Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

56 / Chapter 4.
cidents” as described by J. D. Woodley (1968). Among the rodents, there are
or were four genera of giant Antillean cavies (Heptaxodontidae) with one form
per island. The Jamaican form was Clidomys, which in some instances may have
weighed up to 40–50 kg. Fossil remains have been collected from several caves
in the island, but “it is doubtful that this taxon continued into the human colonization
period, since it has never turned up in middens” (Fincham 1997). Oryzomys
antillarum, the Jamaican rice rat, was certainly present during the terminal
Pleistocene, since it has been discovered during excavations at Drum
Cave (Jackson’s Bay) where it is associated with radiocarbon dates of 11,980
± 80 and 11,260 ± 80 b.p. (Fincham 1997). It became extinct about 100 years
ago. The most important rodent from our point of view is the Jamaican coney,
or hutía (Geocapromys brownii), which was a constant feature of the Taíno diet.
It is part of a larger family of capromyids that exist on the other islands of the
Greater Antilles. As Watlington comments, “they have managed to hang on
despite centuries of overexploitation, introduced diseases, habitat destruction,
predation by cats and dogs, and displacement by introduced herbivores.” There
are or were also three different kinds of native monkeys, the Jamaican form
being Xenothrix mcgregori. Like the others, this was a true endemic species. In
1996, the first cranial remains were found at Lloyd’s Cave (Jackson’s Bay), in a
context that suggests it survived up to the period of European occupation, although
it is now extinct (Fincham 1997). Dogs (Canis familiaris) were known
to the Taínos, but these are said to have been hairless and barkless, similar to
the ones originally found in Mexico (Senior 2003). Marine mammals that are
or were present include the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) and the
Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus). As Watlington comments, manatee
bones were carved into decorative objects by the Taínos, including amulets and
ritual paraphernalia such as vomitory spatulas and snuff pipes. Nonetheless, he
surmises that they escaped prehistoric extinction largely because they were “underhunted”
by the native peoples.
Reptiles include crocodiles, turtles, iguanas, and snakes. The mangrove crocodile
(Crocodylus acutus) still exists in Jamaica, although in diminished numbers
(Senior 2003). Four species of sea turtles (Cheloniidae) are or were encountered
in Jamaica, but of these the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was no doubt
the most important in the Pre- Columbian diet. Freshwater turtles (Trachemys),
or “sliders,” are said by Watlington to have been “relatively common” in prehistoric
middens, at least in the other islands of the Greater Antilles. The Jamaican
rock iguana (Cyclura collei) occurs nowhere else in the world (Senior 2003). It
is Jamaica’s largest endemic reptile, still surviving but in a precarious way in the