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

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on a 95 percent confidence interval, until no further statistical outliers are identified
and the skewness of the subset is approximately 0.
Geology
The island of Guadeloupe consists of two sister islands: the volcanic Basse- Terre
to the west and the limestone- dominated island of Grand- Terre to the east. Anse
à la Gourde is located on the extreme eastern end of the latter, Pointe Chateaux
(Figure 15.1). Maury and colleagues (1990) provide an overview of the geology of
Guadeloupe and La Désirade. The surface of Grand- Terre consists entirely of Pliocene
and Quaternary limestone (Andreieff and Cottez 1976). A reef platform was
uplifted during the Pleistocene, starting in the southwest, and later followed by the
northern and eastern parts. Basse- Terre has been the locus of active volcanism for
at least 4 million years. Volcanic activity has shifted over time in a southerly direction
and is currently concentrated in the Soufrière volcano.
Anse à la Gourde is located directly on the shoreline of the northern coast of
Pointe Chateaux. It is exposed to continuous northeastern trade winds and strong
surf, causing abundant sea spray that will add marine strontium to the local soils.
The Late Ceramic occupation phase of the site (a.d. 1000–1350) coincides with a
wetter phase in climate and a higher frequency of storm events (Beets et al. 2006).
No direct data are available on the isotope composition of the local bedrock.
However, the coral limestone cap of Grand- Terre is known to be of Pliocene to
Quaternary age (Andreieff and Cottez 1976). This means the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of the carbonate
bedrock cannot be lower than ~0.7090 as this is the lowest ratio known for
seawater during these periods (Hess et al. 1986). In effect, the carbonate bedrock
will probably have an oceanic 87 Sr/ 86 Sr.
Archaeological Context
The site of Anse à la Gourde was occupied between cal a.d. 450 to 1350 based
on radiocarbon dates and the occurrence of ceramics of the late Cedrosan Saladoid,
Mamoran, and/ or Troumassan Troumassoid and Suazan Troumassoid subseries.
Between cal a.d. 1000 and 1250 Anse à la Gourde was the most densely occupied.
The settlement of that time consists of a habitation area surrounded by a
refuse midden. A total of 2,400 features have been encountered there belonging to
houses and other domestic structures, hearths, refuse pits, and 83 burials containing
the human remains of 93 individuals (Hofman et al. 2001). Burials mainly occur
in clusters within the habitation area, each comprising 3 to 10 burials. The location
of these clusters coincides with that part of the habitation area where the
majority of the postholes are situated. The close association of the burials with
postholes provides an indication that the burials were situated in the houses (Hof-
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