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The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern of Nevis, West Indies

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The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern of Nevis, West Indies 427 The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern of Nevis, West Indies SamuelM. Wilson University of Texas Austin, Texas Thispaper reportsthe resultsof an intensivesettlement survey ofNevis, a volcanicisland of 132 sq km in the LeewardIslands of the LesserAntilles. Twenty-onesites were discovered from threemajor periods-the aceramicin the last millenniumB.C., the Saladoidin the first 600 yearsA.c., and the Ostionoidperiod dating from 600 A.c. until Europeancon- tact. The implicationsof the distributionof settlementsand their artifact assemblagesfor theprehistory of the LeewardIslands are discussed. Introduction Puerto Rico, the easternmost of the Greater Antilles. The This paper presents the results of three seasons of ar- Lesser Antilles can be subdivided into groups on the basis chaeological research on the settlement history of Nevis, of several criteria; geologically, they comprise four major a small member of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser units. Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados, near the Vene- Antilles (FIG. 1). The data reported here are from the zuelan coast, are extensions of the mainland land mass. settlement survey of the island, surface collections from On the Nw end of the island chain, the Virgin Islands are the 21 sites located, and test excavations undertaken at 4 extensions of the fault block mountains of Puerto Rico sites. The paper focuses on the history of prehistoric set- and the rest of the Greater Antilles. The main part of the tlement on Nevis and on the implications of these data Lesser Antillean archipelago is divided into two parallel for the regional settlement history and prehistoric popu- arcs, the inner (sw) one consisting of primarily volcanic lation dynamics of the Leeward Islands. In particular,the islands, and the outer (NE) of uplifted sedimentary for- possibility of a period of rapid population growth in the mations. The sedimentary and igneous arcs are the edges last half of the 1st millennium A.c. is discussed, and the of a subduction zone into which the expanding Atlantic settlement history of Nevis is considered with special ref- plate is being forced beneath the relatively immobile Ca- erence to that question. ribbean plate. This tectonic dynamism accounts for the The researchon the island of Nevis is part of an ongoing volcanism along this plate boundary (Blume 1974). project to expand our understanding of the prehistoric Another subclassification of the Lesser Antilles--di- settlement history of the Leeward Islands. This small re- vided into the Windward and Leeward islands-is based gion (FIG. 2), lying between the large islands of the partly on geographical and partly on historical criteria. Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and The Windwards trend N-s from Trinidad to Guadeloupe. Cuba) and the N-S trending chain of the Windward Is- The Leewards, in this traditional division dating to the lands (from Guadeloupe south to Grenada) is important British Colonial period, begin above Guadeloupe and an- to our understanding of Caribbean prehistory both geo- gle to the Nw. Most of the Windward Islands are relatively graphically and conceptually. Although the research pre- large and together total more than 12,000 sq km. The sented here is confined in scope and preliminaryin nature, Leeward Islands are generally smaller, totalling only ca. it is intended as a contribution to a growing body of 2000 sq km (Blume 1974). information about the Leeward Island region (Armstrong From Nevis' shores one can see the other islands in the 1978; Davis 1974, 1982; Goodwin 1979, in press; Hoff- volcanic chain of the Leeward Islands: Saba, St. Eustatius, man 1973, 1979; Josselin de Jong 1947; Nicholson and St. Kitts to the Nw and Redonda and Montserrat to 1976a, 1976b, 1983; Rouse 1976; Versteeg 1987; Wat- the SE. To the east, one can just see the low outline of ters 1980; Wilson 1985). Antigua, but the other major sedimentary islands in the arc to the St. St. Nevis and the Leeward Islands north-Barbuda, Barthelemy, Martin, and Anguilla-are below the horizon. The arc of islands known as the Lesser Antilles stretches Two hundred years of plantation sugar cultivation from Venezuela on the South American mainland to (which virtually ended on Nevis before the middle of this This content downloaded from 129.252.86.83 on Sun, 25 Oct 2015 17:52:01 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 428 PrehistoricSettlement ofNevis/Wilson century) resulted in extreme damage to the island's eco- canes build and rebuild beach ridges and lagoons, system, both onshore and off (Hall 1971; Pulsipher recycling the shifting sands. With the decreasing economic 1977). Clearing and cultivating sugar on the coastal plains viability of sugar cultivation, some of the lagoons have caused devastating erosion on most of the island's cultiv- been drained or filled for cocoanut cultivation, reducing able area, and especially on the island's windward (SE) the leeward coast's ability to absorb the impact of hurri- coast. As a result, historical populations have moved canes (Butzer 1976: 222-242). higher up the slopes, and capture nearly all of the runoff The upper portion of Nevis Peak receives more than from Nevis Peak to obtain water for irrigation and drink- 2500 mm of rain a year ("Nevis" is anglicized from Co- ing (ECNAMP 1980). Free-grazing goats, sheep, cattle, lumbus' name for the island, Nuestra Sefora de las Nieves, and pigs have ravaged the vegetation that would otherwise based on the nearly-constant veil of snow-like clouds on help to stem wind and water erosion. The nearly total its summit).' The windward coast now receives less than erosion of large areas of topsoil, coupled with the change 1000 mm of rainfall annually (ECNAMP 1980: map 2). in island hydrology, has reduced the supply of runoff On average, rainfall is lowest in February, March, and nutrients to Nevis' windward reefs. Approximately 80% April, but periods of drought or heavy rain can occur at of the windward reefs are no longer active. The breakup any time of year. of the fringing reef has itself contributed to extensive and Temperatures are relatively constant year-round. Au- accelerating coastal erosion on the windward coast of the gust, September, and October (hurricane season) have the island, where sea cliffs of unconsolidated volcanic gravels highest average temperature of 290 C (84.20 F), and Jan- as high as 25 m have developed. uary has the lowest at 270 C (80.60 F) (Blume 1974: 21). On the western coast of the island more fa- leeward, 1. There is some as to which of the Leeward Islands Colum- vorable have allowed more stable beach devel- question conditions bus named for its crown of clouds but it was upon Nevis that the name opment. Ongoing beach formation processes and hurri- finally stuck. Figure 1. Map of the islands of the Caribbean. 820 740 660 580 *J 500 km N 0 24?2 2 . 0 Bahamas 24- -200 200/ Leeward Islands . /" Greater Antilles Nevis •1f' Windward Islands South America South America This content downloaded from 129.252.86.83 on Sun, 25 Oct 2015 17:52:01 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Journalof Field ArchaeologylVol. 16, 1989 429 Dominican Republic N Virgin= Islands 18 180 18- Rico : St. Kitts-. Antigua Nevis /o ~> S.Guadeloupe Dominica 1 -150 150 B Martinique Barbados 12 Grenada 120 JTrinidad Venezuela 300 km 660 630 60 Figure 2. Map of the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. The intensive cultivation of sugar has transformed the were eaten by the Precolumbian people of the Greater and vegetation of the Leeward Islands to such an extent that Lesser Antilles, and included arrowroot, cocoanut, guay- it is difficult to reconstruct the precolonial flora with ac- aba, papaya, and mamey apple (Rouse 1948: 523-524). curacy (Beard 1949; Goodwin 1979: 30-50). The effects These plants, and probably others that are unidentified, of altitude and the corresponding variations in rainfalland complemented the protein-rich diet of seafoods and ter- temperature would have produced a series of tropical for- restrial animals. Land mammals are few in the Caribbean, est types that were stratified vertically (Beard 1949; Pul- but the hutia (Geocapromys)and Oryzomine rodents are sipher 1977). The coast and lower slopes of the cone common in later prehistoric deposits. The agouti (Dasy- would have been covered with dry-evergreen forests, procta aguti) was introduced from South America by ab- probably consisting of various pines (Tabebuia sp., Piso- original colonists (Wing in press). Iguanas (Cyclura and nonia sp.) and deciduous trees (Lonchocarpussp.). The Iguana) were other important terrestrial species, along higher slopes and peaks were true rainforests dominated with Gecarcinusand Cardisoma land crabs. A variety of by gumlin (Dacryodes excelsa) and burrwood (Sloanea birds was exploited, although never in great numbers, spp.), comprising what Beard (1949: 61) has called the including the families Columbidae, Laridae, Rallidae, Ar- Dacryodes-Sloaneaassociation. The cabbage palm (Euterpe deidae, Podicipidae, and particularly the Procellariidae globosa) was an important element of this association; its (Wing in press; Wing and Scudder 1983). Larger sea heart was eaten either raw or boiled by the Island Caribs animals include the sea turtles, possibly the manatee (Tri- of the Lesser Antilles (Goodwin 1979: 38-39). Many chechusmanatus) (Wing, Ray, and Hoffman 1968), and other cultigens, some introduced to the region by humans, the West Indian monk seal (Monachustropicalus) (Good- This content downloaded from 129.252.86.83 on Sun, 25 Oct 2015 17:52:01 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 430 PrehistoricSettlement ofNevis/Wilson win 1979: 47; Elizabeth Wing, personal communication, in parentheses for all dates) from the aceramic GE-6 site 1989). An extremely diverse collection of shellfish, shallow on Nevis (Hichmans'Shell Heap, discussedbelow) indi- and deep-reef fish, and pelagic fish also appears in the cates that this conclusion may be premature.
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