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

15
Tracing Human Mobility with
87
Sr/ 86 Sr at Anse à la Gourde,
Guadeloupe
Mathijs A. Booden, Raphaël G. A. M. Panhuysen, Menno L. P. Hoogland,
Hylke N. de Jong, Gareth R. Davies, and Corinne L. Hofman
Introduction
The presence of nonlocal pottery, lithic material, shell, and bone at Anse à la
Gourde suggests the existence of interaction networks in the Lesser Antilles in
which raw materials and exotic items circulated (Hofman et al. 2001; Hoogland
and Hofman in press; Knippenberg 2006).
In this study we assess the applicability of strontium isotope ratios in teeth to
distinguish nonlocal burials from local burials in order to determine the extent of
residential mobility of the buried population at the site. Strontium isotope ratios
are increasingly successfully used to make a distinction between local and nonlocal
burials recovered from archaeological sites (e.g., Bentley et al. 2004; Price et
al. 2002; Wright 2005). Generally, this technique is applied in areas with variable
strontium ratios.
The site of Anse à la Gourde is located in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern part
of the island of Guadeloupe (Figure 15.1). The Lesser Antilles island arc, to which
Guadeloupe belongs, is theoretically a suitable area for this type of provenance research
since large variations in geochemistry occur along the arc (e.g., Macdonald
et al. 2000; Van Soest 2000). From Marie- Galante and Guadeloupe northward the
Lesser Antilles separate into an outer arc (Limestone Caribbees) and an inner arc
(Volcanic Caribbees). As a consequence the soil on different islands is characterized
by different geochemical and isotopic compositions. It is expected that this
variation will be reflected in the composition of the remains (bone and enamel) of
the humans who collected a significant proportion of their food from these soils.
Focus will be laid on the analysis of dental enamel samples. Tooth enamel is not
altered biologically after it is formed during childhood. The densely packed crystal
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