Stone artefact production and exchange among the northern Lesser Antilles

This work discusses the exchange of stone materials and artefacts among the northern Lesser Antilles during the Ceramic Age (500 BC - AD 1492). Through the systematic analysis of source materials and a comparison of these with lithic artefacts, the provenance of a significant portion of stone material found at a number of prehistoric Amerindian habitation sites located on different islands from Puerto Rico to Martinique was determined. Following this the distribution of three specific materials, including a variety of flint from Long Island, Antigua, a grey-green mudstone and a multi-coloured conglomerate, both form St. Martin, were specified. These distribution patterns along with data on the production of the artefacts were used to determine the mode of exchange that was responsible for their spread. From these data it appeared that inter-island exchange was a recurrent feature among Amerindian society in the Caribbean throughout the entire Ceramic Age. Furthermore the differences in distributions through time could be related to changes in socio-political organisation within the region and supported the notion of increasing competition within society.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-z7v-2wz7
PID https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-fjq-vjn
Metadata Access https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=oai:easy.dans.knaw.nl:easy-dataset:2340
Provenance
Creator Knippenberg, Sebastiaan
Publisher Department of Caribbean Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University
Contributor Department of Caribbean Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University
Publication Year 2007
Rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess; DANS License; https://dans.knaw.nl/en/about/organisation-and-policy/legal-information/DANSLicence.pdf
OpenAccess false
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Text
Format application/pdf
Discipline Ancient Cultures; Archaeology; Humanities; Prehistory
Spatial Coverage Caribbean; Lesser Antilles