Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

174 / Appendix A.
rine species Lucina tigerina and Mytilus exustus. There were some crab claws,
and two pieces of madrepore coral. Apart from pottery and chert, Duerden also
recorded two implements made from the shells of Strombus gigas. As Howard
remarks, “these were the first shell artifacts to be described from Jamaica.”
A new map of the site, using digital technology, was produced in 2004, by
a team under the direction of P. Allsworth- Jones and M. Kappers. The results
were reported to the 21st Congress of the International Association for Caribbean
Archaeology, meeting in Trinidad in 2005.
References: AJ 1968, 3:1; 1973, 3:1; Duerden 1897:18–19; Howard 1950:
62–63; Sherlock 1939:3.
St. Mary
Rio Nuevo (Y4)
Site discovered by J. M. Cruxent in 1964, when he was investigating the area
of the historic battle on the western side of the river, the “last Cromwellian
victory” of June 1658 (Robertson 2002). The main Pre- Columbian site is on
the eastern side of the river. Mapped by Lee in 1965, the line of the new road
that cut through the site being added in 1972. Lee stated that Cruxent had obtained
a radiocarbon date on charcoal of about 700 years b.p. for the site, but
this date has never been properly reported. R. L. Vanderwal carried out excavations
in 1967. According to him the site as a whole covered 3 1/2 acres. “The
high frequency of ceramic decorative patterns which are not commonly found
elsewhere on the island make Rio Nuevo one of the most interesting sites in
Jamaica.” Vanderwal claimed that similar patterns were found on some Haitian
ceramics, “and if one were to postulate contact between Jamaica and Haiti
this section of the island would be the most logical point of entry.” In his view,
the existence of net sinkers and large numbers of chert flakes also pointed to
contact with Haiti. Lee commented on the abundance of the latter in all those
north coast sites that were “closest to the supply of flint from the Montpelier
limestone,” including (apart from Rio Nuevo) Hartfield (J1), Fairfield (J3),
Cranbrook (A20), Windsor (A19), and Coleraine (Y19). Sixty- six net sinkers
were recovered by Lee from Rio Nuevo, by far the most from any Jamaican
site known to him (AJ 1978, 1:Tables I–III). On the basis of 86 net sinkers
from 9 sites, Lee concluded that their average measurements were 6.5 x 5.0
x 1.5 cm and that their average weight was 108.7 g. Of the 66 specimens from
Rio Nuevo, 23 were of igneous or metamorphic rocks, 11 were of sandstone,