The Archaeology of Religion at the Habitation Loyola, French Guiana

This article is based on the results of archaeological excavations carried out since 1994 at the Loyola plantation, in Rémire, French Guiana, as well as on information derived from scarce documentation pertaining to this settlement. Loyola was nearly unique as a slave plantation administered by members of the clergy, namely, the Jesuits. The latter were astute managers who successfully navigated the colonial economy and also never lost sight of their evangelization mission. While they had come to the Americas in order to convert the Amerindians, they zealously devoted themselves to the religious instruction of the Africans they enslaved to support their activities. When the Jesuits, subject to an order issued in 1764, were ordered to leave Loyola, 500 enslaved individuals were living on the plantation. In this article, I strive to reconstruct the religious character of this settlement through an understanding of the material remains unearthed by archaeology.