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Ceramic objects account for over 90% of the cultural material recovered from archaeological sites in the Caribbean. However, little research has been conducted on molecular evidence for past food production from these same vessels. Forty ceramic sherds from Isla de Mona have been analysed by GC–MS and GC-C-IRMS in order to address questions surrounding foodways in the Greater Antilles prior to and post European arrival. We evaluate evidence for dietary changes to illuminate aspects of cultural exchange between Indigenous populations and the first generations of Spanish colonists. Here, we show that plant residues are found in a variety of pottery forms, with some evidence for non-ruminant and ruminant fats. The dearth of marine biomarkers is curious given the volume of fish bones found in archaeological contexts on Isla de Mona and may offer evidence for spit-roasting, pit-roasting, or the use of a ‘barbacoa’ to cook fish on the island. The ubiquity of plant residues in a variety of pottery forms may relate to the large-scale cultivation and export of cassava (Manihot esculenta) from the island. A Spanish olive jar revealed evidence of wine residues, which may constitute the earliest detection of wine residues in pottery found in the Americas.

This paper describes and expands on the discussions held at a symposium at the Research Center for Material Culture in the Netherlands in February 2020, which was held as part of the planning of an upcoming “Amazonia” exhibition to be curated at that institution by some of the authors. The symposium invited curators and museum directors who had recently carried out projects with Amazonian communities to share their experiences with co‐production and co‐curation. The discussion and this paper aim to be a reflexive critical first step before reaching out to potential partners in South America. This paper supplements discussions on participative museology by examining the underlying frameworks of an exhibition project at its outset, in addition to contributing, as happens more commonly, post‐rationalizations in a final written evaluation. The discussion furthermore contributes to exhibition co‐curation by focusing on Amazonian‐European collaborations, which are under‐represented in Anglophone museological literature.

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