First Identification of Sudoite in Caribbean Ceramic-Age Lapidary Craftsmanship

The study presented in chapter 9 focuses on inferring patterns of human mobility and diet in ancient Puerto Rico from multiple isotope evidence. Strontium isotope results from a recent long-term, inter-disciplinary research project investigating human paleomobility from a Circum-Caribbean perspective indicate that human migrations occurred at varying scales: intra-island, inter-island, and mainland-island over time. These data are combined with published bone carbon and nitrogen isotope data from various precolonial sites in the Antilles and newly generated enamel carbon isotope data to explore the possible relationships between geographic origins and dietary practices amongst indigenous populations of the Caribbean. The increased interpretative power of such an integrated, multiple isotope approach will be highlighted by focusing on a well-researched burial population from the multiple component, Ceramic Age site of Maisabel, Puerto Rico. The explicit combination of isotope results with archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence permits comparative analysis of local and migrant groups within this population, and a more nuanced exploration of individual geographic origins than would be possible based on a single isotope system alone. In combination, the inferred mobility and dietary patterns have important implications for various archaeological hypotheses, assumptions, and models concerning Caribbean prehistory at multiple spatial and social scales.

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Grenada and the Guianas: mainland connections and cultural resilience during the Caribbean Late Ceramic Age

World Archaeology ◽

10.1080/00438243.2019.1607544 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 651-675 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jonathan A. Hanna

Keyword(s):

Cultural Resilience ◽

Ceramic Age ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Guianas

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Dog burials associated with Human burials in the West Indies during the early pre-Columbian Ceramic Age (500 BC-600 AD)

Anthropozoologica ◽

10.5252/az2013n2a17 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 447-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Sandrine Grouard ◽

Sophia Perdikaris ◽

Karyne Debue

Keyword(s):

West Indies ◽

The West ◽

Ceramic Age ◽

Human Burials

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Island Rhythms: The Web of Social Relationships and Interaction Networks in the Lesser Antillean Archipelago between 400 B.C. and A.D. 1492

Latin American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/25478180 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 243-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Corinne L. Hofman ◽

Alistair J. Bright ◽

Arie Boomert ◽

Sebastiaan Knippenberg

Keyword(s):

Social Relationships ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Distribution Patterns ◽

Interaction Networks ◽

Careful Study ◽

Exchange Relationships ◽

Caribbean Islands ◽

Ceramic Age ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Web

The precolonial communities of the Caribbean archipelago were not insular. The discontinuous natural resource distribution, the maritime orientation of the Caribbean Amerindians, and the complexities of regional social interaction ensured that the precolonial Caribbean islandscape was dynamic and highly interconnected. This report explores the socicultural behavior and intercommunity exchange relationships of the inhabitants of the Lesser Antilles. It combines related archaeological case studies encompassing the procurement and exchange of: (1) raw materials and utilitarian goods with a wide spatial and social distribution, (2) goods with high stylistic visibility and presumed social function as markers of identity or status, and (3) prestige goods with profound ceremonial value. The study of these objects reveals overarching social and ideological dimensions to Caribbean life. Data suggest that social relationships manifest themselves at different levels and through distinct rhythms while taking on various material guises during the Ceramic age Amerindian occupation of the Caribbean islands (400 B.C. to A.D. 1492). While there is great potential in unraveling interaction networks through the careful study of distribution patterns, the incorporation of ethnohistoric and ethnographic information is imperative to elucidate the web of social relationships underlying these material manifestations.

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