An archaeological project Chowdhury directed was on the site of the recently declared UNESCO World Heritage Site, Le Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain jutting into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of the island of Mauritius.
Le Morne was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, called maroons, through the 18th and early years of the 19th centuries. Protected by the mountain’s isolated, wooded and almost inaccessible cliffs, the escaped slaves formed small settlements in the caves and on the summit of Le Morne. The oral traditions associated with the maroons have made Le Morne a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance to the countries from which the slaves came – the African mainland, Madagascar, India and South-east Asia.
This is Chowdhury’s second project to contribute to a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation; the first being Aapravasi Ghat, also on Mauritius, in 2006.
Chowdhury has been teaching undergraduate courses at WSU Vancouver since 2004, including some field archaeological work at Ft. Vancouver National Historic Site. He will begin a new tenure-track position this fall at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
More information and photos:
Le Morne: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1259/
Aapravasi Ghat: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1227
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