The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

Figure 7.3 William Keegan explaining the use of the wild cane to participants at the
Paradise Park 2002 excavations
Fernández de Oviedo (1959, 42): “The beds in which they sleep are called
hamacas [hammocks], which are pieces of well-woven cotton cloth. . . . On the
end they are covered with long cords made of cabuya (century plant) and of
henequén (sisal hemp).” Cabuya and henequén belong to the Agave species.
Cotton was also used for making fishing nets and other articles of domestic
use. A wooden spindle with a fishbone needle was found at Image Cave,
Manchester, and spindle whorls were recovered from the sites at Chancery
Hall, St Andrew, and Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth. These artefacts indicate
that cotton or other fibres were being woven at these sites. The cotton was
extracted from the pods and freed from the seeds; afterwards, it was pulled by
hand into a long, uneven, loose band. One end of this was fastened to the
hook or needle at the end of the spindle. Spindles were used in pairs and
were held between the thumb and one finger of the left hand. A spinning
and twisting motion produced cotton threads, which were then woven into
cloth.
Sven Lovén (1935) reported that Jamaica furnished cotton cloth and hammocks
to the islands of Cuba and Española [Hispaniola], which had been
Spanish already for some time. It was also said that the Jamaican Taínos made
sails for some Spanish ships (ibid.).
Abundant net sinkers were found across the island at Taíno sites such as
Harbour View, Kingston and St Andrew; Seville, St Ann; and Rio Nuevo, St
Mary (Figures 7.4 and 7.5). Net sinkers are inorganic evidence of fishing nets,
to which they were previously attached as weights. These nets would have
been made of cotton.
T HE E XPLOITATION AND T RANSFORMATION OF J AMAICA’ S N ATURAL V EGETATION
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