Date of Award
2010
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Abstract
Preacher's Cave, an archaeological site in North Eleuthera, Bahamas, is arguably one of the most important historical places in that country. This large cave, isolated in a natural setting, has long been associated in the popular imagination with the first English colonists who shipwrecked in the Bahamas in 1648 and laid the foundation for the modern nation. Before the present work, no systematic scientific archaeological work had ever been conducted at this site. While Project Director for the Preacher's Cave archaeological investigations in 1991, 1992, 2005, 2006, and 2007, I acted as liaison between the Bahamian Government, local island constituents, and the team of scholars who accomplished the work, organizing all aspects of the excavations. By analyzing the recovered material assemblage from these excavations, we were able to prove that the seventeenth-century English Puritans not only used Preacher's Cave for shelter in the first period of colonization, but altered the natural rock formations of the cave for use as the first church in the Bahamas. These excavations, in conjunction with the written record, also suggest that the area surrounding the site is the location of the first free black community in the country. Finally the scientific investigation confirmed Preacher's Cave as a prehistoric burial spot for the Lucayan people who lived in the islands before Columbus landed in 1492. These burials are unique because they were recovered with grave goods and one of the five Lucayan burials appears to be a victim of human sacrifice. No where else in the country do these three compelling narratives come together and form the basis for the development of a National Heritage Tourism Site.
Extent
xiii, 186 p. : ill. (some col.)
Recommended Citation
Day, Jane S., "Preacher's Cave" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 157.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/157
Identifier
FADT1927305
Comments
by Jane S. Day.|Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Jane S. Day.