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The Search for Makak: A Multidisciplinary Settlement History of the Northern Coast of Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius

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Abstract

Le Morne Brabant is an important mountain landscape in the living memory, colonial history, and national identity of Mauritius. This paper presents a kind of salvage project to understand Makak, an elusive, “mythic” settlement along Le Morne’s northern coast. This detailed analysis brings together wide-ranging oral, written, and material evidence to show that Makak is an informal place name for an area first settled by French colonists in the 1700s, then by several prominent “Free Colored” families in the 1800s, and finally depopulated as residents were forcibly removed in the 1940s. The investigation suggests that Makak is a serial settlement, which seemingly was not eking by at the edge of the Indian Ocean, but thrived as a multicultural community, tapped into global trade networks. The project thus provides a new way of framing Le Morne’s history and heritage, while also providing a potential research model for the nascent field of Mauritian historical archaeology.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful for the generous assistance of: Colette Le Chartier, Vijaya Teelock, Geoffrey Summers, Jocelyn Chan Low, Jean-Yves Le Lan, Yann von Arnim, Diego Calaon, Anwar Janoo, Nicole Papeche, Leo Couacaud, Benjamin Moutou, Corinne Forest, Bertrand Giraud, R. Chung Sam Wan, James Symonds, Paul Shackel, Alasdair M. Brooks, Sarah Tarlow, Lothar von Falkenhausen, and Ellen Hsieh. Two annonymous reviewers provided especially thoughtful and helpful comments, for which are appreciative. Analysis of the Makak artifacts from the 2007 survey was facilitated by the students and the moderator of the 2013 Museum Management Course at the University of Mauritius: Amirchandsing Teerbhoohan, Anwar Janoo, Dreesha Teelwah, Ghirish Bissoon, Indira Gyaram, Joanna Donice-Louis, Leena Ramduth, Marie Paule Félicité, Marie Vanecia Geraldine Andon, Pinky Pooneeth, Vijaya Teelock, and Vijayalutchmee Beejadhur. We are further grateful to the National Archives, Ministry of Land, and Registrar General; for the financial support of the US Fulbright Program; the logistical support of University of Mauritius; and the official support Le Morne Heritage Trust Fund.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO, 80205, USA

    Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh

  2. Department of History and Political Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius

    Sophie Le Chartier & Sharon Jacquin-Ng

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  1. Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh
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Colwell-Chanthaphonh, C., Le Chartier, S. & Jacquin-Ng, S. The Search for Makak: A Multidisciplinary Settlement History of the Northern Coast of Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius. Int J Histor Archaeol 18, 375–414 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-014-0263-4

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