Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

108 / Chapter 8.
tend in recent discussion to have been overshadowed by the pictographs, but
which were in fact of paramount importance to Duerden, who first published
them (Duerden 1897:Plate VII, Figures 1 and 2). What he described as the
“principal figure” was executed on a “projecting piece of rock” (Appendix 18).
According to his description, “the eyes and mouth are represented, and the face
is surrounded by two parallel three- sided incisions, producing somewhat the
appearance of a thick hood. The outer incision is continued below, giving to
the whole the resemblance of a shrouded human body.” Although they cannot
be seen too well in this photograph, there are two other similar figures on
either side of the “principal” one. Duerden also wrote, “A fallen piece of rock,
measuring about four feet cube, lies upon the ground nearby, and bears similar
carvings, but the figures are not so complete” (Appendix 19). This rock may
not be easily visible today, but there definitely are parallels for these “shrouded
human bodies” (in Duerden’s prescient phrase) elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Caribbean Comparisons
The comparisons suggested here are based on Roe’s work at the Puerto Rican
sites (Roe 1991a, 1991b, 1999; cf. Siegel 2005). They relate both to the interpretation
of individual figures and the placement of these figures within a
broader conceptual framework. The interpretation of individual figures is assisted
by his practice of breaking them down into their component parts, and
his acceptance of the idea of cross- media isomorphisms, such as suggested by
Lee for the “ slit- eyed” head from God’s Well Junction #2 (CC10). The most
telling parallel suggested by Roe is between the Long Beaked Bird at Caguana
(petroglyph 7) and the triangular and roundel designs popular on Chicoid
bowls (Roe 1991b:Figures 7 and 8). Among the anthropomorphic lithograph
components distinguished by Roe, which also turn up in a Jamaican context,
it is worth drawing attention to the goggle eyes, the diadems, and the hairlines,
among others (Roe 1991a:Figures 18, 21, and 23). The “pointed” hairline design
gives rise to a heart- shaped face such as that illustrated by Lee from Gut
River #1 (MC6). Roe illustrates similar examples from Caguana and the Cueva
de La Mora (Roe 1991b:Figures 3, 5, and 6; 1999:Figures 7d and 10a). Diadem
is the term used by Roe for the halo noted by Lee at Reynold Bent (EC19).
Alternatively this is referred to as a headdress or a crown, as shown most strikingly
at El Bronce (Roe 1991a:Figure 14) but also at Caguana and the Cueva
de La Mora (Roe 1991b:Figures 3 and 6; 1999:Figures 10a, 29b, and 37). In
Roe’s opinion, this accoutrement may have had a broader sociological signifi-