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

6
Saladoid Lapidary Technology
New Methods for Investigating Stone
Bead Drilling Techniques
Christy de Mille, Tamara Varney, and Michael Turney
Introduction
Ancient lapidary traditions are frequent objects of interest and curiosity. The high
degree of artistry and technical skill demonstrated by these industries worldwide
is characteristic of both the Saladoid lapidary industry and the Saladoid occupation
of the Caribbean (Watters 1997c). Stone beads, in particular, have played an
important role in discussions of Saladoid socioeconomic systems and interaction.
For example, the most frequently cited evidence for interisland movement is the
common occurrence of exotic stone artifacts in Saladoid sites (Watters 1997c). In
addition to the movement of raw materials, it has been demonstrated that both the
local manufacture of items and import of finished goods occurs in Saladoid sites,
and that both of these are differentially represented between islands (Crock and
Bartone 1998; Murphy et al. 2000; Watters and Scaglion 1994). This has led to hypotheses
of regional manufacturing centers and trade, with associated suggestions
of craft specialization (Watters 1997c; Watters and Scaglion 1994). Such hypotheses
have important implications for topics of interisland contact and trade, political
and economic organization of production, and the Saladoid cultures. Many different
lines of evidence are necessary for such broad- level questions; however, meaningful
interpretation can only begin to be accomplished through specific and detailed
understandings of the finer scaled participants in this production. One of
the long- term goals of our research is to work toward a detailed understanding of
bead manufacture on Antigua, which would provide a basis for later comparisons
with other islands. While still exploratory, our present study is an initial step toward
these larger goals.
This chapter continues research into the drilling technology of the Saladoid
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