A team of UWI, Mona Archaeology lecturer, students and archaeologists from the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in Virginia, USA recently explored sites of the early Mona Great House and Papine Works on the Mona Campus. The team was lead by Mr. Ivor Conolley of UWI’s Department of History and Archaeology and co-directed by Dr. Jillian Galle, Director DAACS.
 
The Archaeological Dig has uncovered artifacts including fragments of ceramic, metal, glass and other materials as well as building foundations of structures located south of the main building (Great House) for analysis and interpretation.
 
This is a part of the annual field school programme at UWI, Mona which exposes students to the practical work of archaeology and included lectures. The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) Field School has been involved in UWI’s Field School excavation at the old Papine and Mona Estate sites since 2008. The work will assist in providing insight into the settlers of the sites such as their lifestyle and livelihood and identify the location of the Mona Great House.
 
The past three seasons have generated thousands of artifacts, most of them from the village areas where the enslaved population lived while working on the Papine and Mona Estates. The village sites are marked by cut stone monuments which carry the names of those persons from the communities thought to have been alive at emancipation in 1838.
 
The UWI, Mona boasts an Archeology Lab which houses thousands of artifacts uncovered in Jamaica.  Interested persons are invited to view a few selected pieces on exhibit at the Lab located at the Book keepers Cottage in Chapel Gardens.