San Juan - hofi
- Details
On Thursday September 25 the archaeology sleuths went to the plantation of San Juan. The cars were parked close to the magazina. From there we walked to the North. We wanted to go to the large roi that flows in the direction of the large San Juan bay. Unfortunately we were blocked by a very dense vegetation of Palu di lechi. We continued looking for a way to enter the area by going to the East. There we found a place where the vegetation was less dense. After a while the area became more open, something we had expected for an area that is shown on the Werbata map as a hofi.
Indigo production in Curaçao
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At the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century there was a blooming indigo production in Curaçao. A lot of the plantations had planted indigo plants and had built indigo tanks to produce the indigo dye for export to the Netherlands. The dye was in high demand there.
I have simulated the indigo production process at a much smaller scale. The original process has been described in a old Dutch document "Brieven en Papieren van Curaçao en Onderhoorige Eilanden" (Letters and Papers from Curaçao and its subordinate islands). More specific in the "Memorie Om Indigo Zaat te planten, schoon te maken, te snijden, te slaan, en voorts tot Indigo te bearbeijden in manieren als volgt" (Memorandum how to plant indigo seed, clean, cut and beat the plants to produce indigo). This memorandum is part of book 204, part (folio) 39 - 41. Full source reference: Nationaal Archief Den Haag (A.R.A.) 2e WIC toegang 01.05.01.02 inventaris nummer 204, folio 39 - 41 transcribed by S. H. Vautier. The text is published in the Archiefvriend in June 2006. I will not translate the old Dutch text into English but will just quote the transcribed Dutch text. After each part of the original text I will describe the process in English as I repeated it in 2014 on a much smaller scale.
Peninsula Rif St Marie
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Last Thursday, August 28, 2014, the archaeology sleuths opted for an easy hike around the peninsula on which the plantation house Rif St. Marie is built. At the Southern part of that peninsula a set of three small saltpans is located that is not known to many people because this pan is not visible from the road.
To be on the safe side we decided to park our cars in the parking lot of Coral Estate.
From the parking lot we walked over the asphalt road down the hill till we reached the old road to the saliña and the plantation house. That is still a dirt road which is easily accessible. When we reached the saliña we continued clockwise around the peninsula.
San Sebastiaan - water works
- Details
Last year on August 8 we went for the first time to the former plantation of San Sebastiaan. Our target then was the the small village opposite the country house; we found a lot of foundations and we also found an indigo tank that was not known before. This year on August 21 we went back to this area. On the Werbata map several dams are visible and also a tanki with a brick wall. These water works were our target for this trip.
We parked our cars at the home of François; Fred arrived in his new car, a very nice 4x4 pickup truck.
We walked from there to the area opposite the country house. There we were greeted by the owner of the country house San Sebastiaan, mister Harold Hollander. He lives with his family in this house since August 1969; he bought it from the heirs Statius Muller including the area next to and behind the house. The area opposite the country house was not available for sale because the government at that time wanted to straigthen the road through that area at the expense of the old buildings (milk house and remains of an old village). Luckily this didn't happen till now. We talked for a while at the gate and then started our hike through the mondi.
Korporaal
- Details
Korporaal is an area roughly enclosed by the Caracasbaaiweg, the Seru Loraweg and the Weg naar Fuik. Largely undeveloped. François has lived close to this area and knew of a well and hofi in this area. The Werbata map showed a tanki and some rois; the later topographical maps (Kadaster 1962 and 1993) showed one or two wells in the Eastern part of the area.
We parked part of our cars at the new Burger King restaurant and the rest of the cars on both sides of the road near Napa. Close to Napa there is a dirt road that leads into this undeveloped area.
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