Long
after graduating from General Studies with a B.A. in anthropology,
Edward Cecil Harris has continued to focus his energy on the study
of humans and their material remains. His passion for archaeology
has taken him from his birthplace in Bermuda to expeditions in Iran
and Australia, and to excavations in Norway and Papua New Guinea.
Indeed, Harris seems determined to dig for clues to our collective
history for all his days.
After
Columbia, Harris left New York for England, where he would receive
his doctorate in archaeology from London University in 1979. While
working on his dissertation, he supervised the excavation of a medieval
town in Bergen, Norway, and directed the three-year dig of Sandgate
Castle — a fort built by Henry VIII — in Kent, England. All the
while, Harris was developing his thesis into what is now universally
referred to as the “Harris Matrix,” the standard methodology employed
by scientists and researchers for organizing data from their archaeological
sites. The Matrix was groundbreaking because as Harris explains,
“Each archaeological site is a unique time capsule, and the Matrix
is the only universal way in which the unique calendar of each site
can be displayed in relative time order.” With the Matrix, scientists
have a tool with which to diagram and “look” at the “stratigraphic
sequences” of archaeological and geological sites.
Shortly
after completing his studies at London University, Harris returned
to Bermuda and accepted a position as executive director of the
Bermuda Maritime Museum. He has been a fundamental force behind
many in-depth explorations of the island’s history — both on its
shores and beneath its waves. He has directed excavations and conducted
extensive surveys of Bermuda’s many forts. Forts are Harris’s specialty
and, in addition to having his office inside one, the one time Royal
Naval Dockyard, he recently completed the fascinating and richly
illustrated book, Bermuda Forts 1612-1957.
The
Dockyard, or “The Keep,” as it is more commonly known, is a six-acre
fort surrounded by ramparts that are a combination of man-made and
naturally occurring walls of stone and coral. “The Keep,” explains
Harris with good humor, “is a Medieval concept, an old phrase. It
was the last stronghold, after the dockyard falls. The last retreat
to run and hide in.” The project of turning The Keep into a museum
began in 1974, with a nod from Queen Elizabeth. Now, with the recent
restoration of the Commissioner’s House, the world’s “first cast-iron
house,” Harris has found a way for the museum to serve as a venue
for education as well as a source for its own maintenance income.
After carefully selecting materials that were of the same kinds
used in its original construction, the Commissioner’s House is home
to exhibits that detail Bermuda’s history with Portugal, its role
in the slave trade and slavery in Bermuda, and the Bermuda yacht
race — a race that originated at the Brooklyn Yacht Club. The building
was also renovated with the idea of leasing it. The income from
catered events would help sustain these and future exhibits.
Education
is still a part of Harris’s career. In addition to his duties as
museum director, Harris has been a visiting professor at The College
of William and Mary in Virginia, and at East Carolina University
in North Carolina. He encourages students of all ages to participate
in the many programs developed especially for them by the museum.
In fact, each year there are usually one or two college or graduate
students developing new theories of their own. It is clear that
the idea of documenting and preserving artifacts and other kinds
of cultural records with care and humility is one Harris hopes to
instill in as many persons as he can.
“One
of the biggest controversies today in archaeology is looting and
the complicity of museums and auction markets. There are those who
go in and take what they’ve sought, and will get paid handsomely
for the artifact. But they don’t remove the object with any real
regard for its placement. They destroy the context [of the artifact],
and they steal the heritage of the people to whom it rightfully
belongs.”
Harris
has seen his share of such pirating right in the waters of Bermuda.
Bermuda’s sea is home to a legacy of sunken galleons, battleships,
and other great wrecks. Unfortunately, an unscrupulous industry
has been quietly growing in the search for “sunken treasure” — even
if it’s not their treasure to recoup.
Yet,
despite the occasional political or ethical difficulty, Harris’s
efforts most often reap rewards. In 1993, an excavation recovered
19 pieces of “Hog Money.” “It was money made just for Bermuda. There
was a hog on one side.” Laughs Harris, “It had absolutely no value
outside of Bermuda.” But the discovery of the coins brought true
joy to Harris and his colleagues: few coins had ever been discovered,
and available examples had been terribly worn by the years. More
recently, Harris was awarded by Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth
II, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.).
As an explanation for those readers in the States, Harris offers
modestly, “It’s the very bottom of all the knights. There’s O.B.E.
and then K.B.E. — You’re ‘Sir’ then. This is just ‘member’ of the
British Empire.” Perhaps, but certainly a gesture of recognition
for many years of noble deeds.
You
can learn more about the Bermuda Maritime Museum by visiting it
on-line at www.bermudamall.com/marmuse.
For
more information on the Harris Matrix, visit www.harrismatrix.com.
