Historical archaeology of fort Frederik Hendrik, a Dutch East India Company outpost at Mauritius, a report on the 1997 - 2003 excavation seasons

In 1997-2003 four fieldwork seasons of archaeological research have been conducted at the site of the Dutch fort Frederik Hendrik (1638-1658; 1664-1710) on the island of Mauritius. Already in early stages of the project it became clear that, under the ruins of a mid-18th -century French government building, the Dutch fort had been situated, on an elevated location, overlooking the southeastern harbour (Grand Port Bay). Finding the fort was one thing, to get insight in its complex chronology and extent proved to be a more complicated issue. Nonetheless the field seasons in 1999, 2000 and 2003 resulted in a variety of Dutch-period structures that, gradually, are straightening out the site’s history. Fort Frederik Hendrik is a site where both historical records and material culture offer multiple lines of evidence with regard to the functioning of the fort and the daily life of its population. The study of the fort’s artefact assemblage further provides insights in the settlers endeavour to adapt to the local environment.