scholarly journals The Pilgrimage Concept in the Caribbean?

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 87-110
Author(s):  
Michele Hayward ◽  
Michael Cinquino ◽  
Frank Schieppati ◽  
Donald Smith
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Diverse Population ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Caribbean

Espenshade (2014) has argued that pre-Columbian major ballcourts/plazas on Puerto Rico, particularly with rock art, could be considered special religious places. He proposes that these precincts were being transformed from locations of communal social and ceremonial activities integrating diverse population segments to increasingly restricted-to-religious functions as shrines or pilgrimage centers serving a greatly reduced local population by the end of the pre-colonial period. The extent of incorporation of pre-colonial late phase plazas into a formal pilgrimage round for the Puerto Rico island will be examined employing archaeological data from both the Greater and Lesser Antilles. We conclude that while Espenshade’s particular argument for enclosures-as-pilgrimage sites may or may not be appropriate, simply raising the issue prompts a wider consideration of the region’s ritual structure involving rock art and non-rock art sites.

Source identification of Middle Age extreme event deposits in the Lesser Antilles using forward numerical modeling of tsunami

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Cordrie ◽  
Audrey Gailler ◽  
Nathalie Feuillet
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Seismic Cycle ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Bathymetric Grids ◽  
Northern Segment

<p><span>The arc of the Lesser Antilles is one of the most quiet subduction zone in the world. In this region, the convergence of the Atlantic and the Caribbean plates is low (</span><span>few </span><span>mm/year) and most of the seismicity is a</span><span>n</span><span> intraplate and crustal seismicity. Among the Mw>7 earthquakes recorded in the historical catalog (1690 near Barbuda, 1843 near Guadeloupe, 1867 near the Virgin Islands, 1839 offshore Martinica, 1969 offshore Dominica, 1974 near Antigua), only the 1839 and 1843 events are suspected to be interplate earthquakes. The 1867 Virgin Island earthquake generated an important tsunami with waves of 10m that devastated the closest islands. A tsunami followed the 1843 earthquake but without much damage. These two events are the only known damaging tsunami in this region, but another older one might be added to the list. Indeed, an increasing number of tsunami deposits have been identified in the recent years on several islands of the arc, all of them being around 500 years old (~1450 AD). These deposits are all located in the northern segment of the arc, between Antigua and Puerto-Rico, in Anegada, St-Thomas (Virgin Islands), Anguilla </span><span>and</span><span> Scrub islands. There is </span><span>unfortunately</span><span> no record and no testimonies of an extreme event at that time.</span></p><p><span>The northern segment of the arc is particularly complex because located at the transition </span><span>between</span><span> the Greater Antilles </span><span>and the Lesser Antilles</span><span>. </span><span>It</span><span> is crossed by the Anegada Passage, a series of faults and basins cutting through the arc, which defines the limit between the Puerto-Rico micro-plate and the Caribbean plate. This passage and the numerous intra-arc fault systems present between the islands are active and likely compensate for the plates motion. The very low slip deficit detected with GPS measurements at the subduction contacts of Puerto-Rico and the Lesser Antilles indicates that the interface from Guadeloupe to Puerto-Rico can be considered as totally uncoupled or holding the characteristics of a very long seismic cycle. A tsunami generated by an extreme event 500 years ago in this region could be related to </span><span>intra-arc, outer-rise,</span><span> intraplate </span><span>or</span><span> interface fault rupture. The identification of the source </span><span>would</span><span> enable a better understanding of the seismic cycle and the dynamic of this part of the arc.</span></p><p><span>This study lists </span><span>and set models of</span><span> all the potential faults that could trigger an earthquake in the area encompassing the three islands : Anguilla, Anegada and StThomas. </span><span>We have created high-resolution bathymetric grids and</span><span> performed tsunami simulations </span><span>for each fault model</span><span>. </span><span>W</span><span>e uses run-up models to compare the simulated wave heights </span><span>and run-up distance</span><span> to all the deposits heights </span><span>and positions</span><span>. The magnitudes of our fault models range between 7 and </span><span>9,</span><span> but very few of them generate a strong enough tsunami t</span><span>o</span> <span>match</span><span> the observ</span><span>ed deposits</span><span>.</span></p>

A MONOGRAPHIC REVISION OF THE GENUSPODOCARPUS(PODOCARPACEAE): II. THE SPECIES OF THE CARIBBEAN BIOREGION

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Mill
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Infraspecific Taxa ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Conservation Assessments

The species ofPodocarpusL’Hér. ex Pers. (Podocarpaceae) occurring on the islands of the Caribbean (excluding Trinidad and Tobago) are revised. Nine species are recognised, of which eight are known to be endemic to the Caribbean Bioregion. None of the species have infraspecific taxa. Four occur on Cuba, two on Hispaniola, two on Jamaica, and one on Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles. Keys are provided to all the species and to the species of Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica. The distributions of all species are mapped and discussed in relation to the geological history of the region as well as the climate, especially rainfall. The namesPodocarpus urbaniiPilg. andPodocarpus buchiivar.latifoliusFlorin are lectotypified. Revised or new IUCN conservation assessments are proposed forPodocarpus angustifolius,P. aristulatusandP. victorinianusand the existing assessments are detailed for the remaining species.

scholarly journals Diverse and Dynamic Dietary Patterns in Early Colonial Cuba: New Insights from Multiple Isotope Analyses

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-121
Author(s):  
Jason E. Laffoon ◽  
Roberto Valcárcel Rojas ◽  
Darlene A. Weston ◽  
Menno L. P. Hoogland ◽  
Gareth R. Davies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Patterns ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Carbon And Oxygen Isotope ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Archaeological Reconstruction ◽  
Isotope Analyses

The European conquest and colonization of the Caribbean precipitated massive changes in indigenous cultures and societies of the region. One of the earliest changes was the introduction of new plant and animal foods and culinary traditions. This study presents the first archaeological reconstruction of indigenous diets and foodways in the Caribbean spanning the historical divide of 1492. We use multiple isotope datasets to reconstruct these diets and investigate the potential relationships between dietary and mobility patterns at multiple scales. Dietary patterns are assessed by isotope analyses of different skeletal elements from the archaeological skeletal population of El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba. This approach integrates carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone and dentine collagen with carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of bone and enamel apatite. The isotope results document extreme intrapopulation dietary heterogeneity but few systematic differences in diet between demographic/social groups. Comparisons with published isotope data from other precolonial and colonial period populations in the Caribbean indicate distinct dietary and subsistence practices at El Chorro de Maíta. The majority of the local population consumed more animal protein resources than other indigenous populations in the Caribbean, and their overall dietary patterns are more similar to colonial period enslaved populations than to indigenous ones.

Caribbean

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Antczak ◽  
Andrzej Antczak
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rare Finding ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Southern Caribbean ◽  
The Caribbean

Pottery figurines made by the indigenous peoples in precolonial times have been a relatively rare finding in the Caribbean. A few dozen recovered across the Greater and Lesser Antilles cannot ‘compete’ with the thousands known from the neighbouring mainland. The lack of sound contextual and chronological data has severely limited the role of figurines in the pageant of the region’s past. Rarely addressed in the archaeological literature, figurines have been the focus of scant substantial research. This chapter examines what is currently known about precolonial figurines in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and on the Southern Caribbean islands. It discusses the precolonial archaeology of the region in order to facilitate the overview of figurines which follows. The case studies are ordered diachronically and include Puerto Rico, Cuba, St Lucia, and the Los Roques Archipelago. Existing figurine interpretations are addressed and the chapter concludes with suggestions for future research.

Paleomagnetic and structural study of the NEastern Caribbean plate as mean to give paleogeographic constrains for fauna dispersal.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leny Montheil ◽  
Douwe Van Hinsbergen ◽  
Philippe Münch ◽  
Pierre Camps ◽  
Mélody Philippon
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Caribbean Plate ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
The Caribbean

<p>Since the Eocene, the northeastern corner of the Caribbean plate is shaped by the indentation of the buoyant Bahamas platform with the Greater Caribbean Arc, the suture of a portion of the Antillean subduction zone along Cuba and Hispaniola and the subsequent relocation of the plate boundary along the strike slip Cayman Trough. Puzzlingly enough, these major re-arrangements followed a plate motion reorganization (Boschmann et al., 2014). During this kinematic reorganization, the Lesser Antilles trench initiated (or subduction intensified) along the eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate and progressively bent, resulting in an increase of subduction obliquity from south to north (Philippon et al., 2020a). This curvature has been, and still may be, associated with deformation within the Caribbean plate. Interestingly, in the 10-15 Ma following the plate reorganization, a hypothetical, now submerged “landbridge” allowed the dispersion of terrestrial fauna from South America to the Greater Antilles: the GAARlandia landbridge (land of Greater Antilles and Aves Ridge). Although it has been recently shown that Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles where connected once forming a land mass called GrANoLA around 33-35 Ma (Philippon et al., 2020b), these rapids and drastics geodynamical changes may have impacted the regional paleogeography, which remains to be constrained. The intraplate deformation in the north-est Caribbean region associated with the plate reorganization, the Bahamas indentation, and the plate boundary curvature likely hold the key to (part of) the evolution of this landbridge.<br>At present day, the N-Eastern border of the Caribbean plate shows parallel to the trench faults dissecting the plate in a sliver-like manner. This “sliver” is cross cutted by perpendicular to the trench faults in four crustal blocks: Gonave, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles. Present-day and past kinematics of these blocks, and even their existence, are still debated.</p><p>In this study, in the course of the French GAARAnti project, we focus on paleomagnetically determined vertical axis rotations that affected Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles blocks since the Eocene, and use these to inform kinematic reconstructions constrained by regional structural analysis and Ar<sup>40</sup>-Ar<sup>39</sup> geochronology. These reconstructions will be used to refine the paleogeographic evolution of the NEastern edge of the Caribbean plate since the Eocene in order test the GAARlandia hypothesis.</p><p>A new set of paleomagnetic data (180 Oligo-Miocene specimens of sediments sampled in 18 sites) indicates that the Puerto Rico block underwent an early to mid-Miocene 10° counterclockwise (CCW) rotation. This result clearly differs from those of Reid et al., 1991 who concluded a Late Miocene 25° CCW rotation and that is currently used by the community to interpret the tectonic history of the northeastern Caribbean plate. The use of a larger dataset, that geographically covers the entire island, and of a more recent reference frame explain the difference observed between the two results. This new result will lead to a re-interpretation of the tectonic evolution of the region that will be integrated in a regional kinematic reconstruction.</p>

scholarly journals Verification of an Archaic Age Occupation on Barbados, Southern Lesser Antilles

Radiocarbon ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
South America ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Carbonate Cement ◽  
Queen Conch ◽  
Active Volcanism ◽  
Ceramic Age ◽  
Juvenile Specimen ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Conch Shell

The Caribbean Archaic Age (about 3000–500 BC) is thought to represent the earliest migration of humans from South America into the Lesser Antilles. However, there is a conspicuous absence of these early sites on islands south of the Guadeloupe Passage. To date, only a single radiocarbon date derived from a Queen conch (Strombus [Eustrombus] gigas) shell at the Heywoods site on Barbados was indicative of an Archaic occupation in the southern Antilles apart from a scattering of poorly reported (and mostly undated) sites. Given a number of issues associated with reliance on a single date to establish a cultural horizon, along with other problems derived from possible carbonate cement contamination and dating marine shells of a longer-lived species such as Queen conch, 2 additional samples were taken from the same unit and context at Heywoods to confirm whether the site is truly representative of an occupation during the Archaic Age. Results from a Queen conch shell adze in Context 7 dated to 2530–2200 BC (2 σ) and overlaps with the only other Archaic date from the site dating to 2320–1750 cal BC, while a juvenile specimen of the same species from Context 8 at 3280–2940 BC (2 σ) indicates that Barbados may have been settled even earlier. This suggests that Heywoods may be the oldest site between Trinidad and Puerto Rico. While further confirmation is required, these new dates have implications for understanding the nature of migratory ventures in the Caribbean, such as whether the “Southward Route” hypothesis—which postulates that earlier migration events from South America during the Ceramic Age (beginning ∼500 BC) initially bypassed the southern Lesser Antilles—also applies to the Archaic, and if other phenomena such as active volcanism may have played a role in structuring settlement patterns. Questions also remain as to why Heywoods does not exhibit the typical lithic Archaic tool kit.

Geology and hydrogeology of the Caribbean islands aquifer system of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Renken ◽  
W. C. Ward ◽  
I.P. Gill ◽  
Fernando Gómez-Gómez ◽  
Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The U.S

Leishmania spp. and leishmaniasis on the Caribbean islands

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoqun Yao
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Sand Fly ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Leishmania Spp ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Sand Fly Vectors

Abstract The kinetoplastid protozoan Leishmania spp. cause leishmaniasis, which clinically exhibit mainly as a cutaneous, mucocutanous or visceral form depending upon the parasite species in humans. The disease is widespread geographically, leading to 20 000 annual deaths. Here, leishmaniases in both humans and animals, reservoirs and sand fly vectors on the Caribbean islands are reviewed. Autochthonous human infections by Leishmania spp. were found in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as Trinidad and Tobago; canine infections were found in St. Kitts and Grenada; and equine infections were found in Puerto Rico. Imported human cases have been reported in Cuba. The parasites included Leishmania amazonensis, Le. martiniquensis and Le. waltoni. Possible sand fly vectors included Lutzomyia christophei, Lu. atroclavatus, Lu. cayennensis and Lu. flaviscutellata as well as Phlebotomus guadeloupensis. Reservoirs included rats, rice rats and mouse opossum. An updated study is warranted for the control and elimination of leishmaniasis in the region because some of the data are four decades old.

Systematics and conservation of an endemic radiation of Accipiter hawks in the Caribbean islands

The Auk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese A Catanach ◽  
Matthew R Halley ◽  
Julie M Allen ◽  
Jeff A Johnson ◽  
Russell Thorstrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Reciprocal Monophyly ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Mitochondrial Haplotypes ◽  
Accipiter Striatus ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract More than one-third of the bird species found in the Caribbean are endemic to a set of neighboring islands or a single island. However, we have little knowledge of the evolutionary history of the Caribbean avifauna, and the lack of phylogenetic studies limits our understanding of the extent of endemism in the region. The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) occurs widely across the Americas and includes 3 endemic Caribbean taxa: venator on Puerto Rico, striatus on Hispaniola, and fringilloides on Cuba. These island populations have undergone extreme declines presumably due to ecosystem changes caused by anthropogenic factors, as well as due to severe hurricanes. Sharp-shinned Hawks, in general, and Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks, in particular, have not been placed in a modern phylogenetic context. However, the island taxa have historically been presumed to have some ongoing gene flow with mainland populations. Here we sequenced ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and their flanking regions from 38 samples, focusing on Caribbean taxa. Using a combination of UCEs, mitochondrial genome sequences, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships among Caribbean lineages and their relationships to mainland taxa. We found that Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks are reciprocally monophyletic in all datasets with regard to mainland populations and among island taxa (with no shared mtDNA haplotypes) and that divergence in the NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene (ND2) between these mainland and island groups averaged 1.83%. Furthermore, sparse non-negative matrix factorization (sNMF) analysis indicated that Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and mainland samples each form separate populations with limited admixture. We argue that our findings are consistent with the recognition of the 3 resident Caribbean populations as species-level taxa because nuclear and mitochondrial genetic data indicate reciprocal monophyly and have species-level divergences, there is no sharing of mitochondrial haplotypes among or between island taxa and those on the mainland; and they are diagnosable by plumage.

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