plantation in the area that were owned and operated by John Tharp. (1744 - 1804) As we were taught about the likely locations and functions of the many buildings that would have been found on the expansive seaside property, we began to question the whereabouts of this locations and why we hadn't seen it or visited it on our tour. Our questions would not go unanswered for long, however, as we were told that all the buildings, except for Tharp's home,

Claire and Daniel walk around the Falmouth Water Square. Cole, John, and Garrett about to play some cards during lunch. Destiny, Claire, and Dua'a interview a woman for our film project. A local hair stylist that we interviewed works on one of her clients. Mr. Gooden, Dr. Conolley, Logan, Daniel, and Dr. Quillin "write up" a shovel test pit at the archeology site.

       Today we got a taste of what main project we want to participate in for the rest of this trip. People split up into groups and did either archaeology, a 3D architectural modeling project, or Falmouth oral history.  It was really interesting how different each of these projects are, and how much it pushes you out of your comfort zone, whether it be physically, socially, or technologically. For example, for our archaeology activity we drove up to a Taino excavation site, where we learned about the different roles needed for finding artifacts. I was screening, which meant that I held a screen and someone shoveled dirt onto it, and I had to sift through it and find shells, pottery, and flint shards. After that, I participated in the Falmouth oral history project, where we went around town interviewing different women, and asking them questions to help us better understand how they view beauty. We asked them questions that revolve around: What makes you feel beautiful? and What are J

Claire, Conor, and Daniel, excited for the day of activities Anna and Conor working hard on their 3D documentation and Daniel measuring with Mr. Harding Mr. Gooden collecting the finds from the Taino archaeological site as Anna sifts through them Andrew, Daniel, and Dr. Conolley examining more finds  Conor, showing off his find, a piece of chert from Orange Valley, Taino Archeological Site

Today was our first full day in Jamaica! We began our day by touring the Good Hope Plantation, where we are staying. We saw a reconstruction of what a slave's living quarters would be like at Good Hope during the 18th Century, as well as many historical buildings such as the great house were John Tharp, the owner of the plantation, would have managed from and lived. We also took a tour of Falmouth and its historical sites around the city such as the court house, different homes around the city, and the house which I was able to work on reconstructing during last year's Falmouth Field School. While we were walking around Good Hope, Mr. Harding, our guide from Falmouth Heritage Renewal, showed us where the sugar processing factory would have been down in a depression in the land next to the main road and across from the overseer's house. He also noted how it was very purposefully placed and interconnected to benefit the production of sugar on the plantation. For example, th

  First site report by Andrew in the Good Hope area     Water mill that used to drive the cane sugar mill   Mr. Harding giving a tour of the Good Hope Great House     Logan giving his site report at 6 King Street in Falmouth                                             Bell Tower of the Anglican Church in Falmouth                     The Post Oak group overlooking Good Hope plantation from the Great House

Welcome! Here is the place where you can find daily updates about the Falmouth Field School J-Term at Post Oak High School. Each of the students attending the field school will text blog and photo blog once during our J-Term experience. While here in Jamaica, we will being doing many different activities to learn about the history of the country and participate in the renewal of the heritage of the town of Falmouth, Jamaica. Today was our big travel day to get here. After our three hour flight and an hour car ride, we made it to Good Hope Plantation!  As someone who attended the field school last year, it is such an amazing experience to be able to see the reaction of people who haven't ever been to Good Hope before. Good Hope is such a beautiful place and it is only the first of many, many amazing things that this group of people is going experience while here in Jamaica. I'm really excited to be able to feel the way I did when I was here last year.  I felt valuable and import

Day 1 Leaving for Jamaica and saying goodbye to families.   Almost there...   Finally arrived in Jamaica! Anna, Claire, Dua'a, and Destiny are enjoying the view from Good Hope Plantation. Quite different from Houston.