William F. Keegan

Colonization of Islands by Humans: A Biogeographical Perspective

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a worldwide summary of island colonization by preindustrial peoples and a history of who colonized what and when. It describes three geometrical properties of islands that affect the probability of settlement: (1) island distance, (2) configuration, and (3) area. This leads to the question of whether islands were reached accidentally or on purpose and to the theory of autocatalysis as a suggested key to waves of island colonization. Island distributions in the worlds various oceans affected the degree to which the people living around those oceans developed maritime skills. The chapter then explores some consequences of competition between human populations occupying islands. It also discusses three phenomena that may develop as an island is colonized: (1) niche shifts, (2) beachhead bottlenecks, and (3) degradation of island environments.

Human impacts and adaptations in the Caribbean Islands: an historical ecology approach

Archaeological investigations demonstrate that peoples first settled the Caribbean islands approximately 6000–7000 years ago. At least four major, and multiple minor, migrations took place over the next millennia by peoples from Mesoamerica and South America who practised various subsistence strategies and had different levels of technology. For decades, researchers have been interested in investigating how these groups adapted to and impacted insular environments through time. This paper combines archaeological, palaeoecological, historical, and modern biological data to examine the effects of humans on Caribbean island ecosystems using a historical ecology approach. By synthesising a wide range of data sources, we take a human/nature dialectical perspective to understanding how peoples adapted to and modified their environments. The data suggest that earlier foraging/fishing Archaic groups (ca. 6000–3000 BP), who used a stone tool and shell technology and transported few, if any non-indigenous plants or animals, still impacted island landscapes as evidenced by bird and sloth extinctions. As more advanced ceramic making horticulturalists entered the Antillean chain around 2500 BP, there is an observable change to island environments as a result of forest clearance, overexploitation of both terrestrial and marine resources, and growing populations. Palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental records also suggest, however, that an increased moisture regime during the late Holocene probably led to a decrease in near-shore salinity and heavier sediment and nutrient loads in rivers. These conditions would have been exacerbated by land clearance for agriculture, leading to coastline progradation, increased turbidity, and mangrove development resulting in changes to the availability of resources for humans on some islands. Although prehistoric peoples in the Caribbean were certainly impacting their environments, it was not until Europeans arrived and population centres grew that intensive and widespread degradation of island landscapes and resources occurred. Modern ecological studies, along with historical and archaeological data, indicate that hundreds of species have been driven to extinction or extirpation – many others have significantly diminished in number, especially within the last two millennia.

West Indian Archaeology. 3. Ceramic Age

Irving Rouse once calculated that more than 90% of all pre-Columbian artifacts from the West Indies are made of clay. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the vast majority of research in the region has focused on the ceramic age cultures. The review begins by considering the early ceramic age peoples whose pottery is classified as part of the Saladoid series. These peoples entered the Antilles about 500 B.C. and settled all of the islands as far north as Puerto Rico. For as yet unknown reasons their northward progress was halted in Puerto Rico for nearly 1000 years. The post-Saladoid cultures of the Lesser Antilles, about whom very little is known, and the so-called “Ostionoid” peoples of the Greater Antilles and Bahama archipelago are discussed next. New, detailed studies of subsistence, settlement patterns, social organization, and iconography are contributing to a richer knowledge of the patterns and processes of cultural evolution in an insular setting.

Modeling dispersal in the prehistoric West Indies

Abstract In an effort to study population movements in the prehistoric West Indies, a model that describes dispersal under two specific sets of conditions was deduced from the Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation of density‐dependent population growth ‐ the same equation that previously gave us the carrying‐capacity concept and r‐ and K‐selection model. Population expansion in the prehistoric West Indies is shown to have occurred at a rapid pace during which only the most highly ranked resources were pursued. These conclusions contradict the conventional wisdom and provide insights into the economic, social and political foundations of Taino culture.

West Indian archaeology. 1. Overview and foragers

Caribbean archaeology is riding the wave of an exponential growth curve. In fact, so much has happened during the past 5 years that it is impossible to review everything in a single article. The present article is written as the first in a series. The first part of the paper provides an archipelagic overview of the regional environmental and cultural diversity in conjunction with references to recent archaeological research. The second part of the present paper focuses on recent research into the preceramic Lithic and Archaic Ages in the West Indies. Alternate theories of population movements and regional differences in artifact assemblages during the preceramic are discussed. The second article in this series will examine the early and middle ceramic periods, while the emergence and florescence of the Tainos must be postponed until the third installment.

Attractive Ideas, Desirable Goods: Examining the Late Ceramic Age Relationships between Greater and Lesser Antillean Societies

ABSTRACT This article aims to correct a number of archaeological misconceptions issuing from the Taíno-Carib dichotomy engrained within the discipline. We examine the evidence for Late Ceramic Age (AD 800–1500) interactions between communities of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This article explores and nuances the alleged dichotomy between Taíno and Carib societies, details a number of contact lines between them, and advances hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying these interactions such as incorporation, exchange, and appropriation.

Changes in invertebrate taxa at two pre-Columbian sites in southwestern Jamaica, AD 800–1500

Abstract Excavations at two pre-Columbian sites at Paradise Park, Parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, revealed significant changes in mollusk use through time. The sites are located on a low dune ridge in a tropical forest between a mangrove swamp and sawgrass morass on Bluefields Bay. One site (Wes-15a) dates to the 9th century AD and contains only Ostionan (redware) pottery. It is located 240 m to the east of a Meillacan (White Marl/Montego Bay style) site dated to the 15th century AD (Wes-15b). The molluscan fauna in the Ostionan site is dominated by species that prefer freely circulating, high salinity seagrass habitats (i.e., Strombidae, Cardiidae, and Veneridae). In marked contrast, Lucinidae and Melongenidae dominate the Meillacan deposits, taxa that favor habitats of low circulation, lower salinity, and muddier substrates that are often associated with mangroves in Jamaica. Cultural and environmental factors that may have contributed to the observed shift in resource use are discussed.

Cetral Plaza Burials in Saladoid Puerto Rico: an alternative perspective

Some Caribbean archaeologists have assumed that the individuals buried beneath the central plazas of Saladoid sites in Puerto Rico lived in those villages during their lives. They interpret these central place burials as providing immediate access to the ancestors during ceremonies performed in this public space. The central plaza is viewed as the axis mundi, and through ancestor veneration the dead were called upon to intercede with the gods on behalf of the living. However, cross-cultural studies indicate that burial practices often are determined by descent, and those clan members whose postmarital residence was in communities other than their clan villages often were returned to their clan village for burial. It is argued here that central place burials do not reflect ancestor veneration, but rather social solidarity among widely scattered villages.

The Synergism of Biology and Culture

ABSTRACT Zooarchaeology, by its very nature, requires the melding of two disciplines, zoology and archaeology. As the name for this discipline suggests, the former often has primary emphasis. Practitioners have employed a wide variety of methods and theories that were first developed in the biological sciences. However, human cultural behavior does not always match that of other animals. We, therefore, need to modify the methods and theories to emphasize the cultural component of our inquiries. The present paper addresses a number of these issues in the context of the articles written for this publication as well as those presented in the symposium. Finally, the issue of whether or not there is need for an “Island Zooarchaeology” within the recognized subfield of “Island Archaeology” is considered.

Creating the Guanahatabey (Ciboney): the modern genesis of an extinct culture

It is common knowledge that the West Indies were inhabited by three cultures at the time of European contact—the Island Caribs, the Tainos and the Ciboney – identified largely from the accounts of Spanish and French explorers and chroniclers. Is this knowledge accurate? This evaluation of evidence for the Guanahatabey (‘Ciboney’) of western Cuba and southwestern Haiti finds they did not survive until the time of European contact.