Pre-Columbian Jamaica (Caribbean Archaeology and Ethnohistory)

337 Pages·2008·2.68 MB·English

by  Philip Allsworth-Jones

PRE-COLUMBIAN JAMAICA
CARIBBEAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOHISTORY
L. Antonio Curet, Series Editor
PRE- COLUMBIAN JAMAICA
P. ALLSWORTH- JONES
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2008
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Front cover image: Anthropomorphic design on pottery from Round Hill (C1)
in the Lee Collection; drawing by Audrey Wiles.
Back cover image: Depiction of owl- like creature overlooking the northern
entrance to the Warminster rock shelter (Panel 7, EC15), St. Elizabeth Parish, as
traced by Ivor Conolley and Jannie Loubser and re- drawn by Jannie Loubser in
2005 (scale equals 3 cm).
Typeface: AGarmond
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences- Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Allsworth- Jones, P. (Philip)
Pre- Columbian Jamaica / P. Allsworth- Jones.
p. cm. — (Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-1596-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-1596-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5466-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-5466-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Indians of the West Indies—
Jamaica. 2. Excavations (Archaeology)—Jamaica. 3. Jamaica— Antiquities.
I. Title.
F1875.A44 2008
′
972.9201—dc22
2007029364
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xi
The Lee Collection CD- ROM Inventory xiii
1. Introduction 1
2. History of Investigation 8
3. General Frameworks for Caribbean Prehistory 32
4. Environment, Fauna, and Flora 46
5. Nature of the Collection 61
6. Mapping the Sites 75
7. Cultural Variants 84
8. Petroglyphs and Pictographs 104
9. Excavated Sites and Fauna 111
10. Burials and Human Remains 124
11. Conclusion 132
Appendix A. List of Principal Excavated Sites in Jamaica 135
Appendix B. Complete List of Sites by Parish with Lee Codes 189
Appendix C. List of Appendixes in the CD- ROM 195
Journal of
Appendix D. Aboriginal Indian Remains in Jamaica by J. E. Duerden.
the Institute of Jamaica,
1897 199
References Cited 287
Index 309

List of Illustrations
Figures
1. Jamaican parishes and Lee codes. 4
2. Vanderwal’s mode stratifi cation: South Coast. 18
3. Vanderwal’s mode stratifi cation: North Coast. 18
4. Advance of the Ceramic/ Archaic–age frontier through the Caribbean
(adapted from Rouse, 1992). 34
5. Chronology of the peoples and cultures in the Bahamian Archipelago and the
Greater Antilles (adapted from Rouse, 1992). 35
6. Jamaican topography, elevations, and main mountain ranges. 47
7. Twenty drainage basins as defi ned by the National Atlas of
Jamaica (1971). 48
8. Jamaican geology, blocks, and belts. 50
9. Decorative techniques table. 63
10. Vessel shapes (after Shepard, 1956). 65
11. Artifacts from Redware sites (M4, M11, E4, E5, EC10). 68
12. Stone artifacts (S2, T5, E5, Endeavour, Content). 69
13. Stone artifacts (A20, C12, S1, S12, Y21, Gibraltar, Pepper). 70
14. Stone, shell, and earthenware artifacts
(C1, C7, S1, S8, S12, T1, Y4, Y21, 012). 71
15. Pottery, earthenware, and shell artifacts
(A4, A16, A47, C1, H13, J1, J10, M1, S12, Y14). 72
viii / Illustrations
16. Sketch plan of Round Hill, Clarendon (C1). 77
17. All mapped sites: Middens and caves. 79
18. Elevation and distance from the sea: All mapped sites. 81
19. Areas (m2) for all midden sites; length and breadth (m) for
14 middens in Clarendon. 83
20. Redware handle types according to Lee. 85
21. Great Pedro Bay (E4): Pottery characteristics. 88
22. The Montego Bay style (J1, J3, E2). 90
23. Fairfi eld (J3): Pottery characteristics. 91
24. The Port Morant style (O17, O18). 93
25. Spanish Wood (O2): Pottery characteristics. 94
26. White Marl (S1): Pottery characteristics. 96
27. Calibrated 14C age dispersion diagram: Annotto Bay and White Marl. 102
28. Faunal remains (MNI) and environments: North Coast. 114
29. Faunal remains (MNI) and environments: South Coast. 114
30. Identifi ed animal bones in the Lee Collection. 122
31. Identifi ed mollusks in the Lee Collection. 123
Tables
1. Sites Excavated by Vanderwal. 19
2. Some Taíno, Island- Carib, and Lokono Cognates. 44
3. Statistical Categories for Middens. 80
4. Middens: Mean Elevation and Distance from the Sea. 80
5. Middens: Mean Length, Breadth, and Area. 82
6. Sixteen Radiocarbon Dates and Calibrated Date Ranges for White Marl
and Related Sites. 99
7. Fourteen Radiocarbon Dates and Calibrated Date Ranges for Green Castle
and Related Sites. 100
8. Calibrated Age Dispersion Figures for Annotto Bay and White Marl. 101
9. Jamaican Sites Categorized by Cultural Variant and Type. 103
10. Terrestrial and Marine Shells from Upton and Rodney’s House. 118
11. Terrestrial and Marine Shells from Cinnamon Hill and Bellevue. 119
12. Burials Recorded in Jamaican Middens. 127
Illustrations / ix
13. Identifi ed Human Bones in the Lee Collection. 129
14. Radiocarbon Dates for Cinnamon Hill. 151
15. Bottom Bay Artifacts as Classifi ed by Vanderwal. 159
16. Radiocarbon Dates for Middens 2 and 3 at White Marl. 164
17. Radiocarbon Dates for Trench A at White Marl. 165
18. Radiocarbon Dates for Trench B at White Marl. 165
19. Fauna from Rodney’s House in Terms of Resource Use Areas. 171
20. Radiocarbon Dates from Green Castle Southern Trench. 181
21. Radiocarbon Dates from Green Castle Mid Trench. 181
22. Radiocarbon Dates from Newry. 184
23. Comparison of Faunal Remains from Four Archaeological Sites in Jamaica
(after E. S. Wing, 1972 and 1977). 185
24. Cinnamon Hill (J10) Faunal List ( NISP/ MNI) Designations 1–8
(after K. F. Johnson, 1976). 186
25. Rodney’s House (S5) Vertebrates and Crabs MNI
(modifi ed after S. Scudder, 1992). 187