Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

52 / Chapter 4.
1989) and at Wallywash Great Pond (Holmes et al. 1995; Paul et al. 1993;
Street- Perrott et al. 1993). To these may be added the studies carried out by
Maharaj (1996) at Treasure Beach and by Keegan and colleagues (2003) at
Paradise Park, and there are some international points of comparison thanks to
the work carried out at Miragoane in Haiti (Hodell et al. 1991). Hendry and
his colleagues obtained 55 radiocarbon dates on basal peat samples from Negril
and Black River and on this basis reconstructed sea level rise curves for the
two areas, the assumption being that at any point in time peat would not form
unless the sea had reached that level. The sequence of events was worked out
in particular detail for the last 10,000 years at Negril (Hendry and Digerfeldt
1989:Figures 3–8). Mean sea level at the start was at least 12 m below current
levels. It rose rapidly in the early Holocene but slowed down considerably after
about 5,000 years ago. No detailed record could be established regarding fluctuations
in this more recent period. It is of course known that sea levels worldwide
were lower during the last glaciation, particularly during the last glacial
maximum (LGM), so the general tendency demonstrated is not unexpected.
Wallywash Great Pond has provided much fuller evidence for climatic fluctuations
both in the late Pleistocene and the Holocene in this part of Jamaica.
Situated in the White Limestone area between Black River and Parrottee Point,
it is the largest perennial freshwater lake in the island, with a maximum depth
at present of 5 m. Although it is only 7 m above sea level and no more than
3 km from the coast, there has been little or no intrusion of brackish water
throughout its existence. A 9.23-m core was put down in the floor of the lake
in 1984, and the results have been reported in detail. Originally, 10 radiocarbon
and four uranium/ thorium dates were reported ( Street- Perrott et al.
1993:Figure 6). The older of the radiocarbon dates were discounted since they
were stratigraphically inconsistent and not in accordance with the U/ Th dates,
and some doubt was also thrown on the younger of the dates since it was felt
that they could have been affected by old carbon. Subsequently, four more
uranium/ thorium dates were obtained, and the five youngest radiocarbon dates
were calibrated. Combining only these with the eight U/ Th dates, a much
more satisfactory picture of the dated stratigraphical succession at the lake
has emerged (Holmes et al. 1995:Figure 7). As the authors comment, there is
“excellent agreement” between the calibrated radiocarbon dates and the new
U/ Th ages, making it possible to reconstruct the history of the Holocene section
of the core in detail, as well as the basal part where reliance is placed only
on U/ Th dates.
At the base of the core at > 9 m depth, a loamy paleosol developed on weath-