THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CARIBBEAN

The Archaeology of the Caribbean is a comprehensive synthesis of Carib- bean prehistory from the earliest settlement by humans more than 6,000 years ago to the time of European conquest of the islands, from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Samuel Wilson reviews the evidence for migration and cultural change throughout the archipelago, dealing in particular with periods of cultural interaction when groups with different cultures and histories were in contact. He also examines the evolving relationship of the Caribbean people with their environment, as they developed increasingly productive economic systems over time, as well as the emergence of increasingly complex social and political systems, particularly in the Greater Antilles in the centuries before the European conquest. The Archaeology of the Caribbean also provides a review of the history of Caribbean archaeology and the individual scholars and ideas that have shaped the field.

Samuel M. Wilson is professor and chairman of the department of anthropology at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of several books, including most recently The Prehistory of Nevis, and editor of The Indigenous People of the Caribbean.

CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY

SERIES EDITOR
NORMAN YOFFEE, University of Michigan

EDITORIAL BOARD
SUSAN ALCOCK, University of Michigan
TOM DILLEHAY, University of Kentucky
STEPHEN SHENNAN, University College, London
CARLA SINOPOLI, University of Michigan

The Cambridge World Archaeology series is addressed to students and professional archaeologists, and to academics in related disciplines. Most volumes present a survey of the archaeology of a region of the world, providing an up-to-date account of research and integrating recent findings with new concerns of interpretation. While the focus is on a specific region, broader cultural trends are discussed and the implications of regional findings for cross-cultural interpretations considered. The authors also bring anthropological and historical expertise to bear on archaeological problems and show how both new data and changing intellectual trends in archaeology shape inferences about the past. More recently, the series has expanded to include thematic volumes.

BOOKS IN THE SERIES

A. F. HARDING, European Societies in the Bronze Age

RAYMOND ALLCHIN AND BRIDGET ALLCHIN, The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan

CLIVE GAMBLE, The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe

CHARLES HIGHAM, Archaeology of Mainland South East Asia

DAVID PHILLIPSON, African Archaeology (second revised edition)

OLIVER DICKINSON, The Aegean Bronze Age

KAREN OLSEN BRUHNS, Ancient South America

ALASDAIR WHITTLE, Europe in the Neolithic

CHARLES HIGHAM, The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia

CLIVE GAMBLE, The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe

DAN POTTS, The Archaeology of Elam

NICHOLAS DAVID AND CAROL KRAMER, Ethnoarchaeology in Action

CATHERINE PERLèS, The Early Neolithic in Greece

JAMES WHITLEY, The Archaeology of Ancient Greece

PETER MITCHELL, The Archaeology of Southern Africa

HIMANSHU PRABHA RAY, The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia

TIMOTHY INSOLL, The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa

PETER M. M. G. AKKERMANSA AND GLENN M. SCHWARTZ, The Archaeology of Syria

PAUL RAINBIRD, The Archaeology of Micronesia

CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CARIBBEAN

SAMUEL M. WILSON

University of Texas

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi

Cambridge University Press
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013–2473, USA

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521623339

© Samuel M. Wilson 2007

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2007

Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Wilson, Samuel Meredith, 1957–
The archaeology of the Caribbean / Samuel M. Wilson.
   p. cm. – (Cambridge world archaeology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-62333-9 (hardback)
ISBN-10: 0-521-62333-2 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-62622-4 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-521-62622-6 (pbk.)
1. Paleo-Indians – Caribbean Area. 2. Saladoid culture – Caribbean Area.
3. Indians of the West Indies – Colonization. 4. Indians of the West Indies –
First contact with Europeans. 5. Indians of the West Indies – Antiquities.
6. Caribbean Area – Antiquities. I. Title. II. Series.
F1619.W55  2007
972.9′01 – dc22      2006101934

ISBN 978-0-521-62333-9 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-62622-4 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for
the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or
third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such
Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

This book is dedicated to the next generation of Caribbeanist scholars, with thanks to the previous generation.

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE

FIGURES

TABLE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Like most fields, Caribbean archaeology is one in which we learn most of what we know from our colleagues. I certainly learned most of what I know of this region from my friends and fellow researchers in the Caribbean and from the publications of earlier scholars. This learning process was greatly facilitated by the International Association of Caribbean Archaeologists. They have provided an essential forum for communication in their biannual meetings and in their Proceedings series, and this has had a profound and positive effect on the field. I acknowledge my great debt to this organization and to all of its members.

   I also acknowledge some of those who have had a special impact on me and on the field as a whole. I began with the idea of separating the following into generations or cohorts of scholars but came to realize I would offend too many people by misclassifying them with their younger or older colleagues. In any case, I am greatly indebted to the following friends and colleagues, with apologies to those I have failed to include: Ricardo Alegría; Louis Allaire; Andrzej and Magdalena Antczak; Manuel García Arevalo; Doug Armstrong; Mary Jane Berman; Berard Benoît; Margaret Bradford; Betsy Carlson; Luis Chanlatte Baik; Michael Cinquino; John Crock; Alissandra Cummins; Antonio Curet; Dave Davis; Kathy Deagan; André and Claude Delpuech; Lourdes Dominguez; Peter Drewett; Star Farr; Jorge Febles; Lyle and Eleanor Gittens; Pedro Godo; Mary Hill Harris; Peter Harris; Jay Haviser; Michele Hayward; Corinne Hofman; Menno Hoogland; Quetta Kaye; Sebastian Knippenberg; Diana López; Fernando Luna Calderon; Emily Lundberg; Shirley McGinnis; Marisol Meléndez; Birgit Faber Morse; Reg Murphy; Yvonne Narganes; Lee Newsom; Desmond and Lisa Nicholson; José Oliver; Elpidio Ortega; Pepe Ortíz; Gus Pantel; Jim Peterson; Henri, Hugues, and Bernard Petitjean Roget; Holly Righter; Virginia Rivera; Dave and Joan Robinson; Miguel Rodríguez; Reniel Rodríguez; Peter Roe; Dan Rogers; Anna Roosevelt; Stephen Rostain; Nathalie Serrand; Peter Siegel; Anne Stokes; Jalil Sued Badillo; Lesley Sutty; Glenis Tavarez; Dicey Taylor; Bernardo Vega; Aad Versteeg; Jeff Walker; David Watters; Ken Wild; Liz Wing; John Winter; and Alberta Zucci.

   I must offer special thanks to Arie Boomert, Antonio Curet, Bill Keegan, José Oliver, Estrella Rey, Ben Rouse, and Marcio Veloz Maggiolo for their general influence on my thinking about these matters and for help with this project specifically. And, as always, my love and thanks to Cory, Nellie, and Marshall.