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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts ANCIENT HUMAN BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND COLONIZATION IN GRENADA, WEST INDIES A Dissertation in Anthropology by Jonathan Andrew Hanna © 2018 Jonathan Andrew Hanna Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2018 The dissertation of Jonathan Andrew Hanna was reviewed and approved* by the following: Douglas J. Kennett Professor of Anthropology Head of the Department of Anthropology Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Douglas W. Bird Associate Professor of Anthropology Kristina G. Douglass Assistant Professor of Anthropology Peter B. Newman Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management Lee A. Newsom Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Professor of Anthropology, Flagler College Special Member William F. Keegan Curator of Caribbean Archaeology, Florida Museum of Natural History Professor of Anthropology, University of Florida Special Member Mary K. Shenk Associate Professor of Anthropology & Demography Director of Graduate Studies *Signatures on file in the Graduate School ABSTRACT The pre-Columbian colonization of the Caribbean is traditionally described as a series of migrations from coastal South America moving northward, island to island, as “stepping-stones.” As the southernmost island in the Antilles archipelago, just 90 miles off Venezuela, the island of Grenada is assumed to be the crucial first “step” in these migrations. However, too little archaeological data was available to substantiate this claim. This dissertation project was designed to fill the gap. Using the Ideal Free Distribution (IFD), a heuristic from Human Behavioral Ecology, a predictive model was built to test areas of high-probability for early settlement on Grenada via an island-wide “radiocarbon survey” that collected artifactual, soil, and radiocarbon samples. Dated samples were refined via Bayesian methods and compared to ceramic evidence to place each site within an island-wide settlement chronology. Modern environmental data was then used to determine suitability rankings and common characteristics of settlement decisions. At present, the results confirm site locations on Grenada followed a pattern consistent with the IFD, which not only allows prediction of previously undiscovered sites but also infers subsistence practices, ecological impacts, and certain cultural values. Grenada’s settlement chronology begins with an early, Archaic Age fisher-forager presence possibly as early as 3-4000 BC, in line with the “stepping-stone” hypothesis. However, Ceramic Age settlements (which appear in Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles by 500 BC) were not established until hundreds of years later than the northernmost islands, despite their origins in South America. This corroborates an emerging hypothesis that the southern Caribbean was largely skipped by the earliest waves iii of Ceramic peoples, perhaps because the social milieu and domesticated landscapes of the northern islands were more attractive. Grenada's peak, pre-Columbian population occurred during a time of heightened climatic unpredictability (AD 750-900), with dramatic changes in material culture (including the appearance of rock art and new ceramic styles) that mimic similar occurrences in lowland South America. Using Resilience Theory as a guide, this research suggests the influx was likely the result of continued immigration from the mainland, probably the Guianas region (comprising modern Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and bordering regions of Venezuela and Brazil). This may also have been the route taken by later Cayo potters (“Island Caribs”) just prior to Spanish Contact. When the French finally settled Grenada in 1649, they reported two distinct indigenous groups— “Caraïbe” and “Galibis.” The Caraïbe were living in villages that had been continuously occupied since the earliest ceramic groups (AD 200-300), and it is argued that they were still making Suazan Troumassoid pottery. The Galibis, on the other hand, were living in sites that align with the arrival of Cayo pottery elsewhere, ~AD 1250. These sites indeed contain Cayo ceramic types. Ultimately, this dissertation lays the baseline for more intensive studies. Now that we know where 87 of the sites are, their general character, and their general chronological placement, more targeted investigations driven by more specific types of questions can be researched. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... x Preface ............................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................................. 3 The Peopling of the Caribbean ............................................................................... 3 Past Research in Grenada ........................................................................................ 7 The Island Ecosystem ............................................................................................. 8 Theoretical Background: The Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) ................................ 12 Resilience Theory ................................................................................................. 17 Research Design ........................................................................................................ 19 Aim 1: Settlement Chronology ............................................................................. 19 Aim 2: Soil Ecology .............................................................................................. 20 Research Methods ..................................................................................................... 22 Predictive Model ................................................................................................... 22 Survey Methods .................................................................................................... 29 Soil Analysis ......................................................................................................... 31 Grain-Size Analysis .............................................................................................. 31 Soil Phosphate (P) Testing .................................................................................... 33 Radiocarbon Dating .............................................................................................. 35 Broader Impacts ........................................................................................................ 40 Organization of the Dissertation ............................................................................... 43 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................... 46 The Windward Islands Archaic Age: New Data from Grenada, West Indies ............ 46 Abstract: .................................................................................................................... 46 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 46 Archaic Colonization of the Lesser Antilles ......................................................... 47 Previous Evidence from Grenada ......................................................................... 50 Methods..................................................................................................................... 52 v Fieldwork .............................................................................................................. 52 Radiocarbon Dating .............................................................................................. 52 Climate and Vegetation ......................................................................................... 54 Results ....................................................................................................................... 55 Site Contexts and Radiocarbon Results ................................................................ 55 Radiocarbon Dates and Vegetation History .......................................................... 62 Discussion: Island Hopping and the Southward Route Hypothesis......................... 65 Old Shells .............................................................................................................. 65 Shell Extraction: A Targeted Resource................................................................. 68 Regional Colonization Patterns: Ortoiroid or Casimiroid? ................................... 71 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 74 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................