First records of modified snake bones in the Pre-Columbian archaeological record of the Lesser Antilles: Cultural and paleoecological implications

Abstract

The past distribution of Boa snakes and their interactions with Pre-Columbian human populations in the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean) remain enigmatic. These snakes currently have a patchy distribution in the islands and are nearly absent from archaeological deposits. This raises questions about whether their absence from Pre-Columbian contexts should be interpreted from a biological or a cultural point of view. In this study, I provide three new references to Boa remains from archaeological and natural deposits on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, most of which were manufactured into beads.These are the first objects in the Lesser Antilles known to be manufactured using snake bones and all appear to be made from Boa, despite a wider diversity of snakes occurring in this region. Using these new observations and combined pieces of evidence from archaeological, historical, and biological data sources, I propose that the extreme scarcity of Boa in zooarchaeological assemblages reflects their prominent status in Pre-Columbian Amerindian communities.

Large-scale reptile extinctions following European colonization of the Guadeloupe Islands

“…2C). The latter was identified in the form of a manufactured bead, and we also demonstrate that it was present in the past on La Désirade, which is part of the same island bank as Basse-Terre Island (54). Unlike most squamate taxa occurring in the archaeological record, Boa snakes were never described by historical chroniclers in Guadeloupe, rendering their extinction date very uncertain.…”

The pre-Columbian site of Roseau (Guadeloupe, F. W. I.): intra-site chronological variability of the subsistence strategies in a Late Ceramic archeological vertebrate assemblage

“…The stratigraphic origin of this object is however lost. To our knowledge this worked bone is unlike any other objects previously uncovered in Lesser Antillean archaeological deposits, and it is also only the third occurrence of a squamate bone worked (Bochaton 2020) and the first for a lizard.…”

“…Other snakes species, as well as eels believed to be their sisters, were also not killed or consumed (Grunberg 2013). These testimonies find an echo in the archaeological record as the bones of the above mentioned taxa lack any trace of consumption, and are either very rarely found or found only as manufactured artifacts in Amerindian deposits (Ramos Roca and Perez Iglesias 2015;Bochaton et al 2019b;Bochaton 2020).…”

The anurans and squamates assemblage from Final Natufian Eynan (Ain Mallaha, Israel) with an emphasis on snake-human interactions

“…Only eight vertebrae were recovered, and it seems vipers were intentionally avoided. There are those who would argue, however, that the scarcity or absence of a particular snake taxon in an archaeological site may hint to its special status in the society studied [ 81 ].…”

“…The role of snakes in the symbolic world. Besides their role in healing, snake products can be exploited as artisanal products; for ornamental use [74,[79][80][81] or as amulets and as charms to ward off the evil spirit or for good luck [61,75,82]. Sporadic finds of snake bones in ritual associations were reported from several archaeological sites: in a Danish Middle Bronze Age grave (p. 129 in [83]), in the Iron Age Qalat al-Bahrain snake burials [84] and in an Early Roman cistern in the Sanctuary of Poseidon [85].…”