Times of the Islands Winter 2018/19

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
with enthusiasm and so “The
Occasional Papers of the Turks &
Caicos Museum” began.
As we discussed possible
manuscripts for publication,
he sent me what field notes,
maps and photographs he
had compiled of the “over-island
graveyard.” Of course, this
piqued my interest. In particular,
I wanted to examine one tomb
that was missing a large section
of the cover making it possible
to see down into the grave shaft.
From the photograph, I wasn’t
able to see any human remains
or artifacts. However, it was clear
that if there is ever any interest
in identifying who is buried there,
then whatever remains are in that
grave must be recovered and protected
as soon as possible. Continued exposure to the
elements will only accelerate the bone decay which will
render any attempt at extracting DNA impossible.
Like the exposed tomb, it was evident that the entire
graveyard has been abandoned. Many gravestones are
missing and a couple of walls surrounding plots have
collapsed. Inscriptions on the existing gravestones have
completely eroded from the soft limestone over time and
many headstones are missing. It’s impossible to determine
who’s buried there if you’re going to use headstone
inscriptions. There is a small ridge running through the
graveyard that is eroding and has probably caused the
destruction of at least two burial sites. In one area, the
sand has disappeared to the point where there is a large
hole within which you can see the bottom of a gravestone.
A small herd of donkeys has taken up residence in
and around the graveyard and they’ve created several
trails between various areas. They are contributing to the
graveyard’s decay as they trample fallen gravestones and
structures. Lying on the ground along one of the donkey
trails I found a small stone fragment that had a “W” carved
into it and what is also probably an “F”. It wasn’t located
anywhere near an obvious grave and there wasn’t enough
remaining to determine for sure if it is part of a headstone.
This is a large erosion hole found on the ridge at the Grand Turk Over Island Graveyard. Note the
exposed bottom of the grave marker.
This is the stone fragment with inscribed W and probable F that was
found lying on the ground along one of the donkey trails.
I decided that I wanted to help preserve the graveyard
and so I put together a plan that builds on Dr. Keith’s
work. (You can read about what he found in the Spring
2013 Times of the Islands Astrolabe entitled “The Island
Within the Island.”) Currently, there is no fence surrounding
the graveyard so one goal is to determine its
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