The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

triangular ridges. It is thought that the shape of the turtle may have inspired
the oval or boat-shaped vessels; the Taíno esteemed the turtle and used turtle
motifs extensively as adornment on their pottery.
In contrast, the round bowls were modelled in a form similar to the calabash,
sometimes with only one end elevated (Figure 10.3). Often when terminal
handles are absent, the stems of the vessels, like those of the
boat-shaped bowls, are worked into slightly thickened
triangular ridges. Both round and oval bowls
have symmetrically rounded bottoms and frequently
have distinctive shoulders. With or without a shoulder,
the sides of these bowls invariably curve
inwards towards the rim so that the opening is
smaller than the greatest diameter. A vessel of this
shape is commonly referred to as a carinated bowl.
Carination is an angular bending used to turn pots
sharply inwards or create a constricted mouth with
inward-curving shoulders.
The bowls were made for several purposes: some
were used for cooking and serving and others as eating vessels. Others were
specifically made for sniffing during zemí worship. Some bore complex
designs and are thought to have been used for preparation of food during a ritual
or as a burial offering. Other pottery items include bottles, effigy vessels,
carafes, funerary urns and buréns for baking cassava bread. The functions of
these vessels, however, do not appear to have a strict morphological correlation.
Many types of vessels were smoothed on the outside, indicating their use
as cooking pots. Variations in depth suggest possible differences in function.
Taíno potters also made body stamps. The Taínos did not wear much clothing;
instead they decorated their bodies with designs using pottery stamps
coated with red, white and black pigments obtained from plants and coloured
clays.
We believe that the most intricate objects were made by women who were
receptive to new ideas, drawing on traditions from their own society and fusing
them with elements of Jamaican life into something unique. The
autochthonous Taíno people sought out influences from the environment that
would lead them through to their own creative trajectory.
Figure 10.3 Round
vessel. (Institute of
Jamaica Collection.)
Surface Decoration
The most distinguishing feature of Taíno pottery is its surface decoration,
which incorporated incising, punctuation, modelling and other techniques
to produce designs of parallel and curved lines, spirals, cross-hatching and
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