Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

Cultural Variants / 91
Figure 23. Fairfield (J3): Pottery characteristics.
Table. This is subject to the same caveats as were made in the case of Great Pedro
Bay (E4) in relation to the Redware sites. Altogether the collection includes
878 ceramic pieces, one stone celt; 64 chert flakes, tools, cores, and chunks; two
other lithic artifacts; and two shell celts. Abundant and well- made chert artifacts
(from the Montpelier limestone) are characteristic of almost all the Montego
Bay sites. Included in the ceramic pieces, there are 621 rim sherds, 186
body sherds, 68 lugs (both independent and otherwise), two handles, 55 fragments
of griddles, and the complete vessel already referred to. The decorated
rim sherds included 48 with plain fillets, 157 with decorated fillets, and seven
with decorated tops. The importance of decorated fillets is quite clear, and the
same characteristic reappears in the other sites that are well represented in the
collection. Incision as a proportion of decorated shoulders and lugs accounted
for 75 percent, the remainder being taken up by many different combinations
of techniques. One hundred four vessel shapes could be reconstructed, including
43 restricted carinate, 17 restricted simple, 36 unrestricted simple and
carinate, seven boat shaped, and one restricted inflected. This material is abundantly
illustrated in the CD- ROM at the entry for Fairfield (J3. 1–37). The
characteristics of the assemblage are also summarized in diagrammatic form
at Figure 23. This is arranged in the same way as that for White Marl (S1), to
which reference will be made later.