Vertebrates from archaeological sites on Montserrat, West Indies

Abstract

We report our identifications of fish, reptile, bird, and mammal bones from two archaeological sites on Montserrat. The sites, known as Trant's and Radio Antilles, both represent the Saladoid culture, a ceramic-producing people who colonized the Lesser Antilles approximately 2000 years ago. As indicated by the vertebrate remains we have identified, the Saladoid peoples of Montserrat used both the marine and terrestrial vertebrates of the region. The former are represented by fish and sea turtles. The fish remains include forms characteristic of both deep and shallow waters. Terrestrial vertebrates are represented by iguanas, a variety of birds (mostly pigeons and doves), at least two species of extinct oryzomyine rodents, and a bat. Two other mammals recovered from the sites, the agouti and the dog, are not indigenous to Montserrat but were transported there by Saladoid peoples. Although this sample of 746 bones reveals some important new records for the vertebrate fauna of Montserrat (especially the extinct rodents), it is too small to provide a definitive picture of the prehistoric man-animal relationships on this island.

Vertebrates from archaeological sites on Barbuda, West Indies

“…1), part of the results of which is discussed herein. Vertebrate remains from Montserrat's sites have been described already (Steadman et al, 1984), and papers on the molluscan fauna of each island's sites are being prepared. Contrasts between the marine and terrestrial fauna of these physiographically dissimilar islands will be discussed in detail in future papers.…”

Archaeology of Trants, Montserrat. Part 3. Chronological and settlement data

“…Curiously, there is a small decrease in pH from largely noncultural rocky stratum B downward to the buried stratum Cl midden in column 3, perhaps again reflecting cultural alteration of some sort. In any case, all of these pH values are neutral to basic and they help account for the superb preservation of faunal remains at the Trants site, at least within the midden areas (Steadman et aL, 1984;Reitz, 1994;Reitz and Dukes, 1995).…”

Archaeology of Trants, Montserrat. Part 4. Flaked stone and stone bead industries

“…In North America, some researchers argue that lithic artifacts with crushing and flake scars on opposing margins are not cores at all but instead are tools which were used to split bone and/or wood (e.g., LeBlanc, 1992). In Caribbean contexts, however, it makes more sense that bipolar battered artifacts are cores given the paucity of large mammals in the region prehistorically (e.g., Steadman et al, 1984;Wing, 1989;Pregill et al, 1994;Reitz, 1994), and the presence of both shell and ground stone woodworking tools.…”