Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

Principal Excavated Sites in Jamaica / 155
vated at a depth of about 50 to 60 cm in test pit 3, associated with an ashy deposit
containing many marine and terrestrial shells. In test pit 1, at a depth of
59 to 71 cm, the remains of a burial were partially uncovered, but they were
not removed because they still extended back into the south and east walls of
the pit.
In 1998, the 1 m square excavated in lot 340 (to a depth of 15 cm only) produced
(apart from shells) 96 fragments of potsherds and one limestone flake.
In addition, the section cut in lot 386 revealed a clear occupation layer 3 with
an abundance of shells and artifacts comparable to those from the excavated
square (Appendix 22). There were 23 potsherds, 15 chert flakes, and one limestone
core. The shells present in these two locations have been reported in full
( Allsworth- Jones et al. 2001) (Appendix 23). Five of the marine species account
for 90 percent of the total marine species recovered. Since these are largely inhabitants
of mudflats, it is highly likely that the Chancery Hall people collected
their shellfish from what is now Kingston Harbour. A complete sample of deposit
from layer 3 was analyzed microscopically at the University of Leicester
(Gouldwell 1998). It was concluded that the deposit represents a midden of
food waste, primarily of fish, mammal (hutía), and shells, with charcoal fragments
from a cooking fire. The insects and seeds that were detected seem to be
contaminants from more recent levels.
References: Allsworth- Jones et al. 2001; Gouldwell 1998; Howard 1950;
Lechler 2000; Walters 1996.
Bellevue–Mannings Hill (K13)
Mentioned by Cundall in 1915 and in 1939 (the second time erroneously as
a cave) but not investigated until 1972 when the land to the west of Bellevue
Great House was sold and divided into lots for building purposes. Finds discovered
by visiting amateurs included two complete bowls (one circular, one boat
shaped), a miniature celt (1 1/2 x 1/4 in, in size), a spindle- shaped artifact of
rhyolite porphyry (probably a pendant, but incompletely polished and lacking
the usual perforation: AJ 1977, 2:Figure 1.3), a transparent pinkish amulet of
“rose quartz” [which must according to J. Roobol have originated from the interior
mountains of the northern mainland of South America; cf. the pendant
found at Great Pedro Bay (E4)], a sandstone axe head, a flat sandstone platter,
and a sandstone figurine somewhat resembling an owl (AJ 1986, 1 and 2:6).
As at Chancery Hall (K11), a piece of galena ( lead- zinc ore) probably indicates
connections to Kintyre east of Papine. Lee commented that the site’s “healthy
location” among pockets of deep loose soil made it advantageous for the cultivation
of crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, tobacco, maize, and pimen-