Islands are useful model systems for examining human-environmental interactions. While many anthropogenic effects visible in the archaeological and paleoecological records are terrestrial in nature ...(e.g., clearance of tropical forests for agriculture and settlement; introduction of nonnative flora and fauna), native peoples also relied heavily on marine environments for their subsistence and livelihood. Here we use two island case studies-Palau (Micronesia) and the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean)-and approach their long-term settlement history through a "ridge-to-reef" perspective to assess the role that human activity played in land- and seascape change over deep time. In particular, we examine the entanglement of terrestrial and marine ecosystems resulting from anthropogenic effects and cultural responses to socio-environmental feedback. We suggest that on the humanized tropical islands of the Anthropocene, mangroves, near shore and littoral areas, and coral reefs were major sites of terrestrial-marine interface chronicling and modulating anthropogenic effects.
Multiple studies reveal pre-1492 anthropogenic impacts on Caribbean fisheries that are consistent with overfishing, including changes in targeted prey, shifts in marine habitats exploited, and ...decreases in the average body size of taxa. At the Indigenous Caribbean village of Sabazan (AD 400–1400) on Carriacou, Lesser Antilles, post-AD 800 declines in fishing, increased mollusk collection, and changes in resource patch emphasis accord with the archaeological correlates of resource depression predicted by foraging theory models from behavioral ecology. Here, I apply foraging theory logic and abundance indices incorporating body size and fish habitat to test the predictions of expanded diet breadth, declining prey body size, and shifts to more distant fishing patches that are typically associated with overfishing. Results uphold a significant decrease in overall fishing, which may be due to habitat change associated with the Medieval Warm Period. Indices of fish size and resource patch use do not meet foraging theory expectations for resource depression, however. Instead, they suggest an absence of resource depression in the Sabazan fishery and at least 600 years of sustainable fishing. I review similar findings for other Caribbean archaeological sites with either negative evidence for fisheries’ declines or quantitatively demonstrated sustainable fishing. These sites collectively serve as a critical reminder of the heterogeneous trajectories of Indigenous social–ecological systems in the pre-contact Caribbean and the need for meta-level analyses of the region’s ancient fisheries. I discuss the application of the sustainability concept in archaeological studies of fishing and conclude that a more critical, explicit approach to defining and measuring sustainability in ancient fisheries is needed.
Archaeologists employ an array of comparative approaches to assess zooarchaeological assemblages and the human behavior that produced them. Similarity indices are a simple and effective method for ...evaluating correspondence between the taxa present and their abundances in two zooarchaeological assemblages. Yet, these indices are not as widely used as other approaches. Here, I review several similarity metrics and present a method for measuring assemblage similarity using paired incidence- and abundance-based indices. The combined results of these measures can be used to classify a set of assemblages according to their dissimilarity, qualitative similarity, quantitative similarity, or substantive similarity. The paired-index approach is demonstrated employing the corrected Forbes and Morista-Horn indices in two zooarchaeological case studies from the Caribbean sites of Sabazan (Carriacou), Sandy Ground (Anguilla), and Crève Coeur (Martinique) in the Lesser Antilles. I show that the method (1) provides a means to quantify the similarity between assemblages along a defined, meaningful scale; (2) offers a straightforward approach for understanding how the dimensions of assemblage similarity interact based on a proposed classification scheme; and (3) constitutes a simple-to-apply technique requiring minimal technical skills. I conclude by discussing the strengths and limitations of this method and its potential wider application in archaeology.
Recent excavations at the Ceramic Age village site of Sabazan on Carriacou, Grenada, indicate long-term occupation spanning AD 400 to 1400. One of the earliest settlements in the Grenadines ...Archipelago, Sabazan's chronology corroborates late Saladoid colonization of the region with the timing of major developments at this location supported by a robust chronology of 26 radiocarbon assays. Investigation of deep, stratified midden deposits yielded abundant ceramic, shell, and stone artifacts, faunal remains, and burial and domestic features. Zooarchaeological evidence indicates a heavy reliance on marine resources and a well-developed tuna (Scombridae, Thunnini) fishery. While data point to sustainable resource exploitation over a millennium, shifts in foraging strategies are evident, including declines in the fish catch and increasing reliance on large or easily acquired mollusks, particularly queen conch (Lobatus gigas) and nerites (Nerita spp.). These trends may be driven by the greater aridity and warmer sea surface temperatures of the Medieval Warm Period (ca AD 900-1300). Exotic artifacts and the remains of introduced mammals at Sabazan provide evidence for inter-island and continental interactions. Here, I synthesize these findings and their significance for reconstructing West Indian colonization, tracing exchange and interaction networks, and understanding human ecodynamics and long-term adaptation to small island ecosystems.
Contemporary West Indian biodiversity has been shaped by two millennia of non-native species introductions. Understanding the dynamics of this process and its legacy across extended temporal and ...spatial scales requires accurate knowledge of introduction timing and the species involved. Richard Ligon's 17th century account and celebrated map of early colonial Barbados records the translocation of several Old World species to the island in the post-contact era, including pigs (Sus scrofa) believed to have been released by passing sailors the century prior. Here we challenge this long-accepted historical narrative, presenting evidence that Ligon's "pigs" were in fact peccaries, a New World continental mammal often confused with wild boars. We document the first recorded instance of non-native peccary (Tayassuidae) on Barbados based on a securely identified mandibular specimen from a historic archaeological context. Results of specimen 87Sr/86Sr and AMS radiocarbon assays, along with newly reported data from Sr isotope environmental analyses, indicate a local origin dating to AD 1645-1670/1780-1800. These data support the presence of living peccary on Barbados some time during the first 175 years of English settlement, which, based on review of historical and archaeological data, most likely arises from 16th century peccary introduction from the Guianas/Trinidad by the Spanish or Portuguese. We argue dimorphic representations of "pigs" on Ligon's map reflect the co-occurrence of peccary and European domestic swine on historic Barbados. Our findings overturn conventional history and provide greater taxonomic and chronological resolution for Caribbean bioinvasion studies, helping to refine our understanding of potential ecological impacts. In addition, the new bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr data for Barbados reported here advance current efforts toward mapping the Caribbean Sr isoscape.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Because small islands are frequently associated with spatially heterogeneous, biodiverse marine environments that readily exceed the productive capacity of their associated terrestrial habitat, it ...has been argued that these were attractive settlement locations for people due to the rich aquatic resource base they provided. I examine this proposition for the small West Indian island of Carriacou (32 km
2
), situated in the Grenadines micro-archipelago, in light of recent zooarchaeological findings for two of its major archaeological sites, Sabazan and Grand Bay, where a millennium of sustainable marine foraging is evidenced. While reliance on abundant marine resources clearly contributed to the long-term occupation of Sabazan and Grand Bay, fine-grained analysis of the fish and invertebrate remains suggests that abundance alone does not explain settlement persistence. I argue that the key to understanding the lengthy prehistoric occupation of Grand Bay and Sabazan lies in the structure of its marine environments, especially the functional and response diversity of targeted prey, and the flexibility of Amerindian foraging strategies. Settlement viability on Carriacou did not rest solely on the importance of marine resource extraction, but more specifically on the resilience of the marine environments exploited and the behavior of foragers in relation to this.
The remains of non-native deer (Cervidae) have been sparsely recorded in Amerindian archaeological sites of the West Indies, but evidence indicates the presence of at least two genera, white-tailed ...deer (Odocoileus) and brocket deer (Mazama), during the precolumbian era known as the Ceramic Age (ca. 500 BC–AD 1500). Due to underreporting of finds and lack of regional integration of existing records, however, the West Indian distribution of cervid remains and their cultural importance are not well understood. Here, I synthesize records for unmodified and modified deer bone from 29 archaeological sites on seven islands in the precolumbian island Caribbean with descriptions for four new records of deer bone artifacts from Carriacou and Grenada. I discuss taxonomic attribution issues, evidence for manufacturing techniques, and the utilitarian and symbolic significance of deer bone artifacts. Particular attention is given to proportions of worked and unworked bone, element diversity, and skeletal part representation as a means to distinguish the introduction of living deer from the introduction of carcass products. The evidence presented here is consistent with island Amerindians importing cervid bone as finished artifacts or raw material for tool and ornament manufacture rather than live animals. This study enhances our understanding of the ways in which Amerindians were engaged in exchange networks based on the movement of exotic goods between the West Indies and continent. More broadly, it contributes to conceptual methods for distinguishing the transfer of body parts from the translocation of live animals in studies of exotic animal dispersal by humans. Si bien se han registrado escasos restos de venados (Cervidae) alóctonos en los sitios amerindios de las Indias Occidentales, la evidencia indica la presencia de al menos dos géneros, el venado de cola blanca (Odocoileus) y el venado Mazama, durante el periodo precolombino conocido como la etapa Cerámica (alrededor de 500 aC–1500 dC). Sin embargo, la distribución e importancia cultural de los restos de cérvidos en las Antillas aún no han sido comprendidas en su totalidad debido a la ausencia de información sobre los hallazgos y la falta de integración regional de los registros existentes. En este trabajo se presenta una síntesis de los registros de huesos de venado sin y con modificación provenientes de 29 sitios arqueológicos localizados en siete islas del Caribe, junto con descripciones de cuatro nuevos registros de artefactos óseos de venado provenientes de Carriacou y Granada. Asimismo, se discute la atribución taxonómica, la evidencia de técnicas de fabricación y el significado utilitario y simbólico de los artefactos óseos de los cérvidos. Se presta especial atención a las proporciones de hueso trabajado y no trabajado, la diversidad de elementos y la representación de las partes esqueléticas como evidencia para diferenciar entre la introducción de cérvidos vivos y el ingreso de productos derivados de la carcasa de estos animales. La evidencia presentada aquí indica que la actividad de los amerindios en las Antillas estaría vinculada con la importación de huesos de cérvido como artefactos terminados o como materia prima para la fabricación de herramientas y ornamentos, más que de animales vivos. Este estudio contribuye a nuestro entendimiento de las formas en que los amerindios participaron en las redes de intercambio basadas en el movimiento de bienes exóticos entre las Antillas y el continente. En términos más generales, el estudio contribuye a los métodos conceptuales para diferenciar entre el traslado de partes de carcasas y la translocación de animales vivos en estudios de dispersión de animales exóticos por los seres humanos.
Scientists recognize the Caribbean archipelago as a biodiversity hotspot and employ it for their research as a natural laboratory. Yet they do not always appreciate that these ecosystems are in fact ...palimpsests shaped by multiple human cultures over millennia. Although post-European anthropogenic impacts are well documented, human influx into the region began about 5,000 years prior. Thus, inferences of ecological and evolutionary processes within the Caribbean may in fact represent artifacts of an unrecognized human legacy linked to issues influenced by centuries of colonial rule. The threats posed by stochastic natural and anthropogenically influenced disasters demand that we have an understanding of the natural history of endemic species if we are to halt extinctions and maintain access to traditional livelihoods. However, systematic issues have significantly biased our biological knowledge of the Caribbean. We discuss two case studies of the Caribbean’s fragmented natural history collections and the effects of differing governance by the region’s multiple nation states. We identify knowledge gaps and highlight a dire need for integrated and accessible inventorying of the Caribbean’s collections. Research emphasizing local and international collaboration can lead to positive steps forward and will ultimately help us more accurately study Caribbean biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary processes that generated it.
MNI calculations for archaeological molluscs that rely on counts of non-repetitive elements (NREs) are popular for their analytic speed and efficiency. Yet the reliability of this approach as ...compared to ‘traditionally’ calculated MNI has not been explored. Here, I examine these approaches using data from the Caribbean coastal midden site of Grand Bay, Carriacou. Results suggest that an NRE-based approach to MNI calculation can be unreliable under certain circumstances. In addition, dependence on the NRE-based method may hinder the integration of invertebrate with vertebrate data, obscuring a holistic understanding of prehistoric diet and resource exploitation. These findings are discussed in relation to practical constraints and fulfillment of zooarchaeological goals.
Recent archaeological investigation at the Coconut Walk site on the Caribbean island of Nevis revealed dense 40 cm deep midden deposits that accumulated between cal AD 890–1440. Analysis of ...invertebrate faunal remains reveals an assemblage dominated by nerite snails. We measured the length and width of more than 2700 tessellated nerite (Nerita tessellata) shells to investigate evidence for changing mean size that might be indicative of intensifying human predation pressure or other cultural and natural processes. Contrary to similar archaeomalacological studies in which size decline is detected, we observed a statistically significant size increase for N. tessellata over time. This size increase is coupled with increasing levels of tessellated nerite exploitation at the Coconut Walk site. Results suggest that tessellated nerite use was sustainable over several centuries of site occupation. Our findings have important implications for investigations of anthropogenic impacts on prehistoric mollusc populations. In addition, the findings reported here provide important insight into human subsistence patterns during the Late Ceramic Age in the Caribbean and a framework for comparison with observations from other Pre-Columbian sites in the Caribbean.
•Evidence for exploitation depression during the Caribbean Ceramic Age is examined.•The intertidal snail, Nerita tessellata, is the dominant mollusc at the Coconut Walk site, Nevis.•Analysis indicates N. tessellata shell size increases with intensifying exploitation.•Size increase may be due to cultural or natural disruptions in snail ecology.•N. tessellata exploitation is sustainable over several centuries.
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