Ascension : ST HELENA AIRPORT PROJECT - PRESS RELEASE
Submitted by The Islander (Islander Internet Editor) 17.07.2008 (Article Archived on 31.07.2008)

ARCHAEOLOGY FIELD VISIT UPDATE - 2008. As you are already aware, within the scope of the airport project, we are proposing to build a haul road which will run through Rupert’s Valley.

When planning the alignment of this road, there were a number of factors to consider and one of those was the disturbance of the African slave cemeteries that exist in the area.   We knew these burial grounds would be of huge archaeological interest internationally and while we took care to avoid them (using the 1861 Melliss map which is our only known source of information), we have always been aware of the very strong possibility of other unrecorded graves existing elsewhere along the valley floor.  

As a result of our concerns, an assessment of the burial cemeteries was included in the work carried out by Faber Maunsell as part of the airport project Environmental Impact Assessment.  They concluded that, in line with British Standards (to which we are operating this contract), in the event that a grave was discovered following airport contract start-up, work on the construction of the haul road would be brought to a stop until the remains could be carefully recorded, cleaned and removed.   While we understood this was necessary, we were concerned that any delays to the project at this point would result in serious costs.  Further discussions with Faber Maunsell and the UK and St Helena Access Teams revealed we were left with two options:

a)      Wait until the contractor arrives on site before doing anything (i.e as explained above – agreeing to stop work each time a grave was disturbed so that appropriate recording, removal and analysis could be carried out on the remains, and pay the costly bill for the cumulative delays to the project) , or alternatively,

b)      Carry out the archaeological works along the known route of the haul road beforehand so that all recording, removals and analysis can be completed prior to the airport contract starting therefore avoiding costly delays.

It was agreed that Option b) was preferable and although there would be a cost attached (given the global archaeological importance of the graves and the high probability of the work reaching the international stage, trained archaeologists with specialist equipment had to be brought in to carry out the work), this cost would be much smaller than option a).  A team of four from Faber Maunsell were subsequently contracted and arrived on St Helena on the 29^th May.  Work started in Rupert’s soon afterwards.

The lead archaeologist has reported back that the main focus of the work so far has been on the bank to the side of the mid valley fuel farm, along the existing track.  A large number of grave cuts have been discovered and despite the fact that the slope is steep and inappropriate as a burial ground, a single test trench has already revealed two graves there as well.  It is suspected that there are many more.  None of these graves feature on the Melliss map although it is possible that these burials took place after the map was compiled.

The graves appear to be a standard 6ft x 2ft which is adequate for one person but the archaeologists are discovering two to three individual’s remains in each. One such grave revealed a very surprising four sets of remains – we expect there will be more like this.  These ‘stacked’ burials are extremely unusual and of great importance in global archaeological terms although they make the excavation work more difficult and time consuming.  The bodies have obviously been ‘thrown’ in and do not lie flat which means that archaeologists must then very carefully clean, untangle, lift and record each section using specialist techniques. 

It was originally envisaged that the scope of the work at Rupert’s would involve four archaeologists and last around ten weeks but these recent developments/discoveries have forced us to review these plans.  The number of graves plus the number of human remains that we now expect to be discovered along the haul route meant that we have had to call upon extra specialist assistance to ensure that the work is complete before the main contractor starts work.  Finding the specialist people at such short notice was somewhat difficult, especially as we are not aware of any trained or part trained archaeologists on St Helena.  However, Faber Maunsell have now made arrangements for a further ten archaeologists to be brought in on the RMS on the 22^nd July.  They will leave again on the 15^th September 2008.  

We realise that the discovery and recovery of human remains will make some people feel uncomfortable and some will have concerns about the work that is being undertaken.  It might help to be assured that the work is being carried out professionally, in line with global archaeological standards and the human remains are being recovered and treated with the utmost respect.  These remains will be respectfully re-interred at an appropriately selected burial ground and plans to erect a monument in their memory are also being discussed.  We will keep you updated as work progresses.

Sharon Wainwright

SHG Access Project Manager