Haiti
5 min
Colonial archaeology, and in particular the study of the forts of the Caribbean, has been developing since the 1980s. Some of them were founded by privateers or by French colonial troops. In this type of configuration, these coastal defense installations were the target of pirate raids during the 17th and 18th centuries, while some were even erected by the latter.
Attack on Tortuga Island by the Spaniards in 1654, Watercolor
General Archive of the Indies, Seville
The western part of Hispaniola, now the Republic of Haiti, is in the 17th century one of the refuges of piracy, due to the abandonment of the area by Spanish troops. The piracy period of Hispaniola begins in 1640, with the settlement of François Levasseur on the island of Tortuga, and ends in 1697, the date of the Treaty of Ryswick, where Spain recognizes France's rights over the western part of the island.
The island of Tortuga is undoubtedly the most famous haven for pirates. However, other centers also exist in Haiti, notably in Port-de-Paix, Cap, Petit Goâve, Léogane, and on the island of Vache.
On Tortuga Island, the main fort is the Fort de la Roche, founded around 1640 by François Levasseur, second to the Norman buccaneer Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc. Levasseur spots, to the south of the island, about 600 meters from the only bay accessible by boat, a platform on a large rock. He builds his residence there and fortifies the place, which is called Fort Le Vasseur or Fort de la Roche.
Around this rock, Levasseur raises a quadrangular enclosure, flanked to the south by two bastions, one of which serves as the entrance. The central rock would have a diameter of nearly 11 meters and a height of 7 to 9 meters.
The fort is attacked by the Spanish in 1643 and in 1654. According to engineer Blondel, the Spanish raze the fort, made of good masonry, after their second attack.
In 1666, engineer Blondel visits Tortuga Island and draws plans for a new fort below Fort de la Roche, closer to the bay. It is a circular tower that flanks a lower courtyard defended on the sea side by a curtain wall punctuated by firing embrasures, and on the land side, by a wooden palisade forming a curtain wall and half-bastions. Blondel initiates the work and then leaves the site. The fort will be completed by the end of the year 1668, as Sieur d’Ogeron had advanced personal funds to finish the construction. Blondel initiates the work and then leaves the site. The fort will be completed by the end of the year 1668, as Sieur d’Ogeron had advanced personal funds to finish the construction.
Port of Basse-Terre and Fort Blondel, engraving, 1667
BNF, shelf Div 5 folder 1
As incredible as it may seem, Tortuga Island, this mythical piece of land that played a major role in Caribbean piracy in the 17th century, has hardly ever been the subject of archaeological digs!
In 1948, a mission led by Swiss anthropologist Alfred Métraux did take an interest in the Amerindian populations and gathered a few Taino ceramics (now preserved at the Quai Branly Museum), but concerning the buccaneer period, there is still much to be done.
Taino ceramics and Zemi idol statuette in wood
Bowers Museum Collection Santa Ana, California, Metropolitan Museum of New York
The two forts of Tortuga present a real interest in the history of piracy and for the early French settlements in Saint-Domingue during the second half of the 17th century. The rarity of such sites and the various descriptions that reveal differences, even evolutions in the structures, deserve the attention of archaeologists.
The one and only scientific mission to have looked into the pirate history of the island was organized in 1987. Composed of a Franco-Haitian team, under the direction of historian Jacques de Cauna and architect Daniel Elie, its objective was to identify the main sites of piracy on Tortuga, particularly the two forts, one built by Governor Le Vasseur in 1640 and the other by engineer Blondel in the 1670s for Governor d’Ogeron. Fort Le Vasseur was found thanks to visible traces of modifications. The team also uncovered the second fort, where part of the fortification and three cannons can still be discerned, as well as a high battery. The first results of this exploration were published shortly thereafter in numbers 174-175 of the Franco-Haitian journal Conjonction in 1987. In conclusion, the team recommends organizing a new archaeological campaign to accurately document these remains of occupation, but to date, this campaign has still not taken place.
We had to wait for the work of Philippe Hrodej, Senior Lecturer at the University of Bretagne Sud, on piracy in Saint-Domingue and that of Laurent Pavlidis, historian and curator of the Maritime History Museum of Saint-Tropez, for new research to be published on the island of Tortuga.
Today, the island remains very little developed by humans and cars do not circulate there. The currently inhabited communes are the same as in the time of piracy, with the main area being the harbor of Basse-Terre and the plateau of Haut Palmiste, overlooking it. Tortuga is therefore relatively well preserved. However, the Republic of Haiti has experienced significant political instability since 2010, and security on site is very uncertain. This difficult context currently prevents any organization of a short-term archaeological mission.
Nonetheless, we do not despair of organizing a first reconnaissance mission in the second half of 2025 with an archaeological prospecting campaign, a photogrammetry of the remains in place, and a study of the visible cannons.
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