Astrolabe

Sometimes it takes a new pair of eyes . . . nearly 100 years later! By Mark Parrish, BSc Ocean Sciences I have been exploring caves and sinkholes in the Turks & Caicos Islands for almost 15 years. It was not something I was particularly interested in before moving to these islands, but I’ve always had a ...

This timeline highlights the TCI National Museum’s accomplishments. By Dr. Donald H. Keith, Chairman, TCI National Museum Let’s take a look at what the Museum’s Finders, Binders, and Minders have been up to for the last 20 years and what they have accomplished. Here is a sampling of a few of their more noteworthy achievements. 1980–1989 Molasses ...

Grand Turk’s Bird Walk and Bird Drive Trails are the first in the Caribbean. By Pat Saxton, Director of Business Development, TCI National Museum I love plants. I can go out into my garden anytime and see my plants. Plants don’t have an optimum time to view them, unless it is a midnight blooming cactus, which only ...

This rollicking story reveals the Museum’s rather inauspicious start. Story & Illustrations By Dr. Donald H. Keith, Chairman, TCI National Museum “Divers find oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean . . . and treasure that could be worth MILLIONS” screamed the headline in the Daily Mail on April 29, 2011. Nicknamed the “Precioso site” by the American treasure ...

Recording the remains of the St. Thomas’s church graveyard in Grand Turk. Story & Photos By Duncan and Sally Hutt He changed from the sick and sad of earth. To a land that knows not care: But his heart still clings to his native hearth And the friends he loved while here Epitaph of John Samuel Lightbourn (died 1851) Surveying a graveyard ...

Could this be the oldest dated object in the Turks & Caicos? Story & Figures By Dr. Donald H. Keith, Chairman, TCI National Museum In January 1986, I received a letter from Mr. Michael Boruch, who was president of Caicos Fisheries Inc. at Cockburn Harbour, South Caicos, from 1956 until 1971. It read: “There was a small signaling ...

Saving rock inscriptions on Sapodilla Hill, Providenciales By Dr. Donald H. Keith, Chairman, TCI National Museum It’s 2 PM on Friday, December 10, and I’m sweating bullets. Not just because it’s hot but because with only 18 hours to go before we’re scheduled to remove 40 fragile boulders covered with ancient inscriptions from the top of Sapodilla ...

“Old Heads” come to the rescue to solve the mystery of the screw. Story & Photo By Sherlin Williams I’ve been doing projects at the National Museum on Grand Turk for the last 15 years or so. I rebuilt the mechanism that used to turn the light in Grand Turk’s lighthouse. Then I worked on making a ...

What if Providenciales had a National Museum? By Dr. Donald H. Keith, Chairman, TCI National Museum This year, 2010, marks the 30th anniversary of the archaeological investigation of the Molasses Reef Wreck, the event that led to the establishment of the Turks & Caicos National Museum. As the archaeologist who directed the excavation, I received a government ...

Collecting images of the US Military on Grand Turk By Dr. Neal V. Hitch, Museum Director ~ Photos Courtesy TCI National Museum During the early 1950s, the US Military constructed two facilities on the remote, out of the way isle of Grand Turk. The base to the extreme north of the island served as a listening post ...

Archaeological study of new Grand Turk site links settlers through time. By Betsy Carlson Photos Courtesy Turks & Caicos National Museum For a week in February 2010, two archaeologists from Southeastern Archaeological Research, Inc. (SEARCH) out of Gainesville, Florida joined Neal Hitch of the Turks & Caicos National Museum and Brian Riggs of the National Environmental Center to ...

By Jessica Brody ~ Photos Courtesy Turks & Caicos National Museum, Ludington & McCollum Collection The beaches, diving, snorkeling and remote location of the Turks & Caicos Islands create the ideal image of a “get-away” spot for many visitors, but in the 1970s, the Islands were truly a place to get away from it all. The ...

Abundant “musket furniture” gave the Ft. George site a distinct military flavor. Story, Photos & Illustrations By Dr. Donald Keith The sheer variety of artifacts found during our work on Ft. George and in collections donated to the Museum is surprising: plain and fancy tableware, iron fasteners and hardware, brass and pewter buttons, glass bottles and drinking ...

Button artifacts provide clues to the tale of Ft. George Cay. Story & Photos By Dr. Neal V. Hitch, Director, Turks & Caicos National Museum Buttons. They are intriguing to me. There have been many buttons found on Ft. George Cay. Many of these are now in the collection of the National Museum. Some are still in ...

Although recent field work revealed more Ft. George history, will time run out? By Dr. Donald Keith, Trustee, Turks & Caicos National Museum & President, Ships of Discovery November 7, 2009 marked the end of our two weeks of field work on Ft. George Cay. It was a little sad to backfill the test excavations, take down ...