The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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7 The Exploitation and Transformation of Jamaica’s Natural Vegetation L ESLEY-GAIL ATKINSON NATURAL VEGETATION IS influenced largely by topography, climate and precipitation. At present, forests occupy over 265,000 hectares or 24 per cent of Jamaica’s total land mass (NRCA/NEPA/MLE 2001, 10). The island has an estimated 3,304 species of vascular plants, of which 923 (27.9 per cent) are endemic (ibid., 9). From an archaeological perspective, a limited amount of work has been done with regard to environmental studies of the island and the reconstruction of the natural vegetation. The vegetation of Jamaica has undergone changes since the first human occupation of the island, more than thirteen centuries ago. All the major racial/ethnic groups that have inhabited the island have contributed to the island’s present vegetation, as John Rashford (1991) discusses in his article “Arawak, Spanish and African Contributions to Jamaica’s Settlement Vegetation”. In it, Rashford applies the concept of human selective pressures to the Taínos. The Taínos were the first to have assisted in the transformation of the vegetation, whether deliberately or inadvertently. This chapter demonstrates the Taínos’ impact on Jamaican vegetation and discusses the archaeological and ethnographic evidence for their utilization of endemic, indigenous and introduced flora, in particular the cassava (Manihot esculenta). Evidence of Flora Palaeoethnobotany refers to the analysis and interpretation of archaeobotanical remains to elucidate the interaction between human populations and plants (Hastorf and Popper 1988, ix). Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn (2000) describe several different methods in which archaeologists derive informa- 97
tion from plants, with the objectives of reconstructing the plant environment and determining subsistence and diet, evidence of trade and various ways in which societies utilize flora. Useful indicators for examination and analysis include macrobotanical remains, microbotanical remains, associated artefacts, art, and historical and ethnographic texts. Macrobotanical Remains The analysis of macrobotanical remains includes the study of seeds and fruits, plant residues and charcoal (Renfrew and Bahn 2000, 244–46). In Jamaica, faunal analysis has significantly overshadowed floral analysis. The excavations at White Marl, St Catherine, and Chancery Hall, St Andrew, highlight the importance of the recovery and analysis of faunal remains. The recovery of macrobotanical remains has been largely limited to the collection of charcoal, primarily for dating purposes. For example, a charcoal sample from Chancery Hall dated the site AD 1260 ± 50 (Lechler 2000, 11). The excavations conducted by Bill Keegan at Paradise Park, Westmoreland, have encouraged the recovery of macrobotanical remains from Taíno sites in an effort to reconstruct the natural environment. Microbotanical Remains The examination of microbotanical remains includes the analysis of pollen, phytoliths, fossil cuticles and plant DNA (Renfrew and Bahn 2000, 239–44). Unfortunately, to date there is no evidence that analysis of microbotanical remains has been conducted in the island. Associated Artefacts Tools associated with certain activities can be useful indicators of plant use. According to Renfrew and Bahn, tools can prove or at least suggest that plants were processed at a site, and on rare occasions may indicate the species and the use that was made of it (2000, 276). However, in the absence of supporting evidence, such as remains of domesticated plants, associated artefacts are inadequate indicators of such features (ibid.). Some artefacts are multifunctional, and without supporting evidence it is difficult to determine what function or activity was performed at the specific site. In Jamaica, there are many artefacts associated with plant use that have been found across the island, and these objects can at least be used as possible evidence. 98 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS
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The Earliest Inhabitants
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University of the West Indies Press
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Contents List of Illustrations / ix
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Illustrations A.1 Map of the sites
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13.2 Petroglyphs from Coventry and
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Preface I HAVE ALWAYS been fascinat
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Acknowledgements I WOULD FIRST like
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Introduction IN JAMAICA, THE indige
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encounter the term Arawaks used to
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90. Long Acre Point 91. Long Mounta
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ical publication in Jamaica. Geolog
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collections. Knowledge of the prove
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Section 1 Assessment and Excavation
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objective by using a frame of refer
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16 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS two
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18 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS fact
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20 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS the
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22 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS deco
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Howard (1965) recognized that Redwa
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people making Ostionan (Redware) po
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was the recovery of the Aboukir zem
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Appendix Table 1.1 Midden Sites Rep
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Table 1.2 Cave Sites Reported by Ro
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2 The Taíno Settlement of the King
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Henderson Hill lies to the south, o
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ivalves. Single gastropod valves we
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40 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS Taí
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Table 2.2 Neutron Activation Analys
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Plain may have played a role in the
Page 63 and 64: Table 2.3. Taíno Sites in the King
Page 65 and 66: contractors to drill and blast for
Page 67 and 68: chipped away. It is believed that t
Page 69 and 70: Figure 3.4 JNHT excavations at Chan
Page 71 and 72: Test Pit 6 Depth 40 cm. This is a s
Page 73 and 74: 19.375 19.275 1 CHANCERY HALL, JAMA
Page 75 and 76: Appendix A Laboratory Study of the
Page 77 and 78: Table 3.1 All Recovered Organic Mat
Page 79 and 80: of slim, more or less parallel shap
Page 81 and 82: Table 3.5 Fish Bone Anatomical Part
Page 83 and 84: 66 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS Surv
Page 85 and 86: Acknowledgements Thanks are due to
Page 87 and 88: SOUTH NEGRIL POINT Savannala-Mar Mo
Page 89 and 90: sudden event. Occupation 3 can be c
Page 91 and 92: dle, a ground stone artefact that m
Page 93 and 94: - infrastructural development throu
Page 95 and 96: emoval. Sometimes what is required
Page 97 and 98: Figure 5.1 Road cutting through the
Page 99 and 100: Later on the Spanish settled in the
Page 101 and 102: Figure 5.4 Long Mountain prior to d
Page 103 and 104: 86 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS amon
Page 106 and 107: 6 Notes on the Natural History of J
Page 108 and 109: Soils Several different soil types
Page 110 and 111: Shoreline On the north coast, there
Page 112 and 113: well established, especially in dis
Page 116 and 117: Art Art can be religious, functiona
Page 118 and 119: of Long Mountain”, Andreas Oberli
Page 120 and 121: Figure 7.3 William Keegan explainin
Page 122 and 123: cedar (Cedrela odorata), santa mari
Page 124 and 125: According to Rouse, the density of
Page 126 and 127: 17), grows abundantly on the island
Page 128 and 129: Incidental Dispersal The plant comp
Page 130 and 131: 8 Early Arawak Subsistence Strategi
Page 132 and 133: and bagged by level. In April of 19
Page 134 and 135: Table 8.1 Significant Vertebrate an
Page 136 and 137: tory and habitat preferences. Follo
Page 138 and 139: Changing Subsistence Strategies The
Page 140 and 141: Table 8.2 Faunal Comparisons: Per c
Page 142 and 143: Appendix Table 8.3 Rodney’s House
Page 144 and 145: Table 8.3 Rodney’s House Faunal L
Page 146 and 147: Section 3 Analysis of Taíno Archae
Page 148 and 149: 9 Petrography and Source of Some Ar
Page 150 and 151: The results discussed here were obt
Page 152 and 153: Petaloid Axes of Arawak Origin from
Page 154 and 155: Blue Schist The story of Jamaican b
Page 156 and 157: Coleraine) but also from other majo
Page 158 and 159: from which several Jamaican artefac
Page 160 and 161: in a lack of suitable rocks, so tha
Page 162 and 163: A surprising conclusion of the pres
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Figure 10.1 Redware, White Marl and
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triangular ridges. It is thought th
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(also see Figure 10.6), loop handle
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11 Jamaican Redware J AMES W. LEE A
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only if planted at exactly the corr
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Handles Handles may be classified i
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Two more or less spheroidal pottery
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12 Taíno Ceramics from Post-Contac
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and distribution of native labour w
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Figure 12.2 Distribution of New Sev
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hatching (Figure 12.5c), and closel
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were fired at a low temperature, th
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Figure 12.11 New Seville ware: jug
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ters of the caciques. These politic
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Section 4 Taíno Art Forms ART IS A
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13 The Petroglyphs of Jamaica J AME
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previously described petroglyphs ex
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glyphs in that belt, as the geologi
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Another carving that is unique is t
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Appendix Table 13.2 Jamaican Petrog
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14 Zemís, Trees and Symbolic Lands
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According to Arrom and Rouse (1992)
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The Context of Sacredness Taíno wo
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Kept in niches or on tables within
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Another important correspondence be
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eliefs in the spiritual and life-gi
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References Aarons, G.A. 1983a. Arch
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Smithsonian Biological Survey of Do
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———. 1988. Ulysses’ Sail: A
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———. 1983b. Adornos, Jamaica
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Porro, A. 1994. Social organization
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Scudder, S. 1992. Early Arawak subs
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Wing, E.S., and A.B. Brown. 1979. P
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Rouse, I. 1982. Ceramic and religio
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M. John Roobol, is a consultant geo
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