The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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environmental evidence. Chancery Hall has also produced the only radiocarbon date from the area, of 690 ± 50 BP (uncalibrated, which is equivalent to AD 1260 ± 50). Very little is known of the two burial caves (Beverly Hills and Dallas Castle), and the exact whereabouts of the second are not certain. Hope Mine certainly functioned as a source of galena until recently, and the locality was known to the Taínos, since pieces of this material, presumably prized for their decorative effect, have been found at both Bellevue and Chancery Hall. The wooden canoe is an unusual find quite unlike any of the others. It was discovered by National Water Commission (NWC) workmen in 1993–94 at the corner of Harbour and Pechon streets in downtown Kingston and is now in the custody of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It consists of a single piece of wood, is rounded at both ends and has a flat bottom with markings (presumably resulting from its construction) on both sides. It is considered to be of Taíno origin, but dating of the material, as well as full publication by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, is still awaited. A distinct pattern of settlement is apparent from the study of the map. One of the major open-air sites is at an altitude of more than 610 m, eight are more than 305 m, and nine are between 305 m and 61 m above sea level. The tendency to settle on hilltops is clear. The stray find of a petaloid celt from the former grounds of the Mona Great House, as well as that of the canoe near the present day shoreline, provides a hint, however, that the Liguanea Plain was not entirely neglected, and the people must have traversed it to collect the marine molluscs which they evidently so much enjoyed, as well as for other purposes. Analysis of Shells from Chancery Hall A small excavation took place at Chancery Hall on 12–13 April 1998 as a joint project between the University of the West Indies and the University of Leicester. Work was carried out in two lots. On lot 340, a 1-m 2 quadrant was excavated to a depth of 15 cm. Apart from shells, artefacts recovered included ninety-six potsherds and one limestone flake. In addition, a section was cut in lot 386, by the boundary wall between it and lot 340. Layer 3 contained abundant shells and artefacts comparable to those from the excavated quadrant. There were twenty-three potsherds, fifteen chert flakes and a limestone core. This study related to the totality of the molluscan material recovered at that time. Methods All material recovered from the site was washed and dried. Molluscs were counted, counts being based on apices for gastropods and umbones for T HE TAÍNO S ETTLEMENT OF THE K INGSTON A REA 37
ivalves. Single gastropod valves were counted as one (operculae were ignored), while bivalve valves were counted as 0.5 (thus reflecting the fact that each animal has two valves). Identification was based on standard texts (for example, Abbott 1954; Humfrey 1975; Warmke and Abbott 1961). We divide the material into two separate groups: terrestrial molluscs and marine molluscs. While marine molluscs must have been transported to the site, terrestrial molluscs may have lived on the site and may have had little value to the Taíno people. Results The results of mollusc identifications are presented in Table 2.1. Representative samples have been deposited in the Geological Museum, University of the West Indies, with catalogue numbers ranging from UWIGM.1999.5 to UWIGM.1999.44. Eighty-five per cent of the terrestrial gastropods on the site are represented by Pleurodonte lucerna (Müller). Eighteen species of marine bivalve and nine species of marine gastropod were identified from Chancery Hall. Only five of the marine species [Neritina (Vitta) reclivata (Say), N. (V.) piratica (Russell), Anadara ovalis (Bruguière), Chione intapurpurea (Conrad) and Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding)] are numerically important, accounting for 90 per cent of the total marine species recovered (Table 2.1). Discussion The concentration of shells on the Chancery Hall site is likely to reflect both the dietary preference of the Taíno people and the resources available to them. The five most abundant marine molluscs found on the site probably formed a significant part of their shellfish diet. The species of Neritina occur in brackish water on intertidal mudflats (Warmke and Abbott 1961, 50–51), while the bivalves A. ovalis and C. intapurpurea are semi-infaunal (partially buried) inhabitants of mudflats, and C. rhizophorae lives attached to mangrove roots. Kingston Harbour, with its protected mudflats and shallow water, is the main site on the central south coast of Jamaica where mudflat molluscs occur, and it seems likely that the Chancery Hall Taíno people collected their shellfish from these mudflats. The modern mudflat fauna in Kingston Harbour is dominated by abundant examples of N. virginea Linné and C. cancellata Linné, while N. (V.) piratica, N. (V.) reclivata, A. ovalis and C. intapurpurea are rare. The abundance of the latter four species on the Chancery Hall site suggests that at the time of 38 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS
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The Earliest Inhabitants
Page 5 and 6: University of the West Indies Press
Page 8 and 9: Contents List of Illustrations / ix
Page 10 and 11: Illustrations A.1 Map of the sites
Page 12 and 13: 13.2 Petroglyphs from Coventry and
Page 14 and 15: Preface I HAVE ALWAYS been fascinat
Page 16 and 17: Acknowledgements I WOULD FIRST like
Page 18 and 19: Introduction IN JAMAICA, THE indige
Page 20 and 21: encounter the term Arawaks used to
Page 22 and 23: 90. Long Acre Point 91. Long Mounta
Page 24 and 25: ical publication in Jamaica. Geolog
Page 26 and 27: collections. Knowledge of the prove
Page 28: Section 1 Assessment and Excavation
Page 31 and 32: objective by using a frame of refer
Page 33 and 34: 16 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS two
Page 35 and 36: 18 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS fact
Page 37 and 38: 20 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS the
Page 39 and 40: 22 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS deco
Page 41 and 42: Howard (1965) recognized that Redwa
Page 43 and 44: people making Ostionan (Redware) po
Page 45 and 46: was the recovery of the Aboukir zem
Page 47 and 48: Appendix Table 1.1 Midden Sites Rep
Page 49 and 50: Table 1.2 Cave Sites Reported by Ro
Page 51 and 52: 2 The Taíno Settlement of the King
Page 53: Henderson Hill lies to the south, o
Page 57 and 58: 40 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS Taí
Page 59 and 60: Table 2.2 Neutron Activation Analys
Page 61 and 62: Plain may have played a role in the
Page 63 and 64: Table 2.3. Taíno Sites in the King
Page 65 and 66: contractors to drill and blast for
Page 67 and 68: chipped away. It is believed that t
Page 69 and 70: Figure 3.4 JNHT excavations at Chan
Page 71 and 72: 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
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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
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Table 8.1 Significant Vertebrate an
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tory and habitat preferences. Follo
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Changing Subsistence Strategies The
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Table 8.2 Faunal Comparisons: Per c
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Appendix Table 8.3 Rodney’s House
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Table 8.3 Rodney’s House Faunal L
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Section 3 Analysis of Taíno Archae
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9 Petrography and Source of Some Ar
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The results discussed here were obt
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Petaloid Axes of Arawak Origin from
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Blue Schist The story of Jamaican b
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Coleraine) but also from other majo
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from which several Jamaican artefac
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in a lack of suitable rocks, so tha
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A surprising conclusion of the pres
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Figure 10.1 Redware, White Marl and
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triangular ridges. It is thought th
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(also see Figure 10.6), loop handle
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11 Jamaican Redware J AMES W. LEE A
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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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