The Caves of Barbuda’s Eastern Coast: Long Term Occupation, Ethnohistory and Ritual

Barbuda is the sister island to Antigua, located in the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. This island belongs to the Miocene arch of the Lesser Antilles, along with Grande Terre of Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, and Anguilla. Barbuda, notwithstanding its small size and low elevation, has an exceptionally rich past. Recent investigations by a Brooklyn College, City University of New York led team, has discovered evidence of human activity in and around these caves from the Archaic Period down to the present day. The range of activity at these caves begins with scatters of Archaic lithics, through artifacts and faunal material possibly produced by Obeah rituals to the contemporary celebrations and feasting activities that take place within and around these caves to this day. These contemporary cave based activities are central to the Barbudan people’s relationship to their land and follow in the footsteps of the many waves of peoples that have called this island home for thousands of years. The idea of living from the land is celebrated many times a year through gatherings at the caves in which the food served has both African and Amerindian origins. Barbudans continue a long-term tradition of cave usage as shelter and feasting places where the food is cooked and shared and the only food consumed is what can be hunted and/or gathered from the wild. This tradition has been kept alive in the face of westernization and the threat of modernization. The caves of Barbuda offer a powerful example of changing human activities in one specific place through a truly longitudinal perspective

From icon of empire to national emblem: new evidence for the fallow deer of Barbuda

Barbuda and Antigua's national animal is the fallow deer, Dama dama dama, a species native to the eastern Mediterranean that has been transported around the world by people during the last 8,000 years. The timing and circumstances by which fallow deer came to be established on Barbuda are currently uncertain but, by examining documentary, osteological and genetic evidence, this paper will consider the validity of existing theories. It will review the dynamics of human-Dama relationships from the 1500s AD to the present day and consider how the meaning attached to this species has changed through time: from a symbol of colonial authority and dominance, to a 'walking larder' after the slave emancipation of 1834, and now an important part of the island's economy and cultural heritage that requires careful management