The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

The Ostionoids undoubtedly sought to recreate a familiar environment in
their new home. The Taínos assisted in the transformation of Jamaica’s natural
forests into settlement vegetation by two main human selective pressures:
the impact on wild plants and the cultivation of domesticated and wild plants
(Rashford 1991, 18).
According to Rashford, there are three human responses to wild plants:
they are destroyed to make space, to remove interference and to create useful
products; they are tolerated when they do not interfere with human activities;
and when they are valued, they are protected and cultivated (ibid.). It is
believed that the Taínos removed and altered the natural vegetation in order
to establish settlements and areas for cultivation and to create useful products.
Settlements
When the Taínos’ predecessors arrived, they must have required space for
dwelling and other functions. It is logical to assume that the natural vegetation
was altered first along the coasts. There is a consensus among archaeologists
that the coast is generally settled first, and then expansions are made into
the interior. Presumably, the natural vegetation was removed at areas where
the newcomers wished to establish settlements.
The Ostionans – or, as they are locally known, the Redware culture – were
the first known inhabitants of Jamaica. They settled primarily on the south
coast, and in the interior of what is now the parish of St Ann (Lee 1980).
Examples of Redware sites in the island are Alligator Pond or Bottom Bay,
Manchester; Great Pedro Bay, St Elizabeth; Paradise Park, Westmoreland;
and Little River, St Ann. All of these sites are located within the coastal plain.
The Meillacan occupation of the island commenced around AD 900 and
continued to the point of European contact. The Meillacan distribution of
sites ranges from coastal settlements such as Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine,
to sites in the limestone hills and plateaus such as Mount Rosser, also in St
Catherine. Certain areas of the island contained nuclei of Taíno settlements,
as seen in the parishes of St Catherine, St Ann, St Mary and St James.
Cultivation
Agriculture was an important component of Taíno subsistence (and will be
discussed later in the section “Cultivation of wild and domesticated plants”).
Land would have been allocated for the cultivation of essential crops. Any disturbance
of the natural vegetation cover provides growth opportunities for
plants not normally dominant (Alexander 1969, 126). In “The Vascular Flora
100 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS