Archaeology of Trants, Montserrat. Part 5. Prehistoric avifauna

Abstract

We report identifications of 225 bird bones from the Trants site, Montserrat, Lesser Antilles. The site was occupied by Saladoid peoples from ca. 500 bc to ad 400. The prehistoric bird assemblage represents 11 species and is dominated by pigeons, doves, and large passerines that probably were used as food by Saladoid peoples. The species of columbid found most commonly at Trants today (Zenaida aurita, characteristic of second-growth forest and edges) is uncommon in the bone assemblage, whereas bones of two other columbids not found at the site today (Columba squamosa and Geotrygonmystacea, both forest dwellers) are common. This suggests more forested conditions near Trants when Saladoid peoples occupied the site Three species of birds recorded from Trants (Puffinus Iherminieri, Porphyria martinicus, Amazona sp.) no longer occur on Montserrat. As on other West Indian islands, the avifauna of Montserrat has lost species to anthropogenic habitat destruction and predation by humans and introduced species. Catastrophic volcanic activity since 1995 has destroyed or degraded much of Montserrat's terrestrial ecosystems, undoubtedly with additional major negative impacts on the avifauna.

Changes in parrot diversity after human arrival to the Caribbean

“…ventralis , a modern tissue of A. ventralis , and three Bahamian samples originally identified as A. leucocephala , namely two early-mid Holocene fossils from New Providence (UF 416285) and Long Island (UF 540224), and an archaeological bone from Grand Turk (~1,100 y old; GT3-FS-345). Fragmentary skeletal elements of A. ventralis and A. leucocephala are difficult to distinguish morphologically ( 37 ), perhaps not surprising given their close genetic affinities.…”

“…However, five bones of an unknown Amazona species were recovered from the Trants archaeological site on the island ( 26 ). Indigenous pottery from Trants is classified as Saladoid, indicating that the site may have been occupied as early as ~500 BC ( 37 ). This unknown species of Amazona is much smaller than any living Lesser Antillean species of Amazona , resembling extant Greater Antillean species in size ( 37 ).…”

“…Indigenous pottery from Trants is classified as Saladoid, indicating that the site may have been occupied as early as ~500 BC ( 37 ). This unknown species of Amazona is much smaller than any living Lesser Antillean species of Amazona , resembling extant Greater Antillean species in size ( 37 ). With these morphological affinities to Greater Antillean species of Amazona , the archaeological samples from Trants may represent either an extinct species once found on Montserrat or a human-translocated Greater Antillean species.…”