Archaeological Evidence of Landscape and Environmental Changes Due to Iron and Gunpowder Production in Mauritius

Abstract

Iron forging and gunpowder productions were important enterprises in eighteeth-century Mauritius, then known as Île de France. Two sites are tangible testimonies of these industries: one at Balaclava and the other at Pamplemousses. The Powder Mill at Balaclava was part of an arsenal and produced gunpowder from the 1740s to 1774. The Powder Mills in Pamplemousses, commonly known as Moulin à Poudre, was a gunpowder production site between 1775 and 1810, from where the site gained its name. This second site was initially established as an iron forging factory in the 1740s, simultaneously with the gunpowder mill at Balaclava, and then converted into a gunpowder production industrial site in 1775. Since the initiation of systematic archaeological research in 2016, the sites continue to provide critical insight into eighteenth-century enslavement, military history in the Indian Ocean, and local technological advancement. Through a description of the findings, this article illustrates how the local landscape and environment were modified and adapted on a massive scale to accommodate both the industry of iron forging, and, subsequently, gunpowder production.