Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

Cultural Variants / 85
Figure 20. Redware handle types according to Lee.
tifacts as a whole were considered to be “ Ostiones- like.” Howard (1956) followed
the usual rules with regard to eponymous sites, and therefore named this
the “Little River” style. James Lee, however, consistently used the term Redware
for all the sites (AJ 1976, 2:1–5; 1979, 1:1–5; Lee 1980) and this usage
has been adopted here.
In his report to IACA, Lee laid particular emphasis on the distinctive handle
types (Lee 1980:Figures 3–6), which are shown here in Figure 20. The numbered
types in this Figure are as follows: 1 plain D, 2 D with flared base, 3 D
with flared base and tab or spur, 3A identical to 3 but occurring below rather
than on the rim (on the same principle there is a variety of 1A), 4 horizontal
loop. In addition, he drew attention to the existence of zoomorphic lugs or
handles, often in the form of turtles, with heads, tails, and flippers. Red slip applied
to the shoulders of vessels is distinctive, but he commented that “probably
fewer than 20% of all pottery objects had this type of finish.” Sandy grit
was commonly used as a temper. The artifact assemblages included fragments
of griddles; flakes and cores of patinated gray flint; petaloid celts; chalcedony
beads; pierced Oliva shells; and gouges, spoons, and ladles made of conch shells.
Lee mentions two spheroidal pottery beads pierced through in such a way that
one of them may be considered a spindle whorl, and three objects, which on
grounds of raw material, probably originated from outside Jamaica: two beads