The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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According to Rouse, the density of Jamaica’s population suggests that its inhabitants practised the same advanced form of agriculture (conuco) as the Classic Taínos (1992, 18). Introduction of Flora Indigenous species are plants and animals that occur naturally in a particular country but may also be found elsewhere in the world. An endemic species is any plant or animal that is found only in a particular area (usually a country). For a small island, Jamaica has a high level of plant endemism; it been rated fifth among the world’s islands in terms of plant endemism (NRCA/NEPA/ MLE 2001, 9). Veloz Maggiolo refers to the Taínos’ use of the slash-and-burn technique. Since their ancestors brought their agricultural practices with them to the Caribbean, it is not far-fetched to assume that they, and the subsequent cultures, introduced domesticated flora into the islands. It is generally assumed that several species of plants which were of importance to the Taínos’ ancestors were carried to the islands. According to Rashford, the flora that the Taínos introduced into Jamaica was generally domesticated plants. This new flora was introduced by the Taínos to maintain their traditional lifestyles. The Taínos’ ancestors are said to have originated in the Amazon basin of South America (Keegan 1992), where many species, such as the cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta), were domesticated. South America was the probable centre of origin for the following cultivated plants: amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), common bean (Phaseolus spp.), manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Ipomoea batatas), cotton (Gossypium spp.), squash (Cucurbita maxima), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) (Scarre 1999, 78). The following is a list of flora introduced to Jamaica – these plants were neither endemic nor indigenous plants. Rashford states that these crops represent herbaceous plants, which require systematic cultivation (1991, 18). 1. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) 2. Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) 3. Yampi (Colocasia spp.) 4. Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) 5. Coco/Indian kale (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) 6. Maize (Zea mays) 7. Pineapple (Ananas comosus) 8. Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) 9. Squashes (Cucurbita maxima) T HE E XPLOITATION AND T RANSFORMATION OF J AMAICA’ S N ATURAL V EGETATION 107
10. Beans (Phaseolus spp.) 11. Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) According to ethnographic sources, the Taínos cultivated cassava, sweet potato, yampi, arrowroot, coco, maize, pineapple, peanuts, squash, beans and tobacco in their conucos or gardens. Fernández de Oviedo describes their cultivation of maize: In Hispaniola both the Indians and Spaniards have two kinds of bread, for the Christians eat the same bread as the Indians. One sort is made of maiz (maize), which is a grain, and the other is cassava, which is a root of the manioc. Corn is planted and harvested in the following manner....The Indians first cut down the cane and trees where they wish to plant it. After the trees have been felled and the field grubbed, the land is burned and the ashes left as a dressing for the soil. An Indian takes in his hand a stick (coa) as tall as he is, and plunges the point into the earth, then he pulls it out, and in the hole he has made places with his other hand about seven or eight grains of corn. Then he takes another step forward and repeats the process. (1959, 13–14) Fernández de Oviedo also states that when the Indians and Christians planted pineapples, they put them in regular rows like vine stalks in a vineyard (1959, 99). Cultivation of domesticated crops was clearly important to Taíno subsistence. Evidence of Cultivation: The Cassava Alexander (1969), in an article discussing evidence of plant domestication, states that the evidence can be divided into cultural and non-cultural. Direct cultural evidence includes precise literary references, drawings, paintings and carvings, specialized tools and cultivation systems. Indirect cultural evidence includes the actual remains of plant cultigens preserved by carbonization, matrix impressions, silica skeletons, and the bones, teeth, horns or antlers of animals (ibid.). In determining evidence of the domestication and cultivation of species, Alexander suggests that the crop be assessed in terms of the following factors: clearing of the land; preparation of the land; planting or sowing; harvesting; processing and storing; and cooking and preparations for eating. The Taínos’ prized crop was yuca, the cassava or manioc (henceforth referred to as cassava). Cassava was not indigenous to Jamaica. Angulo Váldes states that roots and tubers dominated rainforest farming on the mainland, where the main staple was cassava, which began to be used for bread around 2000 BC (Veloz Maggiolo 1997). There are two species of cassava – sweet and bitter. The latter is poisonous and, according to Fernández de Oviedo (1959, 108 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
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Table 2.3. Taíno Sites in the King
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contractors to drill and blast for
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chipped away. It is believed that t
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Figure 3.4 JNHT excavations at Chan
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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 114 and 115: 7 The Exploitation and Transformati
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 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
Page 164 and 165: Figure 10.1 Redware, White Marl and
Page 166 and 167: triangular ridges. It is thought th
Page 168 and 169: (also see Figure 10.6), loop handle
Page 170 and 171: 11 Jamaican Redware J AMES W. LEE A
Page 172 and 173: 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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The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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