Current Fieldwork
For twenty years Jillian has worked closely with archaeologists and historians at the University of West Indies, Mona and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. Her research in Jamaica began in 2006 when she lived in Kingston for five months as the Principal Investigator for a Mellon-funded project that included the reanalysis of collections from Montpelier Estate, excavated by Barry Higman in the 1970s, and the Seville Estate, excavated by Douglas Armstrong in the 1980s. During her time in Kingston, Jillian developed relationships that led to the development of archaeological field projects and field schools with the University of West Indies, Mona and the University of Virginia on the north and south coasts of the island as part of the DAACS Caribbean Initiative. You can read about her work at the Stewart Castle Estate, the Mona Estate, and the Papine Estate through the DAACS website.
Today, Jillian, Dr. Suzanne Francis-Brown, and Dr. Ivor Conolley are conducting a long-term study of 18th-century sugar estates, including Roslin Castle and Stewart Castle, in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica. Look for their first publication on this work in December 2025.
If you are interested in similar archaeological approaches to slave villages in the Eastern Caribbean, check out these projects:
As a Principal Investigator on a NEH-JISC grant to study slave villages in the Eastern Caribbean, Jillian collaborated with Roger Leech, Robert Philpott, and Fraser Neiman on archaeological field work at the New River and Jesssups Estates on Nevis and The Spring on St.Kitts (2006-2009). You can read about their work through the website they created and wrote for the International Slavery Museum/National Museums Liverpool and through DAACS’s content on New River Estate, Jessups Estate, and The Spring.
I love this picture because I was nearly eight months pregnant and still in the field in Nevis. It is not uncommon for many women archaeologists to conduct fieldwork until their due date!