Indian Creek
The site is situated on a now dry watercourse about one kilometre inland from the sea. Radiocarbon dates indicate that humans occupied the site for an extensive period of time (200 BC – 1300 AD).
The Indian Creek site is important for it presents the entire Ceramic Age (Arawak), cultural sequence of the pre-Columbian period on Antigua. To this end, the early ceramic (Saladoid) style on Antigua is called the "Indian Creek" style.
Indian Creek is perhaps the best known prehistoric site on Antigua to Caribbeanists. Dr. Irving Rouse of Yale University, Dr. Fred Olsen, and Desmond Nicholson of the Antigua Archaeological Society excavated the site in the early 1970s. It is the site from which Rouse's ceramic cultural chronology was established for Antigua and the Leeward Islands. In June 2013, archaeologists from University of Texas, the National Parks Antigua and CUNY Brooklyn College will revisit the site and begin a series of excavations close to the old Yale dig sites. The objective is to utilize modern methods of excavations, equipment and analysis to further our knowledge of the site and to compare the findings with the thirty-year old Rouse/Yale results. We are particularly concerned with the earliest periods of settlement. Recent investigations elsewhere in the region have found strong evidence suggesting that the Zoned Incised Crosshatch (La Hueca) pottery predates the White on Red (Saladoid) ceramics. This separation has not yet been observed on Antigua. We also hope to investigate the role or influences of the environment and the periods of cultural changes and adaptive responses by the Saladoid/Arawak people.
Ceramic Age/Pre Columbian Sites: Cades Bay | Doigs | Elliot's | Green Castle Hill | Indian Creek | Long Island | Mill Reef | Royall's