B uilding on almost a century of archaeological investigations on Dutch St Eustatius, the St Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) was established in 2004 as a permanent archaeological presence on the island. It provides educational and commercial archaeological services locally, for the region and internationally. Acknowledgments SECAR would first like to thank Mr. Johnny Patrick and Mr. Siem Dijkshoorn for notifying SECAR about the hidden stairs at the St. Eustatius Fort Oranje site. We appreciate the assistance of SECAR volunteers Nikki Ray, Kelly Riemersma, Anne Huijsmans, and Matthew Sanders and SECAR Director R. Grant Gilmore III in executing the drawings and excavating the site. Site drawings were digitized by Madeline Roth and Kelly Riemersma. Photographs were taken by SECAR volunteers Nikki Ray and Madeline Roth. Introduction The Dutch have had a presence on St. Eustatius ever since Pieter Van Corselles and his men moved from Tobago to colonize the island in 1636. As a result of the Dutch occupation, a fort was constructed on the island overlooking the Bay in order to protect the island. With increasing island development in the 21st century, SECAR is attempting to identify the fortifications that the Dutch built and continued to maintain during the Colonial Period. The first fort on the present site of Fort Oranje was built in 1629 by a French exploratory party. The Dutch repaired the wooden fort left by the French naming it “Fort Oranje”. The present stone fort was constructed in 1703 by the English after the Dutch had burned the wooden palisaded fort. This report focuses on the stone fort that was built after the wooden Fort Oranje burned. Our research goals include: Identify the possible function of stone stairs identified during this investigation Record the remains of the stairs Incorporate this information into our overall understanding of the settlement of Oranjestad and the importance of the fort in Statian society While examining the stairs found during repair of the government offices, we realized that it would be necessary to document the stairs and foundation of the gatehouse in order to understand earlier stages in the development of the modern Fort Oranje. Site History ST. EUSTATIUS The island of St. Eustatius, commonly referred to as Statia, is located in the Dutch West Indian islands. The island is 22 sq. kilometers with a width of almost 5 kilometers, and a length of 7 kilometers. At the Northern end lie hills, the largest of which is called “Boven Hill”. FORT •VOLUME 41 • 2013 76 Fort Oranje, St. Eustatius An Historical Archaeological and Architectural Assessment R. Grant Gilmore III Madeline J. Roth Figure 1 Location plan FORT 41 - part 2 25/6/13 17:43 Page 76