Delayed physical development in a first generation enslaved African woman from Pietermaai, Curacao

There is still much to be learned about enslavement in Curacao, where little archaeological investigation into the historical era has been carried out. This article contributes to our knowledge on this subject through the analysis of a female individual buried in Pietermaai, an 18th century suburb of Willemstad. Excavated in the 1980s by the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, the remains are only now attracting osteological attention. Isotopic analysis has shown that this individual spent her childhood in West Africa, supporting morphological and metric analyses identifying her African ancestry. At the time of death, she had an adult chronological age (over 18 years), but her physical development indicated a non-adult biological age (possibly between 12 and 15 years). Such delayed development can occur due to many factors, including hard labour and disease. In the case of this individual, evidence such as enamel hypoplasia, osteochondritis dissecans, and periostitis may indicate stressful episodes throughout the life course. Clearly defined entheses and entheseal changes at muscle attachment sites on the arms and legs may indicate a physically demanding occupation. A variety of factors could therefore have contributed to her developmental delay. In the future, further analysis of buried populations in Curacao will help to increase our understanding of the lifeways of enslaved people here. Meanwhile, the analysis of this isolated individual is important because it situates enslavement in a real body and indicates the value of reanalysis of human remains from existing archaeological collections in the Caribbean.Bioarchaeolog

On confluence and contestation in the Orinoco interaction sphere: the engraved rock art of the Atures Rapids

The Atures Rapids have long been considered a major point of confluence in the Middle Orinoco landscape, Venezuela. This has been underlined by newly discovered rock art panels on islands within the Rapids and on the margins of the Orinoco River. The panels were recorded photographically and photogrammetrically, and the spatial organisation and taphonomic factors affecting the corpus were investigated. The rock art was also examined in the context of established models of chronology and authorship. Placing the corpus in relation to archaeological and ethnographic evidence from Amazonia and the Guianas emphasises how the Atures Rapids structured pre-Columbian and Colonial contact between diverse groups in lowland South America

Plate VE - Perforated Prehistoric Ornaments Of Curaçao And Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Curaçao And Bonaire: Prehistoric ceramic and lithic beads: a-d, untempered clay beads; e, tempered ceramic-sherd bead; f, calcite bead; g, quartz bead preform; h-i, red jasper preform and bead. All surface-collected at the De Savaan site, Curaçao. Photo by J. Haviser.https://surface.syr.edu/beads-gallery_vol2/1018/thumbnail.jp

Plate VG - Perforated Prehistoric Ornaments Of Curaçao And Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Curaçao And Bonaire: Prehistoric shell beads (a, b, d, e) and earplugs (c, f) surface-collected at the De Savaan site, Curaçao. Photo by J. Haviser.https://surface.syr.edu/beads-gallery_vol2/1020/thumbnail.jp

Perforated Prehistoric Ornaments Of Curaçao And Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

This paper describes some of the more distinctive characteristics of perforated prehistoric ornaments, primarily beads and pendants, found on the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire. The production and stylization of these ornaments is briefly compared between the islands, as well as with specimens recovered from sites on the South American mainland

Plate VF - Perforated Prehistoric Ornaments Of Curaçao And Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Curaçao And Bonaire: Prehistoric zoomorphic shell artifacts (a-c) and shell nose-ring (d) from archaeological excavations at Wanápa, Bonaire. Photo by J. Haviser.https://surface.syr.edu/beads-gallery_vol2/1019/thumbnail.jp