Afro-Montserratian ceramics from the Harney Site Cemetery, Montserrat, West Indies

Petersen, James B.; Watters, David R.

doi:10.5962/p.330574

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Vessel lot analysis is a technique previously applied to samples of Amerindian hand-built ceramics from northeastern North America (e.g.. Petersen, 1980Petersen, , 1985Petersen and Power, 1985). The technique was first applied in the Caribbean region to Afro-Montserratian ceramics from the Harney site slave cemetery (Petersen and Watters, 1988) and is here applied to Caribbean Amerindian ceramics from the first time.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amerindian ceramic remains from Fountain Cavern, Anguilla, West Indies

Petersen¹,

Watters²

1991

Annals of the Carnegie Museum

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Fountain Cavern on the island of Anguilla in the West Indies is a subterranean archaeological site containing prehistoric petroglyphs, artifacts, and faunal remains and, as such, is a rare occurrence in the northern Lesser Antilles. Amerindian ceramics were the predominant artifact category recovered from Fountain Cavern in 1986 during test excavations and limited surface collection. Of780 specimens, 29 fragmentary ceramic vessels are defined with vessel lot and attribute-based methods, and 234 specimens are assigned to specific vessels. The Fountain Cavern ceramics are distinctive although generally similar to other post-Saladoid ceramics in the West Indies. The likelihood of interisland social interaction is inferred from ceramic temper data. The Fountain Cavern ceramics may be generally related to the Elenan Ostionoid subseries and apparently represent the remains of Amerindian ritual activities after ca. A.D. 600, and more specifically ca. A.D. 900-1200 or later.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amerindian ceramic remains from Fountain Cavern, Anguilla, West Indies

Petersen¹,

Watters²

1991

Annals of the Carnegie Museum

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“…11). The excavated and surface sherds from Codrington Castle augment an expanding sample of Afro-Caribbean ceramics being analyzed from Barbuda, Antigua, Montserrat, and Anguilla (Petersen and Watters, 1988;Petersen et al, 1992). "Afro-Caribbean" currently is the broadest term used in the English-speaking Caribbean to encompass such pottery, although "folk pottery" and even "Colono Ware," a North American-derived term, have been applied in the West Indies (Watters, 1980^, 1987Heath, 1988;Nicholson, 1990).…”

Section: Ceramic Artifactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The term "Afro-Caribbean" implies that the pottery was made in the West Indies by Africans or their descendants. However, an even more significant point is that these unglazed ceramics were made in the African tradition of coil-built, open-hearth fired manufacture (Petersen and Watters, 1988). These ceramics were made in the West Indies by potters using a technology derived from Africa; by extension, the potters presumably were of African heritage.…”

Section: Ceramic Artifactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fifty-one sherds have been assigned to the Afro-Caribbean ceramic category pending the completion of a detailed vessel-lot attribute analysis (see Petersen and Watters, 1988). Petersen's provisional analysis indicates these sherds can be confirmed (or reasonably inferred in a few cases) to be coil built, open-hearth fired, and unglazed.…”

Section: Ceramic Artifactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Antiguan and Nevisian pottery has been manufactured exclusively in the handbuilt and open-fired African tradition, and it is women who are the potters on these islands (Handler, 1964;Heath, 1988;Olwig, 1990). As defined by Petersen and Watters (1988), the term Afro-Caribbean pertains to the Antigua and Nevis ceramics because they are derived from the African pottery-making tradition, but Afro-Caribbean does not apply to wheel-made Barbados ceramics derived from the European tradition, even though the potters of Barbados were of African heritage.…”

Section: Afro-caribbean and Categories A B And C Ceramicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical documentation and archaeological investigation of Codrington Castle, Barbuda, West Indies

Watters¹

1997

Annals of the Carnegie Museum

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Codrington Castle was Barbuda's principal structure for almost two centuries (1680s-1870s) while the island was leased by the Codrington family. The building no longer exists because it was razed near the turn of the 20th century. Analysis of historical documents determines the Castle's position, configuration, and architecture; analysis of archaeological data verifies its chronology, construction, and renovation. The study concludes that: (1) three rectangular buildings sequentially occupied the same location; (2) these structures had different long-axis orientations; (3) the Castle's functions included defense, storage, administration, and habitation; and (4) an expansive subsurface archaeological feature delineates the extent of the second Castle. Descriptive analysis of the ceramics distinguishes imported wares from Afro-Caribbean pottery and defines three intermediate ceramic categories in which the syncretism of two pottery-making traditions is correlated with the ethnicity of the potters and manufacturing locations. Lithic artifacts are interpreted as evidence for direct exploitation of West Indian chert sources during the historic era or, alternatively, for the recycling of prehistoric artifacts by historic inhabitants. Manufacturing timespans and stratigraphic positioning of imported ceramic, glass, and kaolin pipe artifacts corroborate Codrington Castle's duration of occupation as determined from historic records. The Castle exemplifies Barbuda's role in provisioning the vast sugar estates that were the basis of the Codrington family's wealth. 1997 Watters -Codrington Castle, Barbuda 231 Annals of Carnegie Museum VOL. 66to Pleistocene limestone formations and Holocene sand deposits (Brasier and Mather, 1975;Brasier and Donahue, 1985). Land area is about 160 km^ (62 mP).The island has very shallow soils, limited rainfall, and mainly xerophytic vegetation, but it is surrounded by very productive marine environments ranging from shallow bottoms to extensive reefs (Harris, 1965; Watters et al., 1992:15-25).Barbuda's climatic and edaphic limitations precluded the cultivation of sugar, tobacco, or other commercially important crops in the colonial era (apart from sporadically grown cotton); these factors also thwarted commercial agricultural enterprises in more recent times (Berleant-Schiller, 1978). Since Barbuda was unsuited for cultivation of plantation crops, its acquisition by the Codringtons may seem incongruous. Barbuda, however, was an integral part of the broader economy of the Codrington family's West Indies holdings. It served as an important provisioning island, supplying a range of commodities needed by the Codrington sugar estates and selling surplus staples to other plantations. Hides, meat, com, wood, charcoal, lime, turtles, fish, and livestock (horses, mules, cattle, swine, goats, and sheep) were among its exports (Watters, 1980Z?:125). Boats built by Barbudans brought supplies to that island, transported hogsheads of Codrington sugar around the coast of Antigua, and also carried goods to ot...

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Thin section petrography of northern Lesser Antilles ceramics

1990

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Thin sections from 44 sherds representing eight prehistoric sites on four islands (Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Martin) in the northern Lesser Antilles (West Indies) were examined using a petrographic microscope. Point counting distinguished three temper associations: (1) exclusively volcanic,(2) volcanic and carbonate, and (3) volcanic, carbonate, and grog. Exclusively volcanic or dominantly volcanic (with low carbonate) temper associations occur in all Saladoid and many post‐Saladoid sherds, with plagioclase feld‐spar and volcanic rock fragments being most abundant. Thin sections with significant carbonate content or with grog were restricted to post‐Saladoid sherds from Barbuda and to a lesser extent Anguilla. the presence of volcanic grains in sherds from the limestone islands of Barbuda and Anguilla indicates that volcanic islands in the region served as sources of pottery (or volcanic temper) for these two islands.

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Afro-Montserratian ceramics from the Harney Site Cemetery, Montserrat, West Indies

Cited by 8 publications

References 2 publications

Amerindian ceramic remains from Fountain Cavern, Anguilla, West Indies

Amerindian ceramic remains from Fountain Cavern, Anguilla, West Indies

Historical documentation and archaeological investigation of Codrington Castle, Barbuda, West Indies

Thin section petrography of northern Lesser Antilles ceramics

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