PASSAGE TO THE GREATER ANTILLES: AN ANALYSIS OF WATERCRAFT AND THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

Dr. Richard T. Callaghan

ABSTRACT

This analysis was conducted using a model of the marine environment and capabilities of indigenous watercraft. Two experifnertts investigated accidental discovery. One assumed the use of sails; the second assumed watercrafttackihg sails. A third experiment assumed intentional exploration and paddled watercraft.

The results indicate that the Venezuela/ region has the greatest potential for drift or intentional voyages to the Greater Antilles. Environmental conditions in the third millennium favoured the Venezuela/Colombia region more than present conditions.

Island chains are not a necessary condition for human colonization of the Greater Antilles. The mid- Caribbean island chain does not appear to have existed at a relevant time. If these islands had existed, passage between them would not have been easy.

INTRODUCTION

The subject of this work is the mainland origin and passage of the first Antillean population. Though some evidence now suggests that later archaic populations moved north through the Lesser Antilles, the first population of the Greater Antilles does not appear to have taken this route. This population, bearing a lithic technology which may be referred to as belonging to a "large blade tradition," (Bullen 1976) has its earliest dates in Cuba. The mainland technologies most similar to the earliest in the Antilles are from Belize and Venezuela, but other possibilities have been suggested.

Many regions relevant to this study are poorly known archaeologically. Also, some parts of the mainland coast are now inundated. Thus the more common archaeological procedures, such as comparisons of lithic technology, are unlikely to succeed without a great deal of further survey and excavation.

An alternate strategy is to identify the more probable areas from which the earliest inhabitants of the Antilles could have come. The strategy I have chosen entailed the collection of information about the performance of indigenous watercraft in terms of speed, leeway, and seaworthiness. A model was designed to analyze this information in the context of past and present marine environments of the and the Gulf of Mexico.

My faith in the use of models to investigate this type of problem is based largely on The Settlement of Polynesia: A Computer Simulation by Levison, Ward, and Webb (1973). Their dispersion model corresponds well with linguistic and other analyses. Further, some of my own predictions concerning navigation problems in Polynesia based on their work have been borne outby actual sea trials (Callaghan 1985). Many aspects of my work are based on the Polynesian model, though the model that I have devised differs substantially in its final form.

64 CALLAGHAN 65

The analysis of sea routes can be used to evaluate many assumptions about routes taken by the first colonizers of the Greater Antilles. Though consideration of the marine environment is contained in some archaeological literature, it has not been detailed or systematic, and little discussion considers the performance of watercraft. The work presented here is not definitive, but it can form a basis for deciding upon locations for future research.

However, it may eventually be shown that the first populations in the Greater Antilles did not originate in the mainland regions from which the easiest passage can be made. This will not invalidate the results of this study. Rather, by determining the difficulty of making specific passages, these studies will form a basis by which to evaluate the level of seagoing technology and competence attained by the earliest cultures in the Greater Antilles. Eventually ¡t may be possible to determine whether the original colonization of the Greater Antilles was intentional and organized or the result of chance events.

Analysis

The evaluation of passages was based on several criteria: duration, observed percent frequency of favourable winds, the number of critical wind shifts involved, size of the target area from a particular approach, viability of the route given the interruption of favourable conditions by prevailing winds, gale and tropical cyclone frequencies, sea and swell condltions.and seasonal variation of these conditions. Since it was the origin and passage of the earliest population of the Greater Antilles that was of interest in this work, a consideration of past environments was necessary. I have argued elsewhere (Callaghan 1991 ) that during the period centred around 6,000-5,000 B.P., wind conditions similar to the present summer may have prevailed throughout the year. The results of the analysis have been interpreted taking this into consideration.

Four vessels, tested ¡n Belize, were used for the analysis. Two were rafts measuring 3.0m x 2.5m and 6.0m x 3.5m. The rafts had crews of seven and nine respectively. The remaining vessels were dugout canoes. One canoe was of the design common to the Maya but which has an extensive distribution around the Gulf and Caribbean coasts. This canoe measured 6.9m x 1.35m x 0.63m. It accommodated a crew of nine. The second canoe was of the design used by the Garifuna, similar to canoes used in Dominica. This canoe measured 7.5m x 1.5m x 0.71 m and could accommodate nine to ten persons. The performance of these craft was used to calculate drift and paddled passages. Performance data for vessels under sail was taken from generalized calculations for sailing rafts and canoes used by Levison, Ward and Webb (1973).

Experiment 1 examined the possibility of chance discovery of the Greater Antilles with vessels equipped with square sails. No attempt was made by the crews to influence the direction or speed of the vessel. Experiment 2 investigated the possibility of chance discovery of the Greater Antilles with the four sailless vessels. As in Experiment 1, no attempt was made by the crew to influence direction or speed. Experiments examined the complexity of intentional navigation to the Greater Antilles from three mainland regions Identified as having high possibilities of success under the goals of Experiments 1 and 2. In this experiment it was assumed that voyagers had a general knowledge of the location of the islands and that wind conditions were those prevailing for each month in the analysis.

Results

At the outset of Experiment 1,19 offshore points of origin (Figure 1 ) were analyzed. Seven points (A, E, F, G, H, N and O) were eliminated from further analysis at an early stage. The routes plotted from 66 PASSAGES TO THE GREATER ANTILLES

those points had significantly lower chances of success than those remaining. These low chances of success are due to long voyage durations, large numbers of critical wind shifts, and relatively low probabilities of encountering favourable winds.

The remaining 12 points form three regions with reasonable chances of success. These regions are the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Northern Central America, and the Venezuela/Colombia coast. The regions were then ranked in order of the possibility of vessels off their coasts drifting to the Greater Antilles. The result was that the Venezuela/Colombia region was ranked as having the highest possibility of success, the Eastern Gulf second, and Northern Central America third. Conditions ca. 6,000-5,000 B.P. do not change the order. However, the chance of success was increased from the Venezuela/Colombia region while it was diminished from the other two regions.

The pattern revealed by Experiment 2 (Figure 2) did not in general differ from Experiment 1. The ranking of the three regions was the same regardless of vessel type. The main difference between Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 was that the pattern revealed was clearer due to the slower overall vessel speeds in relation to wind speed. Though vessels drifting under sail had some chance of success along almost all routes, vessels drifting without sails had diminishing chances of success as the vessel speed in relation to wind speed diminished. In other words, given the four vessels tested in order of their speed of drift, Raft 1, Raft 2, Canoe 1, and Canoe 2, the chances of success falls. The effect was greatest on the Northern Central America coast and second greatest on the Eastern Gulf coast. It had almost no effect on the Venezuela/Colombia region.

With conditions prevailing around 6,000-5,000 B.P., the pattern of Experiment 2 was accentuated. The pattern was the same, but the negative effect on the possibility of success from Northern Central America and the Eastern Gulf was disproportionately large in relation to the effect on passages from the Venezuela/Colombia coast. Given canoes, chance discovery of the Greater Antilles from Northern Central America, in particular, but also for the Eastern Gulf, region was virtually ruled out as a possibility.

Experiment 3 (Figure 3) considered the difficulty of reaching the Greater Antilles from the three mainland regions given intentional paddling in the general direction of the islands and prevailing wind conditions for January, April, July, and October. The four watercraft used in Experiment 2 were also used here.

The results were very clear when rafts were considered. The only region with any chance of success was the Venezuela/Colombia coast. However, when the quantities of food and fresh water necessary to maintain a healthy crew were considered, even this region had only a very limited possibility of success. The limits of human endurance (Horvath and Finney 1976) further ruled out success along many of the Venezuela/Colombia routes. Given conditions ca. 6,000-5,000 B.P. more of the voyages from the Venezuela/Colombia region would miss the target area and terminate either in Central America or in atotal loss of the crew.

Though rafts had very limited possibilities of success in this experiment, the canoes had high possibilities from all three regions considered. Despite this, the order of the three regions was still Venezuela/Colombia, the Eastern Gulf, and Northern Central America. The Venezuela/Colombia region as a whole was favoured because of slightly shorter durations. That region was more strongly favoured when human endurance was considered because failure to maintain speeds delayed success but did not prevent it or necessitate any great degree of navigational skill; that is, course corrections were not required as would be the case for the other two regions. The greater predictability of winds in the Venezuela/ CALLAGHAN 67

Colombia region also means that less risk and less skill were required. Finally, conditions ca. 6,000-5,000 B.P., favoured the Venezuela/Colombia region.

In Experiment3, routes that were unsuccessful were not necessarily impossible. Unsuccessful here means that crews have to be willing to take risks, in many cases substantial risks, that favourable winds at the beginning of a voyage would continue for its duration.

Discussion

Arguments have been made (Cruxent and Rouse 1969) that lower sea levels ca. 7,000 B.P. would have exposed portions of the Nicaraguan Rise and that passage between the resultant islands would have been easy. However, data presented by Widmer (1988:139-149) for Holocene sea level changes in south Florida suggest a -20 m sea level at 7,000 B.P. relative to the present. Admittedly this calculation does not consider tectonic movement, but neither do authors espousing an entry into the Antilles via the mid- Caribbean island chain, and it appears to be the best data currently available.

Given a -20 m sea level (Figure 4) very little land would be exposed. All of would still be submerged, only a small portion of Rosalind Bank would emerge and the only significant addition of land would be Banco Gorda. Much of the land exposed would actually have been awash. The gap between Rosalind Bank and would still have been about 175 miles. For the mid-Caribbean island chain to have been in existence at 7,000 B.P, either Florida has to be shown to have risen, which seems doubtful from Widmer's arguments, or the Nicaraguan Rise has to be shown to have subsided.

If it is assumed simply for the sake of argument that the 30 m contour was the sea level at 7,000 B.P. the work presented here can be used to postulate the ease of navigation from the resultant islands to the Greater Antilles. First, at 7,000 B.P. the tradewinds would have been stronger and more persistent than at present though perhaps not quite to the extent as between 6,000 and 5,000 B.P.. More frequent southeast winds and an almosttotal absence of west winds would have increased the force and steadiness of the clockwise current flow. Secondly, the present constriction of water flow between Jamaica and Central America causes the currents to increase speed. Further constriction of these waters would promote greater speed. This area is already considered dangerous for navigation, in part because of the speed and roughness of the current (DMAH/TC PUB. 147:941985). A narrower channel coupled with awind driven increase in the current force would result in a very formidable current. Even under present conditions no drift voyages from Central America, either with sails or without, made landfall on Jamaica, which has been hypothesized to be part of the island hopping route. Afewdugouts made landfall in Jamaica when intentwas examined but no rafts were successful. The distance between Rosalind Bank and Pedro Bank is only 80 miles. If the present summer current speed was doubled to three kn, a reasonable proposition given that currents in the Florida Straits can at present be above 4.5 kn, a sailing vessel would require a following northwest wind of about Force 5 for in excess of three days. Though not impossible, the speeds required are beyond those for drift with either canoes or rafts lacking sails. Given intent as in Experiment 3, rafts could not make this crossing even knowing the exact course to steer, although with the assistance of a following wind the canoes do have some chance of success. If the current speed is raised to four kn, the proposition is virtually impossible without a Force 6 following wind, sails and a knowledge of the exact course to steer. ^

68 PASSAGES TO THE GREATER ANTILLES

Two mainland regions have lithic technologies similar to the large blade technologies the Greater Antilles. These two regions are Belize and western Venezuela/eastern Colombia. The Sand Hill and Orange Walk phases in Belize are too early and develop in ways that I feel rule out direct relationship with the Greater Antilles. This analysis gives the Northern Central America region the lowest chance of accidentally discovering the Greater Antilles either with sails or without. Intentional discovery using rafts is almost completely ruled out and with dugouts and intent the region was ranked last. Veloz and Vega (1982) hypothesized an ancestral relationship between the unifacial industries of El Jobo from western Venezuela. The development that they see of cultures with bifacial industries that are becoming more unifacial in nature as the subsistence pattern changes to an archaic mode does leave room for a genetic relationship to the Greater Antilles. Cultures descended from El Jobo and temporally more compatible with the early materials from the Greater Antilles have yet to be defined. However the results of the three experiments conducted here all favour this region as the source of the first peoples colonizing the Greater Antilles, and cultures with a more direct relationship with the large blade tradition of the Antilles might be expected to be found there. If this proves not to be the case it will suggest that the initial occupation of the Greater Antilles was intentional by peoples with relatively advanced seagoing technology and knowledge of navigation.

REFERENCES CITED Bullen, Ripley P. 1976 Did Palaeolithic, Archaic, and Formative Man Enter the Antilles from Florida. XLI International Congress of Americanists, Mexico City, 1974 3:592-599. Callaghan, R.T. 1991 The Origins of the Preceramic Cultures of the Greater Antilles. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Calgary. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. 1985 Comments on Models of Polynesian Dispersal. Ms. on file, Department of Achaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary. Cruxent, Jose M. and Irving Rouse 1969 Early Man in the West Indies. Scientific American 221 (5):42-52. Defence Mapping Agency Hydrographie/Topographie Center 1985 Pub. 147. Sailing Directions for the Caribbean Sea, Vol. II. U.S. Defence Mapping Agency Hydrographie/Topographie Center, Washington D.C.. Horvath, S.M. and B.R. Finney 1976 Paddling Experiments and the Question of Polynesian Voyaging. In Polynesian Navigation and Voyaging, edited by B.R. Finney, pp 47-54. Polynesian Society Memoir No. 39, Wellington. Levison, M., R.G. Ward, and J.W. Webb 1973 The Settlement of Polynesia: A Computer Simulation. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. Veloz, Maggiolo, Marcio and Bernardo Vega 1982 The Antillean Preceramic: A New Approximation. Journal of New World Archaeology 5(2):33-44. Widmer, R.J. 1988 The Evolution of the Calusa. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa. 105° _l Figure 1: Research Area, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. PASSAGES TO THE GREATER ANTILLES 70 9r>o 90° Rr,o HO0 7r.° 70° fi1-.0

Figure 3: Maya 3, July. Experiment 3. :

2

-10 mol.ro contour •20 inotro contour

<)r," 90 70" 0*-»" Figure 4: Past Sea Levels.