Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

170 / Appendix A.
with an MNI of 747. The figures for MNI have been taken or calculated from
her report, and the percentages of the classes represented have been recalculated
(in view of some apparent discrepancies in individual percentages as printed in
her report). Clearly, fish are dominant, closely followed by crabs. As Scudder
comments, the most abundant fish taxa are “representatives of families which
utilize both reef and open- bottom areas in shallow near- shore environments.”
Individual bird frequencies are not specified, but they included egrets, herons,
doves, pigeons, seagulls, and clapper rails. As Scudder remarks, when the frequencies
are broken down level by level, some interesting shifts in faunal exploitation
through time emerge (Scudder 1992:Figure 2). In general, there is a
tendency for fish to increase and for crabs to decrease, and the mollusks closely
track the fish values.
Scudder concludes that “the overall faunal assemblage depicts a localised exploitation
of typical West Indian dry- coastal and shallow- water animal communities.”
It indicates a “restricted catchment area,” with an absence of distant
montane and pelagic species. In comparison with both White Marl (S1)
and Bellevue (K13) one can detect “a clear continuum of coastal to inland localised
adaptation.” The three sites are shown on Scudder’s map, which also
has the merit of indicating the different types of shoreline on the island (Appendix
43).
While this general conclusion is convincing, there are some difficulties in
using Scudder’s figures as published for comparative purposes. There are two
reasons for this. First, MNI and percent figures are not given for all the species
represented at Rodney’s House, as is clear from Table 25. Second, her figures
include crabs and lobsters, of which there are 17 specimens, or 23 percent,
of the total MNI at the site (Scudder 1992:38). At White Marl (S1) and
at Bellevue (K13), unfortunately, no information of this kind is available, even
though crabs were certainly present (Silverberg et al. 1972:Table 2, note*). The
breakdown of species represented at Rodney’s House according to “resource
use areas” and in terms of percent of total MNI is as follows (Scudder 1992:
Figure 3). Figures for actual MNI have been calculated on the assumption that
total MNI = 747, see Table 19.
Clearly, the terrestrial element includes the majority of the mammals (excepting
manatee) and the birds (as at White Marl) as well as iguana. Scudder
indicates that the two land crabs Cardisoma and Gecarcinus are also included,
although (if so) this would seem to produce too big a total. The beach element
clearly includes sea turtles, although elsewhere it is said that no pelagic species
are present. Inshore elements include manatees and crocodiles, and also certain