The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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hatching (Figure 12.5c), and closely spaced parallel incisions placed along the top edge of the rim to create a serrated effect (Figure 12.5b, d). The collection also contains one example of a thicker, more massive decorated rim, characteristic of the variant Montego Bay style (Howard 1950, 144–45). It has incised oblique parallel lines running down from the rim to the shoulder. Finally, there is one sherd that has a perforation between the appliquéd shoulder ridges below the rim (Figure 12.5f ). This perforation appears to be utilitarian in nature, permitting the bowl to be suspended (ibid., 151). Excavations at other Taíno sites on Jamaica have demonstrated that although plain rounded rims are always present in greater numbers, there is a tendency in the later levels towards an increase in the number of filleted rims ( James W. Lee, personal communication, 1984). Of the rims from Sevilla la Nueva, 56.14 per cent are plain, 36.84 per cent are filleted and 7.02 per cent are decorated (Woodward 1988, 103). Based on this collection of Taíno ceramics excavated by Cotter from the fortress, there is no evidence that the indigenous ceramic style went through a phase of simplification in form or degradation of quality, as has been documented at contact-period colonial sites in Cuba, Haiti and Nueva Cadiz (Willis 1976, 143; Deagan 1983, 295). The Cotter collection includes three round, plain-rimmed bowls, two of which have distinct shoulders and polished exteriors. These bowls (the largest of which is illustrated in Figure 12.3b) have diameters of 16.5 cm, 23 cm and 32 cm. The bottom of the smallest bowl has been blackened from use over a fire. The large fragment belonging to a boat-shaped bowl (Figure 12.3a) has a filleted rim and an upraised prow at the remaining end. The incised wedge knobs on either side of this prow are its only form of decoration. The presence of smoke patches on the lower regions of this bowl indicates that it was also used for cooking. Figure 12.4 Rim profiles a f c j a c Figure 12.5 Decorated rim sherds g 0 5 cm e b d b h d 0 5 cm e i TAÍNO C ERAMICS FROM P OST-CONTACT J AMAICA 167
Figure 12.6 Spouted bowl early middle terminal 0 5 cm Figure 12.7 Taíno water bottle cm The collection contains one round, singlespouted inhaling bowl (Figure 12.6) that is a unique example of this vessel form in Jamaica (Lee, personal communication, 1984). It is generally accepted that the spout would have acted as an inhaling device and that these bowls were used in the ritual inhaling of cohobas, hallucinogenic powders (Kaye, 1999, 59). Taíno ritual paraphernalia is commonly decorated with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic imagery, and in the inverted position this small bowl resembles a turtle. Turtles feature prominently in the creation myths of the Taíno (ibid., 65). Other ceremonial Taíno artefacts such as zemís (statuettes), duhos (ceremonial chairs) and vomitive spatulas are commonly found in ritual settings, such as cave burials, where access is controlled and limited to those of high social standing in the community. Inhaling bowls, however, have most frequently been found in domestic midden burials, perhaps demonstrating a wider participation in ritual activity than previously believed (ibid., 61). Figure 12.7 depicts the well-defined neck and spout of a Taíno water bottle found at the Spanish fortress. Although no precise chronological sequence has been developed for these bottles, it is thought that the neck and spout became more pronounced during this terminal period (Lee, personal communication, 1984). Water bottles were typically well fired on the outside, but due to their small aperture, their interior surfaces were poorly finished. Sixteen fragments of Taíno cassava griddles, or buréns, were present in the assemblage. These are flat, circular platters, 30 to 60 cm in diameter, made of very coarse tempered earthenware. These clay platters are typically suspended on rocks above a fire. The Jamaican buréns usually have a smooth upper surface that at times may have been burnished, and a rough, heavily pitted underside. The griddle fragments ranged from 12.2 to 22.5 cm in thickness. Owing to the fact that these thick buréns 168 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
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19.375 19.275 1 CHANCERY HALL, JAMA
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Appendix A Laboratory Study of the
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Table 3.1 All Recovered Organic Mat
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of slim, more or less parallel shap
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Table 3.5 Fish Bone Anatomical Part
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66 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS Surv
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Acknowledgements Thanks are due to
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SOUTH NEGRIL POINT Savannala-Mar Mo
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sudden event. Occupation 3 can be c
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dle, a ground stone artefact that m
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- infrastructural development throu
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emoval. Sometimes what is required
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Figure 5.1 Road cutting through the
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Later on the Spanish settled in the
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Figure 5.4 Long Mountain prior to d
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86 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS amon
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6 Notes on the Natural History of J
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Soils Several different soil types
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Shoreline On the north coast, there
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well established, especially in dis
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7 The Exploitation and Transformati
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Art Art can be religious, functiona
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of Long Mountain”, Andreas Oberli
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Figure 7.3 William Keegan explainin
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cedar (Cedrela odorata), santa mari
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According to Rouse, the density of
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17), grows abundantly on the island
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Incidental Dispersal The plant comp
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8 Early Arawak Subsistence Strategi
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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
Page 174 and 175: Handles Handles may be classified i
Page 176 and 177: Two more or less spheroidal pottery
Page 178 and 179: 12 Taíno Ceramics from Post-Contac
Page 180 and 181: and distribution of native labour w
Page 182 and 183: Figure 12.2 Distribution of New Sev
Page 186 and 187: were fired at a low temperature, th
Page 188 and 189: Figure 12.11 New Seville ware: jug
Page 190 and 191: ters of the caciques. These politic
Page 192 and 193: Section 4 Taíno Art Forms ART IS A
Page 194 and 195: 13 The Petroglyphs of Jamaica J AME
Page 196 and 197: previously described petroglyphs ex
Page 198 and 199: glyphs in that belt, as the geologi
Page 200 and 201: Another carving that is unique is t
Page 202 and 203: Appendix Table 13.2 Jamaican Petrog
Page 204 and 205: 14 Zemís, Trees and Symbolic Lands
Page 206 and 207: According to Arrom and Rouse (1992)
Page 208 and 209: The Context of Sacredness Taíno wo
Page 210 and 211: Kept in niches or on tables within
Page 212 and 213: Another important correspondence be
Page 214 and 215: eliefs in the spiritual and life-gi
Page 216 and 217: References Aarons, G.A. 1983a. Arch
Page 218 and 219: Smithsonian Biological Survey of Do
Page 220 and 221: ———. 1988. Ulysses’ Sail: A
Page 222 and 223: ———. 1983b. Adornos, Jamaica
Page 224 and 225: Porro, A. 1994. Social organization
Page 226 and 227: Scudder, S. 1992. Early Arawak subs
Page 228 and 229: Wing, E.S., and A.B. Brown. 1979. P
Page 230 and 231: Rouse, I. 1982. Ceramic and religio
Page 232: M. John Roobol, is a consultant geo
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The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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