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

230 / Keegan
mat as a way of molding pottery forms. There is clear evidence that these impressions
convey symbolic meanings. The diversity and distribution of basket impressions
on griddles and pots provide an important new avenue for the investigation
of cultural affiliations, and provide the opportunity to investigate an element of
material culture that typically is not preserved in the archaeological record.
Use- wear analysis, artifact replication, and experimental archaeology rarely
have been undertaken in the Caribbean, especially with shell and coral tools.
Annelou van Gijn and her students are to be commended for their work. I had
the opportunity to help Iris Briels with her experiments using a cassava grater
board while we were working in St. Lucia. The problem for me was that the cassava
pulp I produced was pink (and my fingertips were shredded). Perhaps I should
avoid experimental studies— and all sharp objects. Seriously, their investigations
are providing solid evidence for the production and use of objects that traditionally
have been weighed, counted, and discarded. In addition, their work recognizes
that these people produced and used varied toolkits. Too often it is assumed that
shell tools were only used when lithics were not available. Through their work we
now recognize that stone, shell, and coral all have unique properties that made
them valuable, and that they were used in concert. I would also note for my colleagues
working in the Caribbean that, although Harold Kelly focused on Porites
coral tools, he also demonstrated that staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) could
be used for drilling wood. The result is a coral tip with uniform wear caused by the
circular motion of drilling. Thanks to Harold, we have identified many of these at
sites in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Jaime Pagán’s investigations of starch grains on lithics and griddles blow me
away. We finally have evidence for the wide range of plants described by the Spanish
chroniclers. His investigations (with José Oliver) document the use of a variety
of plants by so- called Archaic peoples that is far more extensive than previously
thought. Nieuwenhuis provides a similar, complementary study, of equal value,
for the Plum Piece site on Saba. In addition, Rodríguez and Pagán indicate that
griddles were not used only for the baking of cassava bread.
I mentioned Lee Newsom’s pioneering role in archaeobotany in my preamble.
What more can I say? Plants were a critical component of native lifeways, and her
investigations are fleshing out, so to speak, not only the use of cultigens but also
changes in local environments caused by the harvesting of fuelwood and land
clearance.
The analysis of dental morphological traits by Alfredo Coppa and colleagues
presents a unique and promising approach for detecting not only migrations, but
also genetic variability among the populations living in the islands. I’m not yet
convinced that we can divide the Caribbean into only two migratory waves, but
this approach holds exciting possibilities.
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis already has contributed to our un-
You are reading copyrighted material published by the University of Alabama Press.
Any posting, copying, or distributing of this work beyond fair use as defined under U.S. Copyright law is illegal and
injures the author and publisher. For permission to reuse this work, contact the University of Alabama Press.