Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-2015 Late Taino Occupation of Jamaica: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Materials from the Bluefields Bay Site Diana M. Azevedo Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Azevedo, Diana M., "Late Taino Occupation of Jamaica: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Materials from the Bluefields Bay Site" (2015). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 4412. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4412 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LATE TAÍNO OCCUPATION OF JAMAICA: A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF FAUNAL MATERIALS FROM THE BLUEFIELDS BAY SITE by Diana M. Azevedo A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Anthropology Approved: Dr. David Byers Dr. Patricia Lambert Major Professor Committee Member Dr. Phaedra Budy Dr. Mark McLellan Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERISTY Logan, Utah 2015 ii Copyright © Diana M. Azevedo 2015 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Late Taíno Occupation of Jamaica: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Materials from the Bluefields Bay Site by Diana M. Azevedo, Master of Science Utah State University, 2015 Major Professor: Dr. David Byers Program: Anthropology My thesis seeks to answer the broad questions: can foragers alter marine resources in island settings and can zooarchaeological data provide insights into these changes. To begin understanding these broad issues, I focus on a faunal sample from a site located in Belmont, Jamaica, near the Bluefields Bay marine sanctuary. The site dates to the late Taíno occupation of Jamaica, known as Meillacan Ostionoid (cal A.D. 900 to 1500). My central hypothesis suggests that human predation led to a decrease in large-bodied, high- ranked fish populations through time, a concept known as resource depression. Resource depression follows the logical outcomes of the prey choice model from behavioral ecology. To reveal signals of resource depression and declining foraging efficiency, I iv calculated two relative abundance indices, measured changes in fish body size, and calculated three diversity indices measuring different aspects of fish community composition. The results of my analyses suggest that resource depression is occurring based on decreasing body size of fishes, and changes in community composition consistent with expectations drawn from the prey choice model. Returning to the broader questions, I calculated the same diversity indices and determined new relative abundance indices for a trans-Caribbean dataset that revealed similar trends as those seen in the Bluefields Bay faunal sample. (209 Pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Late Taíno Occupation of Jamaica: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Materials from the Bluefields Bay Site Diana M. Azevedo My thesis seeks to answer the broad questions: can early foragers alter marine resources in island settings and can archaeological data provide insights into these changes. These questions highlight two important issues. The first issue reflects the common belief that small-scale societies did not affect their environments. The second issue centers on growing concern over the collapse of fisheries across the globe. To answer these questions, I use fish bones recovered from an archaeological site located in Belmont, Jamaica near the Bluefields Bay marine sanctuary. The Bluefields Bay site dates to the late Taíno occupation of Jamaica. The name Taíno refers to the peoples who greeted Columbus. I conduct my analyses through the identification of the faunal bones to lowest taxonomic level, and apply the theoretical tool known as resource depression to detect declines in the relative abundance of large-bodied fishes, reductions in fish body size, and changes to fish community composition. I found significant changes in body size and diversity of fishes through time, pointing to shifts in the marine ecosystem due to human exploitation that occurred nearly a thousand years ago. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, along with contacts in Jamaica, including Roderick Ebank and Wolde Kristos, for making available to me the faunal sample from Bluefields Bay and for allowing me to visit their beautiful island. I would also like to thank the Anthropology Department for funding my research in Jamaica and for funding supplies needed to conduct my research. Moreover, I thank Lisa Nagaoka for her advice and insight. I would especially like to thank my committee members, Drs. David Byers, Patricia Lambert, and Phaedra Budy, for their support and assistance throughout the entire process. In addition, I would like to thank Martin Welker and Sarah Potter for helping with the taxonomic class identification process and Ryan Breslawski for his willingness to discuss all things zooarchaeological. I give special thanks to my husband, Steve, who made great sacrifices in time and money to support me as I followed my dreams. In addition, I thank my family, friends, and colleagues for their encouragement, moral support, and patience as I have worked my way through the initial proposal writing to this final document. I could not have done it without all of you. Diana M. Azevedo vii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BLUEFIELDS BAY THESIS RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATION ...................................................................................... 1 Research Design.............................................................................................. 3 Thesis Organization ........................................................................................ 7 2. JAMAICAN AND CARIBBEAN GEOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGY ... 10 The Geography and Geology of the West Indies and Jamaica ..................... 11 Caribbean Culture History and the Taíno ..................................................... 18 Jamaican Prehistory and the Gap in Knowledge .......................................... 26 3. CARIBBEAN AND JAMAICAN FISHERIES AND FISHES ......................... 31 Human Impacts on Caribbean and Jamaican Fisheries: Past and Present .... 31 Caribbean Fishes and their Vulnerability to Overexploitation ..................... 44 4. METHODS OF ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: SITE DESCRIPTION AND THE COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA ........................................... 60 Bluefields Bay Site Description and Field Work .......................................... 60 Faunal Analysis ............................................................................................. 65 5. THEORETICAL METHODS OF ANALYSIS: GENERATING SECONDARY DATA ................................................................................................................. 79 viii Theoretical Background and Analytical Methods: Foraging Theory ........... 80 Theoretical Background and Analytical Methods: Diversity Measures ....... 90 6. SPECIMEN COUNTS, SPECIES ABUNDANCES, AND RESULTS OF THE BLUEFIELDS BAY FAUNAL SAMPLE ......................................................... 98 Primary Data Results ................................................................................... 98 Secondary Data Results ............................................................................. 106 7. DISCUSSION OF BLUEFIELDS BAY ANALYSES RESULTS AND A COMPARISON TO REGIONAL PATTERS .................................................. 111 Bluefields Bay Analyses Results ............................................................... 112 Trans-Caribbean Studies ........................................................................... 125 8. REVIEW OF THESIS RESEARCH ................................................................ 144 RERFERENCES CITED .............................................................................................. 147 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 162 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................... 163 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................ 186 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Culture History Details Used by Caribbean Archaeologists ............................... 19 2 Attributes of Fishes that Increase Chances of Overexploitation and Reduce Populations, adapted from Roberts and Hawkins (1999) ...................... 45 3 Jamaican Fish and the Characteristics, Behaviors, and Physical Features That Lead to Increased