Looking at the Big Picture: Using Spatial Statistical Analyses to Study Indigenous Settlement Patterns in the North-Western Dominican Republic

After several field campaigns between 2007 and 2018 in the northwestern region of the Dominican Republic, more than 300 archaeological sites have been registered and revisited. While several of these sites were identified through the scatter of surface material culture, others show terrain modifications in the form of anthropogenic mounds and levelled areas. Researchers have gathered valuable information regarding these features’ functionality and construction processes through large-scale excavations in archaeological sites with anthropogenic mounds, paleoenvironmental studies and remote sensing analyses. These anthropogenic mounds represent a long-term process of formation and were used for a variety of purposes ranging from agricultural to ritual activities. While excavations and small-scale remote sensing can provide a myriad of data to improve our understanding of these archaeological sites, a regional perspective is needed to map the relationship among archaeological sites with and without terrain modifications, to better understand the Indigenous cultural patterns in their regional environment. In this regard, the primary objective of this paper is to explore to what extent these archaeological sites were related to the environment and each other. This was achieved by correlating archaeological data with a set of archaeologically recognized important environmental variables using advanced spatial statistics. The results provide important insights to understand the underlying pattern of archaeological sites in this region and its relationship with the environmental setting

Columbus’ footprint in Hispaniola:A paleoenvironmental record of indigenous and colonial impacts on the landscape of the central Cibao Valley, northern Dominican Republic

The 1100-year sedimentary record of Laguna Biajaca reveals human-driven landscape changes in the central Cibao Valley, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola. This sediment-filled cutoff meander is located in close proximity to pre-Colonial archaeological sites and a Colonial urban hub. It provided a nutrient-rich floodable locus for agricultural activities for indigenous communities and for the first introduction of Old World crops and cattle in the Americas. Integration of paleoecological proxies revealed the formation of a clear-water body surrounded by a palm-rich forested landscape around 1100 cal yr BP. Changes in the drainage system were linked to human-driven deforestation, which also changed the composition of the vegetation and fungal communities around the site between AD 1150 and 1500 (800 and 700 cal yr BP). Pre-Colonial modifications of the landscape were primarily the result of fire-use and small-scale clearings. Crop cultivation developed between AD 1250 and 1450 (700–500 cal yr BP). Within decades after Columbus’ arrival in Hispaniola in AD 1492, the first impacts of European colonization included the abandonment of indigenous sites and the introduction of Old World domesticated animals. During the 15th and 16th centuries the area underwent intensive land-clearing that allowed for larger scale crop cultivation. An increase of aquatic vegetation points to sediment-filling around AD 1700 (250 cal yr BP). At that time, cattle breeding expanded and rapidly provoked eutrophication while, concurrently, monocultures became regionally established. This paper provides a framework of past environmental dynamics and offers an opportunity to place archaeological findings in a context of natural and anthropogenic change

Networks set in stone : archaic ceramic interaction in the early prehistoric northeastern Caribbean

Cette communication porte sur l\u27interaction entre les communautés de l\u27âge archaïque et le début céramique dans la région septentrionale de la Caraïbe. Cette interaction aurait posé les jalons des développements sociaux et culturels

Expansion of the Taino cacicazgos towards the Lesser Antilles

Archaeological research on the Lesser Antillean island of Saba has evidenced incorporation in the Taino cacical society of the Greater Antilles. Several hypotheses are presented to explain the process of Taino expansion towards the Lesser Antilles. Ethnohistorical information is used to contextualize the archaeological data.L'expansion des chefferies taino dans les Petites Antilles Des recherches archéologiques sur l'île de Saba (Petites Antilles) ont montré l'inclusion des populations de ce lieu dans le système socio-politique des chefferies, caractéristique des Grandes Antilles. Plusieurs hypothèses sont évoquées pour expliquer le processus de l'expansion des Taïnos dans les Petites Antilles. Les sources ethnohistoriques sont mises à contribution pour interpréter les données archéologiques.La expansion de los cacicazgos tainos hada las Pequeñas Antillas Investigaciones arqueológicas recientes en la isla de Saba (Pequeňas Antillas) han revelado la incorporación de este lugar en el sistema socio-politico de los cacicazgos de las Grandes Antillas. Se revisan varias hipótesis con el fin de comprender el proceso de la expansión Taino en las Pequeñas Antillas. Para interpretar los datos arqueológicos los autores del présente artículo acuden a la documentación etnohistórica disponible.Hoogland Menno L.P., Hofman Corinne L. Expansion of the Taino cacicazgos towards the Lesser Antilles. In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 85, 1999. pp. 93-113

NEXUS 1492: Encuentros del Nuevo Mundo con un mundo en globalización

Archaeology of the America

From Suazoid to folk pottery: pottery manufacturing traditions in a changing social and cultural environment on St. Lucia

Overview of pottery manufacturing traditions in St Lucia, placed within the island's cultural history from pre-Columbian times up to present Afro-Caribbean folk pottery. Authors focus on manufacturing processes in different cultural traditions through history, looking at raw materials used, the shaping and finishing, decoration, and firing process. First, they sketch St Lucia's habitation history since the first Amerindian settlers in 200 AD, and evidence of pottery, which climaxed in the later Suazoid period pottery since about 1150 AD, and discuss how later European colonization and arrival of Africans contributed to the decline of Amerindian traditions, replaced by European and West African pottery traditions, although some Amerindian traditions remained. The pottery manufacturing of 3 main cultural traditions are examined, discussing differences, as well as similarities due to cultural blending: Suazoid pottery, later Amerindian Island Carib pottery, with origins in the Guianas region, related to the Kar'ina, and current St Lucian, West African-influenced, "folk pottery". Authors conclude that all 3 traditions mainly use local clay, and include hand-built and low-fired pottery. Shaping techniques include coiling, and in today's pottery also fashioning with smaller lumps. Surfaces are smooth and polished in today's pottery, but more scraped and scratched in Suazoid vessels. Further, they find that decoration is uncommon in today's pottery, while Suazoid ceramics included decorations, and that vessel shapes tend to be simple in all 3 traditions. They also find that women have been the principal potters through time, although pottery was a male activity among the Island Caribs in the mid-17th c

Fouilles sur le site précolombien de l'Anse à la Gourde (Saint-François, Guadeloupe)

Delpuech André, Hofman Corinne L., Hoogland Menno L.P. Fouilles sur le site précolombien de l'Anse à la Gourde (Saint-François, Guadeloupe). In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 83, 1997. pp. 279-282

Fouilles sur le site précolombien de l'Anse à la Gourde (Saint-François, Guadeloupe)

Delpuech André, Hofman Corinne L., Hoogland Menno L.P. Fouilles sur le site précolombien de l'Anse à la Gourde (Saint-François, Guadeloupe). In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 83, 1997. pp. 279-282