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Shirley Heights Military Complex |
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Background |
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The defense of Antigua during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) from opposing European powers was placed largely in the hands of the British Navy and a superior naval force was maintained in the Caribbean year round. English Harbour, at the southern end of Antigua, was supposedly a 'safe' port during the hurricane season and therefore represented an incredibly valuable colonial asset. While the British Navy was looked upon for defense of the island an army presence was required to defend English Harbour and other ports within the island chain. For this reason Shirley Heights was constructed on the hills above Nelson's Dockyard and English Harbour. However, Andrew O'Shaughnessy (1996) aptly described the role of the British Army in the West Indies as "a token effort at external defence, a modest deterrent against sudden invasion, and a reassuring presence for the inhabitance". Although the conflict officially ended in 1815 the more than fifty buildings within Shirley Heights were kept up to a reasonable strength until 1854 when the last troops left to join forces in Russia during the Crimean war. |
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ResearchThe Antigua Field School has conducted research at Shirley Heights on several occasions. Focus has been placed upon extensive midden deposits associated with several of the barracks buildings. Very few military structures of a military nature have been investigated in the Caribbean. For this reason, emphasis has been placed on illuminating the day to day existence of soldiers and officers stationed at Shirley Heights. Although historical texts exist which attempt to describe this situation, archaeology provides a unique set of data to evaluate the situation from a different perspective. |
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Artifacts of all types have been recovered at Shirley Heights including glass bottle fragments, pieces of ceramic tableware, animal bones, marine shells, clay pipe fragments, nails, buttons and many others. Animal remains demonstrate that cattle were a very important component of a soldiers diet. However, sheep, goats, pigs, fish, birds and many types of shellfish were also consumed to some degree. |
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Bottle fragments are a common sight among the Shirley Heights midden deposits. These generally represent liquor bottles as the soldiers and officers had access to a large quantity of spirits and consumed them at a prodigious rate. Alcohol consumption was considerably greater in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was common practice for officers to begin the day with alcohol at breakfast, continued indulgence throughout the day and the day was often ended with great quantities of liquor consumed with a large meal in the evening. Soldiers did not have access to the quality or diversity of liquor the officers could afford but they nonetheless drank what was available in equal quantities. Chronic alcoholism was encouraged among the military population of Antigua by the distance from home, boredom and the ever present spectre of death surrounding the disease plagued islands. |
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