The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino
by Lesley-Gail Atkinson
by Lesley-Gail Atkinson
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4<br />
Excavations at Green<br />
Castle, St Mary<br />
P HILIP<br />
and<br />
A LLSWORTH-JONES<br />
K IT<br />
W ESLER<br />
A JAMAICAN TAÍNO archaeological project was initiated in<br />
1998 as a joint programme <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> History (University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
West Indies, Mona) and <strong>the</strong> Wickliffe Mounds Research Centre (Murray<br />
State University, Kentucky). <strong>The</strong> project is co-directed by Dr P. Allsworth-<br />
Jones and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor K.W. Wesler, and excavations have so far concentrated on<br />
<strong>the</strong> site <strong>of</strong> Green Castle, near Annotto Bay (St Mary), on <strong>the</strong> north coast <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> island. <strong>The</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> this chapter is to provide a brief account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
results achieved so far.<br />
Excavations at Green Castle<br />
Following a survey <strong>of</strong> available sites, it was decided that <strong>the</strong> joint University <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indies–Murray State University <strong>Jamaican</strong> Taíno archaeological project<br />
would concentrate first on excavations at Green Castle, and <strong>the</strong>se excavations<br />
ran for three seasons from 1999 to 2001. An advantage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site was<br />
that it appeared to be largely undisturbed, and it was thought that it would<br />
permit questions to be addressed concerning both <strong>the</strong> settlement structure and<br />
<strong>the</strong> exploitation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment by <strong>the</strong> pre-Columbian inhabitants. <strong>The</strong><br />
site was first reported by Ms Jean Crum-Ewing and was mapped by JamesLee<br />
in 1978 (Lee 1978b). <strong>The</strong> excavations were made possible thanks to <strong>the</strong> generous<br />
support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> landowner, Mr Duncan MacMillan, and <strong>the</strong> cooperation<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> general manager, Mr Robin Crum-Ewing. Financial support was<br />
provided both by <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indies and by Murray State<br />
Originally published in 2003, in Proceedings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nineteenth International Congress for<br />
Caribbean Archaeology, Aruba, 2001: 186–93.<br />
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