In 1992, I had the good fortune to supervise an archaeological excavation in Hog Bay, Sandys, at the ruins of an early 19th Century cottage we christened "Hill House''. My team of William and Mary students uncovered a rich array of 17th- and 18th Century artifacts belonging to an earlier house on the site, including sherds of Colono-ware, a type of pottery made by African American slaves. It became the earliest domestic site excavated to date in Bermuda and held rich potential for shedding further light on the lives of white and black Bermudians of three centuries ago.

The following summer, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Parks hired archaeologist Neil Kennedy and I to locate all archaeological sites within Hog Bay Park and rate their historical importance. We dug over a hundred test units and found seven sites, including a pair of circa 1770s slave quarters near Middle Road.

In our assessment we stressed that Hill House had by far the "greatest archaeological potential'' and recommended careful monitoring of the site to preserve it for future investigation. The standing structure was probably occupied by slaves on the eve of Emancipation and freedmen after 1834. This humble cottage held the potential to tell the story of four centuries of Bermuda's past.

Imagine my surprise in April of this year, when on a brief trip I visited my former site for old time's sake and discovered a crater where Hill House once stood and 17th- and 18th-Century artifacts strewn across the surface. Not only had the walls been knocked down, but a backhoe had torn the chimney out of the hillside. Perhaps there are some intact layers of soil some distance from the massive disturbance still left, but for all intents and purposes a well-preserved and apparently unthreatened archaeological site has been destroyed and another piece of Bermuda's history irretrievably and unnecessarily lost.

Last weekend I participated in an emergency archaeological excavation at The Ridgeway in Pembroke, slated for demolition. The imposing house was built in 1820 by John Eve. John Adams' research has revealed the names of the slave joiner, carpenters and mason who built this fine mansion. The quality of the interior decorative molding and woodwork are a testament to the skills of Jim, Jacob, Lewis and Jim after 180 years. The Ridgeway is at once a haunting reminder of Bermuda's slave past and a vital artifact of black heritage. How ironic that these documented works of black craftsmen will be destroyed in a few months' time by the government to build the new Berkeley Institute.

As an archaeologist and historian, it pains me to consider how many archaeological sites are annually being lost to the rapid pace of private development. That the government is contributing to this erosion in these two cases is even more alarming. Bermuda's history is difficult enough to recover due to the limited survival records. Archaeology, in many cases, is the only way we will ever find out about the daily lives of most 17th- and 18th-century Bermudians, black and white. What a shame it is to see a nation's heritage daily lost.

Dr. Michael Jarvis is an architect and historian in Williamsburg, Virginia who has conducted a wide range of research on Bermuda.