No abstract

Excavation of ornamental and gem materials from workshop sites on the island of Antigua, West Indies, also uncovered jade celts (axe forms) and fragments thereof. All are jadeite jades (jadeitite), like jades from Mesoamerica. The Antigua sites date to the Saladoid period (ca. 250-500 AD), roughly equivalent to the Early Classic period for Mesoamerican cultures, and reveal "jades" used in a context -decorative celt -well developed by Mesoamericans some 3100 km to the West. Ten of these jade artifacts were examined by a combination of mineralogical and petrographic techniques to determine their mineral constituents, mineral compositions and petrographic textures and place them in a context of possible sources among worldwide sources of jadeite jade. The common assemblage for six artifacts studied as polished sections include jadeite, omphacite, albite, a white-tan mica, quartz, zoisite/clinozoisite and titanite, with the exception of one artifact lacking albite and quartz, and one lacking mica. Allanite was found in the cores of zoisites in two jades, and glaucophane and lawsonite, each, were observed in single jades. The other four jades, which could not be studied as well, appear to contain comparable assemblages. Conspicuous among the Antigua jades is the textural setting of quartz, a phase absent from jadeitite from most sources worldwide. Quartz exists either as a secondary matrix phase around corroded jadeite grains (tiny omphacite grains in quartz decorate the boundaries of the jadeite) or as inclusions in jadeite associated with smaller omphacite regions. In comparison with jadeitite from ~12 described occurrences worldwide, only jadeitite from south of the Motagua fault zone (MFZ) in Guatemala regularly contain the appropriate assemblage including white mica and quartz. Moreover, glaucophane and lawsonite have also been observed in jadeitite from this source, and textures are also highly similar. However, differences include 2 absence of zoisite/clinozoisite and paragonite plus some divergences in pyroxene compositions in Guatemalan jadeitite from south of MFZ compared to Antigua jades. Although Guatemala is a reasonable source for the Antigua jades, as-yet unknown sources in similar geological terrain (serpentinite-matrix mélange) on Cuba, Hispaniola or Jamaica cannot be ruled out.

Lead (Pb) has been known to be a cause of human poisoning since ancient times, but despite this, it was a widely used metal in the European colonial period. In this study, the relationship between Pb exposure and the demographic variables ancestry and age was explored by comparing the bone Pb levels of individuals that were of either African or European ancestry, excavated from a British Royal Navy hospital cemetery (1793–1822 CE) at English Harbour in Antigua, West Indies. More direct comparisons of Pb levels between the two ancestral groups were possible in this study because of the unsegregated nature of this cemetery. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to determine bulk Pb levels in cortical bone samples from the fibular diaphyses of 23 male individuals. No significant difference was found between the distributions of the Pb levels of the ancestral groups (p = 0.94). Further, no positive correlations or significant differences were found in relation to the individuals' ages and their Pb levels (p = 0.24). Levels of Ba, Ca and rare earth elements support a largely biogenic origin of lead. This is bolstered by Pb deposition patterns, generated by synchrotron X‐ray fluorescence imaging for another study. The data suggest that naval personnel, regardless of ancestry at English Harbour, had very similar experiences with regard to Pb exposure. Their exposure to the toxic metal was likely not consistent over time as steady exposure would have resulted in accumulation of Pb with age. This study contributes to addressing historical questions regarding the prevalence of Pb poisoning within the British Royal Navy during the colonial period. © 2017 The Authors International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.