•We show a first 1100-yr multi-proxy record along the ‘Ruta de Colón’ in the DominicanRepublic.•Indigenous slash-and-burn small-scale agriculture produced clearings in a forested landscape during ...Pre-Columbian times.•European colonization caused the abandonment of indigenous agricultural fields.•Colonial land use shows the rapid implementation of cattle grazing and the progressive cultivation of Old World crops.
The 1100-year sedimentary record of Laguna Biajaca reveals human-driven landscape changes in the central Cibao Valley, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola. This sediment-filled cutoff meander is located in close proximity to pre-Colonial archaeological sites and a Colonial urban hub. It provided a nutrient-rich floodable locus for agricultural activities for indigenous communities and for the first introduction of Old World crops and cattle in the Americas. Integration of paleoecological proxies revealed the formation of a clear-water body surrounded by a palm-rich forested landscape around 1100 cal yr BP. Changes in the drainage system were linked to human-driven deforestation, which also changed the composition of the vegetation and fungal communities around the site between AD 1150 and 1500 (800 and 700 cal yr BP). Pre-Colonial modifications of the landscape were primarily the result of fire-use and small-scale clearings. Crop cultivation developed between AD 1250 and 1450 (700–500 cal yr BP). Within decades after Columbus’ arrival in Hispaniola in AD 1492, the first impacts of European colonization included the abandonment of indigenous sites and the introduction of Old World domesticated animals. During the 15th and 16th centuries the area underwent intensive land-clearing that allowed for larger scale crop cultivation. An increase of aquatic vegetation points to sediment-filling around AD 1700 (250 cal yr BP). At that time, cattle breeding expanded and rapidly provoked eutrophication while, concurrently, monocultures became regionally established. This paper provides a framework of past environmental dynamics and offers an opportunity to place archaeological findings in a context of natural and anthropogenic change.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
In recent years, thousands of posthole features have been located during open-area excavations of Indigenous archaeological sites in the Caribbean Islands. However, the reconstruction of village ...spatial organization and its changes over time is sometimes a challenging task, because Indigenous village occupation can span more than 500 years. This article presents archaeological data from rescue excavations at Argyle, an Indigenous village site dating to the late pre-colonial and early colonial period on Saint Vincent Island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Islands. The archaeological data are juxtaposed with an ethnographic reading of seventeenth-century European documentary sources of the Lesser Antilles and two ethnoarchaeological village studies conducted with Arawakan and Cariban-speaking peoples in the Tropical Lowlands of mainland South America. This study demonstrates the value of an integrated approach in understanding the Argyle site and conceptualizing the dynamics of Indigenous village settlements in the wider Circum-Caribbean area.
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Dietary assessment of Late Ceramic Age inhabitants (~AD 1200–1500) from Lavoutte, Saint Lucia, Lesser Antilles was undertaken on human skeletal remains using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ...analysis of bone collagen (δ13Cco and δ15N), and bone and enamel bioapatite (δ13Cap and δ13Cen). The isotope data were interpreted in the context of regional food webs, intra-population dietary variation was assessed relative to individual demographic variables and the results were compared to contemporaneous populations at multiple scales. Moderately enriched δ13Cco and elevated δ15N point to substantial contributions from both non-marine and marine protein sources, including nitrogen-enriched pelagic resources. The lack of correlations between δ13Cco and δ13Cap (or δ13Cen) suggests distinct isotopic differences between protein and energy sources. The smaller range and variance of δ13Cco and δ15N values relative to δ13Cap and ∆13Cap-co indicate greater inter-individual heterogeneity in dietary energy sources relative to protein sources. Intra-population dietary variation was not, however, correlated with either age or sex, consistent with communal-based food consumption practices. From a broader perspective, the collagen isotope results are comparable with several islands in the Lesser Antilles but are distinct from others, indicating a large degree of regional variation in dietary protein sources, while the bone (and enamel) apatite results are more variable and overlap with many islands in both the Greater and Lesser Antilles indicating wider variation in average (whole) diets. The relative enrichment in δ13Cap and higher ∆13Cap-co values are strongly indicative that C4 (e.g., maize) or CAM plants were important dietary components. Overall, the isotopic evidence suggests that the Lavoutte population consumed mixed diets including substantial contributions of both C3 and C4/CAM plant resources, as well as terrestrial and marine protein sources.
•First large-scale stable isotope paleodiet study from St. Lucia or Windward Islands•Analyses include bone collagen δ13C and δ15N, and both bone and enamel apatite δ13C.•Dietary protein comprised of a mix of terrestrial and 15N-enriched marine sources.•Dietary energy included contributions from C3, CAM, and C4 (maize) resources.•Regional comparisons confirm high dietary diversity in the pre-colonial Caribbean.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The Caribbean archaeological record requires immediate attention and protection. Development and natural forces have impacted archaeological sites, destroying or severely damaging them. The ...precolumbian site of Lavoutte, located in northern Saint Lucia, has been known as a major Late Ceramic Age (a.d. 1000-1500) settlement since the 1960s, but it has been damaged over the past decades by both natural and human processes. Multidisciplinary field and laboratory methodologies were implemented during a rescue project at the site from 2009 to 2010. This paper presents the results of collaborative efforts between local and international organizations. The first goal was to demonstrate the importance of protection and rescue of endangered archaeological sites. Secondly, we aimed to show that by adopting a multidisciplinary approach including artifact analysis, bioarchaeology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and geochemistry, severely damaged sites can be of significant informational value.
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Artificial feeding of young infants is considered a modern phenomenon. However, historical sources note its practice in some past European populations. This research explores factors that contributed ...to a short to absent period of breastfeeding in pre-modern Netherlands. Stable nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis is undertaken on 277 19th century individuals from Beemster, a, rural, mainly Protestant, dairy farming community. An intra-individual sampling approach for ≤6 year-olds compares newer metaphyseal to older diaphyseal long bone collagen to classify feeding status at death. Archivally identified individuals permit analyses of sex and year-of-death. Few infants have isotopic evidence for breastfeeding and, if present, it was likely of short duration or a minor source of dietary protein. From only a few weeks to months of age infants were fed cow's milk and paps with sugar. There is broad dietary homogeneity with no sex or temporal isotopic differences, but young infants (1-11 months) have the most ẟ15N and ẟ13C variation highlighting the effect of multiple dietary and physiological processes. Beemster had many factors associated with high rates of breastfeeding in other Dutch communities, yet, most mothers did not breastfeed, or not for long, showing that regional variation in infant feeding is influenced by community values and traditions. On top of child rearing and domestic chores, female dairy farmers were in charge of milking cattle and dairy production, an important income source, suggesting high workload was also a factor in short or absent breastfeeding periods, aided by the constant supply of fresh milk that could be fed to an infant by an older sibling.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study combines historical data and the principles of bone functional adaptation to examine variation in terrestrial mobility in men and women from pre-industrial urban (Alkmaar 7M, 9F) and rural ...(Klaaskinderkerke 12M, 8F; Middenbeemster 21M, 22F) Dutch populations. Cross-sectional properties of the femoral and tibial midshaft are determined to investigate variation in lower limb mechanical loading. All populations had comparable age ranges. Rural Middenbeemster males had significantly more elliptically shaped tibiae compared to the other populations. Rural males from Klaaskinderkerke had significantly greater femoral cross-sectional area and torsional rigidity compared to females. In the tibia, the males from both rural populations had greater torsional rigidity and cross-sectional area compared to females. In the rural Middenbeemster population the males also had significantly more elliptically shaped tibiae compared to females. While no sexual dimorphism was found in the urban Alkmaar, significantly greater variation in lower limb cross-sectional properties was found for both males and females relative to the rural populations. These results conform to predictions based on the historical literature of greater lower limb loading in rural males compared to females as well as a greater variety of tasks performed in urban environments. The lack of significant differences in lower limb torsional rigidity or shape between populations in either sex suggests that rural life was not necessarily more physically strenuous than urban life in pre-industrial Dutch populations. However, variation in sexual dimorphism suggests that labor between males and females was differently organized in the rural and urban samples.
Identifying general patterns of colonization and radiation in island faunas is often hindered by past human-caused extinctions. The insular Caribbean is one of the only complex oceanic-type island ...systems colonized by land mammals, but has witnessed the globally highest level of mammalian extinction during the Holocene. Using ancient DNA analysis, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of one of the Caribbean's now-extinct major mammal groups, the insular radiation of oryzomyine rice rats. Despite the significant problems of recovering DNA from prehistoric tropical archaeological material, it was possible to identify two discrete Late Miocene colonizations of the main Lesser Antillean island chain from mainland South America by oryzomyine lineages that were only distantly related. A high level of phylogenetic diversification was observed within oryzomyines across the Lesser Antilles, even between allopatric populations on the same island bank. The timing of oryzomyine colonization is closely similar to the age of several other Caribbean vertebrate taxa, suggesting that geomorphological conditions during the Late Miocene facilitated broadly simultaneous overwater waif dispersal of many South American lineages to the Lesser Antilles. These data provide an important baseline by which to further develop the Caribbean as a unique workshop for studying island evolution.
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38.
Real, Recent, or Replica Ostapkowicz, Joanna; Hanna, Jonathan A; Siegel, Peter E ...
2021, 2021-04-20
eBook
Examines the largely unexplored topics in Caribbean archaeology of looting of heritage sites, fraudulent artifacts, and illicit trade of archaeological materialsReal, Recent, or Replica: Precolumbian ...Caribbean Heritage as Art, Commodity, and Inspiration is the first book-length study of its kind to highlight the increasing commodification of Caribbean Precolumbian heritage. Amerindian art, including "Tano" art, has become highly coveted by collectors, spurring a prolific and increasingly sophisticated black market of forgeries, but also contemporary artistic engagement, openly appreciated as modern artworks taking inspiration from the past. The contributors to this volume contend with difficult subject matter including the continued looting of archaeological sites in the region, the seismic increase of forgeries, and the imbalance of power and economic relations between the producers and consumers of neo-Amerindian art. The case studies document the considerable time depth of forgeries in the region (since the late nineteenth century), address the policies put in place by Caribbean governments and institutions to safeguard national patrimony, and explore the impact looted and forged artifacts have on how museums and institutions collect and ultimately represent the Caribbean past to their audiences. Overall, the volume emphasizes the continued desire for the "authentic" Precolumbian artifact, no matter the cost. It provides insights for archaeologists, museum professionals, art historians, and collectors to combat illegal trade and support communities in creating sustainable heritage industries.
Indo-Hispanic interaction is an essential issue in the colonial period in the Caribbean, but its study is currently marginalized as an offshoot of pre-Columbian archaeology. This state of affairs ...denies the indigenous contribution to the past and present ethnocultural composition of the region and privileges a colonial approach in scholarship. This paper reviews important aspects of the history of archaeological research on contact and colonial interaction in the Greater Antilles and its theoretical underpinnings. It also presents two recent archaeological case studies that show different facets of the interaction processes using new methodological approaches: El Cabo, Dominican Republic, with evidence of early contact, and El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, a context of interethnic interaction under colonial conditions.
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