Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

Table 13.1. Selected Excerpts and Comments Based on Ethnohistoric Documents
Regarding the Cultivation Practices and Garden Venues of Caribbean Indians.
General impression of cultivated landscape, ¤rst Columbus voyage
• “All of this island and that of Tortuga is all cultivated” (December 16, 1492 [Dunn and
Kelley 1989:233]) (emphasis added).
Field preparation
• “The Indians ¤rst cut down the cane and trees where they wish to plant it [maize] . . .
After the trees and cane have been felled and the ¤eld grubbed, the land is burned
over and the ashes are left as dressing for the soil, and this is much better than if the
land were fertilized” (Oviedo [1526] 1959:13–14) (emphasis added).
• After initial plot preparation to clear woody growth, as indicated in the quote, Indian
cultivators built individual growing platforms consisting of small circular earthen
mounds, termed montones by Spanish observers, of about 1 ft high and 3–4 ft in
diameter. A variety of crops were grown in these conuco plots, including manioc,
sweet potato, other root crops, and maize (Las Casas [1527–1565] 1971:110; Sauer
1966:51–54).
Intensi¤cation practices
• In some locations native agriculture involved more labor-intensive construction and
management practices, including building terraces on mountain slopes in Puerto Rico
(Oliver et al. 1999; Ortíz Aguilú et al. 1991) and extensive networks of irrigation
ditches in the low terrain of arid southwestern Hispaniola (Krieger 1930:488).
• For example, “Morales noted that in Xaragua and about the lakes it rained rarely and
irrigation was practiced: `in all these parts there are ancient ditches by which the water
is led to irrigate ¤elds with no less art than do the inhabitants of Cartagena and
Murica’” (Peter Martyr, Decade III, Book 9, quoted in Sauer 1966:53).
Vegetative propagation of manioc, ¤rst Columbus voyage
• “These lands are very fertile; the Indians have them full of ñames [or “naimes,” i.e.,
yucca or manioc] which are like carrots and have the taste of chestnuts” (November 4,
1492 [Dunn and Kelley 1989:133]).
• “They have sown yams, which are some little twigs that they plant, and at the foot of
the twigs some roots like carrots grow, which serve as bread; and they scrape and
knead and make bread of them. And later they plant the same twig elsewhere and it
again produces four or ¤ve of those roots which are very tasty, having the same ®avor
as chestnuts” (December 16, 1492 [Dunn and Kelley 1989:233]) (emphasis added).
Agricultural cycle
• The planting cycle had seasonal aspects (Kimber 1988:85, 91), however staple root
crops, particularly manioc, could be propagated and harvested practically year round.
Individual manioc plants were tended up to three years until harvest, when the plant
was removed completely, then new stem cuttings made and reinserted into the conucos
(Oviedo y Valdes [1535] 1851, 271–72, chapter 7, paragraph 2 [quoted in Kimber
1988:91]).
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