Cayo Village at Argyle to serve as tourist attraction

The Carib village currently being reconstructed adjacent the Argyle International Airport (AIA) is expected to be an added attraction for the area, while providing an insight into this country’s history.

The rebuilding of the Carib or Cayo village began last Tuesday and according to professor Dr Corinne Hofman, dean and professor of Caribbean archaeology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, {{more}}“[they] are trying to re-establish this Carib community, making it authentic as possible.”

During excavations of this site for the construction of the Argyle International Airport in 2010, artefacts were discovered, which were determined to have come from a Carib village, the first to be found in the Lesser Antilles.

Dr Hofman said that through collaboration, they were able to excavate the village completely and as a result found 11 oval houses and two round houses. She said this reconstruction project sees them aiming to reconstruct five small round houses and one large oval house (about 12 metres in size).

The archaeologist said that the houses will be constructed experimentally, meaning that they will use stone and shell tools during the rebuilding process.

Dr Hofman added that this village is from the 16th century, meaning that the Caribs who lived there were the first to make contact with the European colonizers in the region and the African people.

Also present at the beginning of the construction process was Minister of Tourism Cecil Mckie, who described the beginning of the process as an “exciting moment.” He said that through several partners they were able to begin the reconstruction process.

The village is being rebuilt with the help of two students from Leiden University, forestry department workers, indigenous people from North Windward and other locals.

The huts are being built using fresh lumber from the forest, grass and other local material. The area will be an enclosed, controlled and managed site, where fruits and craft items will be sold, among other things.

“It is going to add in a significant way to the tourism and culture sites in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” said McKie.

Archaeologist Mena Hoogland, who is also involved with the project, said that it is the ultimate challenge for an archaeologist to reconstruct what they find and that is what they are doing now.

He said that while they are not 100 per cent certain about all the materials that the Caribs used, they are using what they have available.

Speaking at the site last Tuesday, Minister of Education Jimmy Prince said that he was very excited in 2010 when the village was discovered, as a very exciting part of our history was uncovered.

“We have in St Vincent and the Grenadines a deficit in our learning and teaching of history and a lot of Vincentians don’t know about the history of St Vincent and the Grenadines. As a matter of fact, the history of SVG is very short and very scant and therefore this project is very important,” said Prince.

He added that he is hoping that students can take advantage of the site and come to do research, while he is also hoping that many Vincentians will visit the site.

Minister of National Mobilisation Frederick Stephenson said that the site will complement other tourism sites in the area. He noted that the Argyle area has long been an important area for SVG, as for many years, persons farmed the land in Argyle, producing peanuts and other produce that provided work and income.

“I look forward to see the area fully developed,” said Stephenson.

The overseas team will spend two weeks on the reconstruction, after which the process will be taken over by locals and is expected to be completed in time for the opening of the AIA.(LC)