By Charminae George
In an area near Jennings sits Greencastle Hill. It’s a site distinctly recognised by the myriad of tall, black rocks littering the hill.
To many of the Rastafarian faith, the site is sacred and is often referred to as Mount Anu or Stonehenge of the Caribbean.
However, the remainder of the hill could eventually become construction aggregate and plumes of dust if mining is continued.
According to local Rastafarian archaeoastronomer, Priest Issac, mining activities have been ongoing since the 1960s and close to a third of the hill has been mined thus far.
In response to the seemingly impeding reality, the archeoastronomer revealed a key component of a year-long campaign, ‘Save Greencastle Hill, Rescue Mount Anu’.
The initiative began on November 5, in hopes of discontinuing the discontinuing destruction to the hill.
“We intend to write to the present king, King Charles III and also to Number 10 Downing Street, just to inform them that the grave of one of their historical individuals, someone from their history, seems to be in jeopardy,” he stated during a tele-thon held last week.
In a bid to educate viewers on the hill’s significance, he mentioned that volcanic rocks found on the hill align with distinct events in astronomy.
“These megaliths align with the astronomical clock … we have key stones that align with the solstices. We have keystones here that align with the equinoxes,” he explained during a telethon on November 5.
Though the cream-coloured rocks of Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe, Africa clearly differ from those of Greencastle Hill, there is one similarity shared by both sites of spiritual importance.
“What took place in Antigua where you have Governor Baldwin who got himself buried at Greencastle Hill, Cecil Rhodes got himself buried in the Matobo mountains in the same way,” Priest Isaac said.
In addition to the rock formations of Green Castle Hill, remains of shellfish, pottery, fauna (animals) remains, and lithic flakes and debitage (result from creation of stone tools) have been found on the site, according to archeologyantigua.org. The site is managed by local archeologist Dr Reginald Murphy.
According to priestisaacinstitute.com, Priest Isaac serves in the capacity of a priest in the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress, and is the founder the Priest Isaac’s Institute of Holistic Knowledge.