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

192 / Newsom
Discussion and Conclusions
Caribbean archaeobotanical data have potential significance and application well
beyond simply generating lists of plants— their presence and time depth— to explore
the complex history of plant use, the development of cultivation practices
and self- organizing dynamics of agriculture systems, and the role of plant resources
in human social evolution. By the time Europeans arrived in the region,
Caribbean Indians managed plant resources variously in venues ranging from casual
gardens to formally prepared agricultural plots. The ethnohistoric documents,
as well as what we now understand directly from paleoethnobotanical research in
the region, have provided some key insights, including the levels of commitment
required to produce and maintain different economic species. We now have a reasonable
understanding of when reliance on cultivated species began, and so have
an indication of when Caribbean islanders began to exert some measure of control
over their food supply (from the outset!). Caribbean paleoethnobotany is getting
to the point where we can begin to consider the complexity and multiple dimensions
of the indigenous ethnobotany. I have attempted in this chapter to offer
some ideas for the road ahead by proposing or highlighting some new initiatives as
well as describing ways to strengthen current research avenues in coming years, all
as means to further illuminate the ancient ethnobotany.
We still have much yet to learn about the degrees of reliance on crops and other
plant resources, such as their importance relative to faunal resources, exactly how
intensively (and where specifically and generally) were crops grown, whether any
represented manipulatable (by elites) surpluses, what were the circumstances behind
the importation of exotic species, and so on. These are questions among others
that remain to be explored through a culturally informed archaeobiological approach.
In my opinion, exotic tree taxa— being several, early, and widespread—collectively
comprise the best evidence for the presence of home gardens in Caribbean
antiquity because they suggest quite overtly that propagules were intentionally
transferred and successfully reproduced in the region. The plant microremains
would seem to do likewise for swidden- type horticulture, but in both cases we
still lack a good understanding of the underlying factors and motivations behind
these introductions. The presence also of certain herbaceous plants such as evening
primrose and passionflower suggests that at least late ceramic age home gardens
were diverse and multistrata, incorporating herbs, vines, shrubs, and trees
(Table 13.3). They were also multifunctional, and gardens of all types were almost
certainly important foci of individual households and communities, including in
ways in which we have yet to discover.
Home gardens, it should be pointed out, are perfect venues for experimentation
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