Social Science Disciplines >> Anthropology>>Armstrong

Armstrong, Douglas V.
 
Professor
 (PhD UCLA, 1983)
Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor,
and Maxwell Professor of Teaching Excellence
Office: 206B Maxwell Hall. Phone: 315-443-2405
email:darmstrong@maxwell.syr.edu

Fulbright Application Information

I am an anthropological archaeologist specializing in historical archaeology, Diaspora studies, World Heritage site management and public policy archaeology.  My scholarship revolves around work in the Caribbean on Diaspora related topics and in New York on public policy and “Freedom Trail” topics. I am dedicated to preservation issues involving preservation of cultural resources on local and global scales.  I routinely integrate teaching with research and service to my profession.  I am a Past- President of the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Preservation Association of Central New York.  In 2002 I was honored with Syracuse University's "Spirit of the Lanterns Community Service Award” and have been honored as a Maxwell Professor of Excellence and a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor.  

Over the past two decades I have directed a variety of projects focusing on cultural transformation and the emergence of African Caribbean communities in plantation and “free village” settings.  My analysis of the emergence of a free-black community on St. John (formerly Danish West Indies) was published in a book Creole Transformation from Slavery to Freedom:  Historical Archaeology of the East End Community, St. John, Virgin Islands (University Press of Florida 2003).  I recently completed the analysis of an excavation of Cinnamon Bay plantation.  The study explores a small beachhead cotton/provisioning/maritime estate that was settled prior to formal colonization of St. John and burned during the St. John rebellion of 1733.  My most recent project on St. John is a whole island historic site GIS survey

In addition to my international research, I have carried out a series of local research projects in Central New York.  These projects have focused on sites and contexts associated with the abolitionist and social reform movements of in the region surrounding Syracuse in the 19th century.  The study of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the associated effort to “save the faces” found sculpted in dirt and clay in the basement of this abolitionist church not only provided the stimulus for a community wide effort to conserve and retain this art within our community, but the project led to a re-awakening as to the importance of the abolitionist movement in the region and an awareness of the complex networks of social interaction related to this reform movement.

My current research at the Harriet Tubman National Landmark in Auburn, New York follows-up on my interest in sites and people engaged in social reform in the region.  For the past several years I have been engaged in cooperative research with the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.   I have directed a series of archaeological excavations and surveys on property that was owned by Tubman from 1859 until her death in 1913.  My initial study was an excavation of John Brown Hall the dormitory/infirmary at Tubman’s “Home for the Aged.”  This building was the primary residence of a home for aging African Americans that was established by Harriet Tubman in the 1890s and transferred by her to the AME Zion Church in 1903.  The study location of the site, generated significant information on life and conditions at the home, and was critical in encouraging recognition of the many significant ruins and archaeological features on the 32 acre Harriet Tubman Home property.  In 2002-2003 I carried out an intensive survey of the entire property defining several areas of potential significance.   Most recently I have conducted excavations at Tubman’s residence and a brick kiln feature on her property.  Excavation of her residence demonstrated that the present brick structure on the property was constructed following a fire that destroyed an earlier wood frame house.  Archaeological findings indicated that this event occurred in the early 1880s and subsequent historical research has uncovered documents describing a house fire on February 9, 1880, with subsequent tax records indicating that the brick house was constructed by 1883.  Significant archaeological materials recovered include a large quantity of personal possessions that were apparently removed from the house after the fire and buried in a builder’s trench just along the building’s foundations when the house was rebuilt.  Another interesting aspect of the research is evidence suggesting that the building was constructed with bricks manufactured on Tubman’s property from local clay by African American brick makers.    

Three years ago I received funding through the Lara J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship to initiate research and course materials related to World Heritage sites and global issues pertaining to the protection of cultural and natural resources.  The project involves analysis and assessment of UNESCO World Heritage sites and potentially eligible resources.  This project brings together my long term interest in environmental issues with my training in heritage preservation.   One of the initial elements of this project was the creation of a new course on World Heritage aimed for a cross section of students from the social sciences, architecture, and environmental sciences.   The class was first taught in the spring of 2006 and will become part of my regular course rotation. I am currently expanding my perspectives on World Heritage sites through a series of site visits and evaluations.

Recent Publications 

  

2006 East End Maritime Traders:  The emergence of a Creole Community on St. John, Danish West Indies.  African Re-Genesis: Confronting Social Issues in the Diaspora. Jay Haviser and Kevin MacDonald, Editors.  Pp 146-159.  One World Archaeology. University College London, London.
2005

Refining the Temporal Dimension in Historical Archaeology: Dating Seville Plantation.  In Archaeology Without Limits: Papers in Honor of Clement W. Meighan.  Brian D. Dillon and Matthew A. Boxt, eds.  Pp.213-232. Labyrinthos Press, Lancaster, California. 

2005 Seville Plantation, Jamaica:  Chronological Refinements in Historical Archaeology.  In Archaeology Without Limits, Brian Dillon and Matthew Boxt, editors.  Pp. 213-232.  Labyrinthos Press, Lancaster, California.
2005

Early Shoreline Settlement at Cinnamon Bay, St. John, USVI:  Before Formal Colonization to the Slave Rebellion of 1733.  In Proceedings of the XX Congreso International de Arqueologia del Caribe. Museo del Hombre 38(2):743-750, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (with Mark Hauser and David Knight)
2005 Reassessing the Cultural Landscape of St. John, USVI, Using GIS. In Proceedings of the XX Congreso International de Arqueologia del Caribe. Museo del Hombre Vol 38(2):515-520, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (with Mark Hauser)
2004 An East Indian Laborers’ Household in 19th Century Jamaica: A case for understanding cultural diversity through space, chronology, and material analysis.  Historical  Archaeology  38(2) 9-21. (with Mark Hauser).
2003 Creole Transformation from Slavery to Freedom: Historical Archaeology of the East End Community, St. John, Virgin Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
2003 Clay Faces in an Abolitionist Church: The Wesleyan Methodist Church in Syracuse, New York.  Historical Archaeology 37 (2):19-37 (with LouAnn Wurst)
2003 House-Yard Burials of Enslaved Laborers in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica.  International Journal of Historical Archaeology 7(1):33-65. (with Mark Fleischman)
2003 An East Indian Laborer's Household in 19th Century Jamaica.  Proceedings of the XIX International Congress for Caribbean Archaeology.  Luc Alofs and Raymundo A.C.F. Dijkhoff editorsI.  Museo Arqueologico Aruba Volume 9 (2): 195-210 (with Mark Hauser) 
2003 Social Relations in a Maritime Creole Community: Networked Multifocality in the East End Community of St. John, Danish West Indies.  Proceedings of the XIX International Congress for Caribbean Archaeology.  Luc Alofs and Raymundo A.C.F. Dijkhoff editorsI.  Museo Arqueologico Aruba Volume 9 (2): 195-210
2003 Faces in the Basement In Dig  Volume 5(1): cover,16-19.
2003 Patterns in the Snow.  In Dig 5(1): 28-30.
2001 Attaining the Full Potential of Historical Archaeology.  Historical Archaeology 35(2):9-13.
2001 A Venue for Autonomy: Archaeology of a Changing Cultural Landscape, the East End Community, St. John, Virgin Islands, Island Lives: Plantation Archaeology in the Caribbean.  Paul Farnsworth, editor. Pp. 142-164. University of Alabama Press.
2001 An Overview of East End St. John in the Pre-Emancipation Period.  St. John Historical Society, Summer Supplement, July 2001, pp. 9-12. (with Mark Hauser).
2000 Settlement Patterns and the Origin of African Jamaican Society. Ethnohistory 47(2):368-397. (with Kenneth Kelly).
2000 Between Fact and Fantasy: Assessing Our Knowledge of Domestic Sites Archaeology. In Nineteenth-Century Domestic Archaeology in New York State. Edited by John P. Hart. New York State Museum Bulletin. 17-27. (with Lou Ann Wurst and Elizabeth Kellar).
2000 Archaeological Sites and Preservation Planning in Central New York: A Unified Site File and GIS Database for NYSDOT Region 3. New York State Historic Preservation Office. Pebbles Island, New York. (with LouAnn Wurst and Elizabeth J. Kellar)
2000 Archaeological Sites and Preservation Planning in Central New York: A Unified Site File and GIS Database for NYSDOT Region 3 – CD-ROM. New York State Historic Preservation Office. Pebbles Island, New York. (with Lou Ann Wurst and Elizabeth J. Kellar)
2000 Archaeological Sites and Preservation Planning in Central New York: A Unified Site File and GIS Database for NYSDOT Region 3. – Atlas. New York State Historic Preservation Office. Pebbles Island, New York. (with Robert Cromwell, Mark W. Hauser, Elizabeth J. Kellar, Katherine Krezel and LouAnn Wurst)
1999 Archaeology and Ethnohistory of the Caribbean Plantation. In I, Too, Am American: Archaeological Studies of African American Life. Theresa Singleton ed University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-8139-1842-1 pages 173-192.
1999 Embedded Identities: Piecing Together Relationships Through Compositional Analysis of Low Fired Earthenware. In African Sites Archaeology in the Caribbean. pp. 65-93 Jay B Haviser ed,. Princeton: Markus Weiner (with Mark Hauser). (invited/reviewed Chapter) ISBN 976-8123-88-5.
1999 Accessing the Past: The Iroquois Gas Transmission System Gas Pipeline Archaeological Collection. Technical Summary, with goals and recommendations for Collections Management Procedures with CD-ROM Catalog. Syracuse
1998 "Cultural Transformation among Caribbean Slave communities." In Studies in Culture Contact: Interaction, Culture Change, and Archaeology. James Cusick editor. Pp. 378-401. Southern Illinois University, Center for Archaeological Investigations.
1998 "'Faces' of the Past: Archaeology of an Underground Railroad Site in Syracuse, New York." Syracuse University Archaeological Report Vol. 10 (with Lou Ann Wurst)
1998 Regional production and exchange: A re-evaluation of course earthenware analysis in the Virgin Islands. African Sites Archaeology in the Caribbean, Jay Havisor ed. Pp. 65-93. Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton. (with Mark Hauser)
1990 The Old Village and the Great House: An Archaeological and Historical Examination of Drax Hall Plantation, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica. Champaign: U. of Illinois Press.

This page current as of: November 20, 2006