The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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The Agents of Development and the Role of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust The Government of Jamaica, through various agencies, promotes development work in Jamaica. The three primary agencies concerned with development are as follows: 1. The Urban Development Corporation is a statutory body created by the Government of Jamaica primarily to ensure that development takes place in an orderly manner throughout Jamaica. 2. The National Works Agency, formerly the Public Works Department, concentrates on managing government infrastructure through maintenance and construction. 3. The National Housing Trust was established in 1975, mainly to accelerate housing development throughout the island. These agencies are the major players – through the Ministries of Transport and Works, Water and Housing, and Land and the Environment. There are other instrumental organizations, such as the Jamaica Bauxite Institute and the National Environment and Planning Agency, which also have input into development issues. Another organization that carries out real estate development is the National Housing Development Corporation, a merger of the Caribbean Housing Finance Corporation, the National Housing Corporation and Operation PRIDE. In addition, there are many private developers who handle the construction of housing schemes, hotels and resorts, and arterial and secondary roads. Agencies carrying out large-scale development are required to conduct an environmental impact assessment. This assessment will sometimes include a cultural history component or an archaeological impact assessment. The archaeological impact assessment will give an estimation of the impact this particular development will have on the archaeological heritage of the area in question. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is the government agency with the mandate of protecting the nation’s historic and archaeological heritage. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act of 1985 grants to this body the power to protect sites from inappropriate development. When the Jamaica National Heritage Trust is contacted, an archaeological impact assessment or a heritage survey is conducted and recommendations are made. Impact assessments were virtually nonexistent before the North Coast Highway project began in the late 1990s (Ainsley Henriques, personal communication, 2002). The Jamaica National Heritage Trust may recommend mitigation measures from a shift in the road alignment (so that the site can be spared if it is a significant find) to the initiation of rescue archaeology ahead of major soil T HE I MPACT OF L AND-BASED D EVELOPMENT ON TAÍNO A RCHAEOLOGY IN J AMAICA 77
emoval. Sometimes what is required is simple monitoring of the site when it is being cleared – if the nature of the site was not ascertained previously or its boundaries established (this is called a watching brief ). In general, developers have been hesitant to report findings of artefacts to the relevant authorities, as the result could mean losing work time and having their projects delayed while the site is surveyed or excavated. An impact assessment is seen by some as being time-consuming, a waste of money and an unnecessary hindrance to the work of developers. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust has been contacted on some occasions; however, in many instances work goes on without its knowledge, approval or recommendations (Dorrick Gray, personal communication, 2002). Another problem is that penalties for noncompliance are insufficient. A person who wilfully defaces, damages or destroys any national monument is guilty of an offence, and on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding J$40,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years – or both ( Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act 1985). The fine seems low in relation to the priceless nature of historic and archaeological sites. Many Taíno sites have already been destroyed, and many more sites unknown to researchers will continue to be destroyed as the bulldozers of development move in without the necessary and proper assessment of the land in question. The White Marl Taíno site in St Catherine is the only declared Taíno site in Jamaica (Roderick Ebanks and Lloyd Wright, personal communication, 2002). The Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act of 1985 gives the trust power to halt development through the issuance of preservation or declaration notices. This often occurs where there are visible structures remaining above the ground. However, the Taíno left no structures above the ground; the remnants of Taíno existence remain below the earth, and it is easier to destroy what is not seen. When structures are not present on a site, it is easier for developers to clear it. Soil removal on the 14.5-km Old Harbour Bypass led to the discovery of three Taíno sites. Many more Taíno sites were located along the North Coast highway route. These sites have been partially or completely destroyed. Sites, once destroyed, are irreplaceable and their material remains irretrievable. The Impact of Road Construction North Coast Highway, Highway 2000, the Old Harbour Bypass and South Coast Sustainable Development Study illustrate the effect of road construction on Taíno sites across the island. 78 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
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 and 54: Henderson Hill lies to the south, o
Page 55 and 56: ivalves. Single gastropod valves we
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: - infrastructural development throu
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 124 and 125: According to Rouse, the density of
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
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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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