Interacting Pre-Columbian Amerindian Societies and Environments: Insights from Five Millennia of Archaeological Invertebrate Record on the Saint-Martin Island (French Lesser Antilles)

Abstract

Archaeological research, conducted on the French part of Saint-Martin, in the Lesser Antilles, documents the history of Amerindian communities on this island from the 4th millennium BC to the 15th century AD. Eight sites, spanning almost completely this sequence, have yielded extensive assemblages of invertebrate remains. Analysis and comparison of these assemblages with contemporaneous settlements from nearby islands reveal trends in the ways Amerindian communities exploited these resources. These results, especially when contrasted with a palaeo-climatic frame recently produced for Saint-Martin, reflect the intricate ways in which anthropic and natural systems interact.

Technological analysis and experimental reproduction of the techniques of perforation of quartz beads from the Ceramic period in the Antilles

“…to about 500/750 cal A.D. depending on the regions of the archipelago (Bérard, 2019). Their economy was based on shellfish harvesting, fishing, hunting, and slash-and-burn cultivation of various plants imported from the mainland (Bérard and Giraud, 2006;Giovas, 2019;Pagan-Jimenez, 2011;Serrand and Bonnissent, 2018). In addition to a complex and diversified ceramic production (zoomorphic effigy vessels, incense burners, dishes, pots, bowls and bell-shaped vessels), displaying very elaborate decorations (painted, incised), most of the tools are produced on shell, and from diverse rocks, local or imported from other islands (Bérard, 2004;Knippenberg, 2007).…”

Technological analysis and experimental reproduction of the techniques of perforation of quartz beads from the Ceramic period in the Antilles

“…During the Early Ceramic Age,, a population of pioneering horticulturists and ceramists, known as being part of Saladoid tradition, occupied the entire Lesser Antilles (Bérard, 2013). Their economy was based on shellfish harvesting, fishing, hunting, and slash-and-burn cultivation of various plants imported from the mainland (Bérard and Giraud, 2006;Giovas, 2019;Pagan-Jimenez, 2011;Serrand and Bonnissent, 2018). In addition to a complex and diversified ceramic production (zoomorphic effigy vessels, incense burners, dishes, pots, bowls and bell-shaped vessels), displaying very elaborate decorations (painted, incised), most of the tools were produced from shell and diverse rocks, locally available or imported from other islands and even from the continent (Bérard, 2004;Knippenberg, 2007;Queffelec et al, 2018;Knaf et al, 2021).…”