Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

Burials and Human Remains / 131
deposits are 10 m below an opening on the present ground surface. There is
a degree of bioturbation, largely due to the activities of land crabs, leading to
some sorting of bone fragments by size, but nonetheless two apparently satisfactory
radiocarbon dates were obtained, as follows: 940 ± 40 b.p. (Beta-170212)
and 620 ± 40 b.p. (Beta-170213). The calibrated age ranges for these dates
work out at a.d. 1010–1195 and 1290–1410 respectively. Entirely consonant
with this is the discovery of several White Marl style pottery fragments in the
deposits. Altogether a minimum number of 12 human individuals have been
identified: one neonate, one infant, four juvenile, five adult, and one possible senescent.
This mixture of ages is similar to that detected at other Jamaican caves
in the past. Spiral fractures on the femora of one of the juveniles suggest that in
this case he met his death through high velocity antemortem impact.
This study clearly indicates the tremendous potential for further work concerning
Pre- Columbian human remains in Jamaica. Extant collections of human
skeletal material formerly housed at the White Marl museum (including
Cambridge Hill) remain to be examined in detail, and would surely reveal a
wealth of information. Excavated new material (as at Green Castle) should
be carefully recorded both in the field and the laboratory. Only when we have
enough thoroughly analyzed material on hand will we be able to undertake
quantitative studies of dental and skeletal morphology, as well as DNA attributes,
such as have been carried out in Cuba and the Dominican Republic
(Coppa et al. 1995; Danubio 1987; Lalueza- Fox et al. 2003).