Trinkets (f)or Treasure? The role of European material culture in intercultural contacts in Hispaniola during early colonial times Floris W.M. Keehnen Trinkets (f)or Treasure? THESIS TO OBTAIN THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN ARCHAEOLOGY – RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN NATIVE AMERICA – FACULTY OF ARCHAEOLOGY – LEIDEN UNIVERSITY Trinkets (f)or Treasure? The role of European material culture in intercultural contacts in Hispaniola during early colonial times Floris W.M. Keehnen Student number: 0518387 Course Code: ARCH 1046WTY Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinne L. Hofman Den Haag, June 2012 Floris W.M. Keehnen Conradkade 162 2517 CK Den Haag The Netherlands [email protected] (+31)617118999 Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University © Floris W.M. Keehnen 2012 Cover image: Christopher Columbus at Hispaniola, (after) 1594 engraving by Theodor de Bry, Plate IX of Americae Pars Quarta, Sive, insignis & admiranda historia de reperta primùm Occidentali India à Christophoro Colombo anno MCCCCXCII. Scripta ab Hieronymo Bezono ... Addita ad singula ferè capita ... scholia [...] ('Grand Voyages to America', vol. 4). Reproduced in Winsor (ed) 1886, The Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. 2. Source: http://www.art-prints-on-demand.com. “One man's trash is another man's treasure ” Contents Acknowledgements 1 | Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Setting the scene: cultures in contact in the Caribbean ................................................................ 12 1.2 Current state of affairs and research questions ............................................................................ 15 1.3 Thesis structure and chapter outline ............................................................................................. 19 2 | From Contact to Colonialism: Intercultural Interactions in Theory ..................................................... 23 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 A reorientation: the colonial network and indigenous agency .................................................... 24 2.3 A tripartite typology of colonialism ............................................................................................... 27 2.4 Mixing up terms: culture contact and colonialism ........................................................................ 34 2.5 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 36 3 | Trade and Commerce in Medieval Europe ............................................................................................. 39 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 39 3.2 Reshaping relations in the Early Middle Ages ............................................................................... 39 3.3 The crusaders and commercial contacts of the High Middle Ages .............................................. 41 3.4 Variety is the spice of life: contacts with Asia ............................................................................... 47 3.5 About camels and gold: contacts with Africa................................................................................ 49 3.6 The current to the sea: maritime exploration in the Late Middle Ages ....................................... 51 3.7 In the name of the Crown: the exploitation of the Atlantic islands and their native inhabitants ............................................................................................................................................ 56 3.8 God, Gold and Glory: Columbus in the context of late medieval society ..................................... 59 3.9 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 63 4 | Interaction and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian Caribbean ................................................................. 65 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 65 4.2 The physical setting ........................................................................................................................ 65 4.3 Populating the West Indies: a synopsis of Caribbean cultural developments ............................. 68 4.4 Caribbean inhabitants of the Late Ceramic Age ........................................................................... 72 4.4.1 Lucayans ................................................................................................................................ 73 4.4.2 Guanahatabey and Ciboney ................................................................................................. 73 4.4.3 Macorix and Ciguayo ............................................................................................................ 74 4.4.4 Island Caribs and Igneri ........................................................................................................ 74 4.4.5 Taíno ..................................................................................................................................... 75 4.5 Caribbean exchange networks: an archaeological history ........................................................... 79 4.5.1 The Lithic/Archaic Age (2500-500 B.C.) ................................................................................ 80 4.5.2 The Early Ceramic Age or Saladoid period (500 B.C. - c. A.D. 650/800) ............................. 82 4.5.3 The Late Ceramic Age I (c. A.D. 650/800-1200) ................................................................... 85 4.5.4 The Late Ceramic Age II (A.D. 1200-1500) ............................................................................ 86 4.6 Late Ceramic Age social valuables ................................................................................................. 87 4.6.1 Three-pointed stones ........................................................................................................... 87 4.6.2 Stone collars and elbow stones ........................................................................................... 88 4.6.3 Ceremonial seats (duhos) .................................................................................................... 88 4.6.4 Shamanic paraphernalia ...................................................................................................... 89 4.6.5 Gold artefacts and guanines ................................................................................................. 89 4.6.6 Personal adornments........................................................................................................... 90 4.6.7 Tools and domestic items .................................................................................................... 91 4.7 Conclusions: the Late Ceramic Age Caribbean on the eve of contact ......................................... 91 5 | The Colonial Period .................................................................................................................................. 95 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 95 5.2 Telling the story: the colonial history of Hispaniola and the ‘New World’ ................................... 95 5.2.1 European arrival in the ‘New World’ .................................................................................... 95 5.2.2 Columbus’s second voyage: an unwelcome surprise .......................................................... 97 5.2.3 Rebellion and a third voyage ................................................................................................ 101 5.2.4 After Columbus: Nicolás de Ovando, Diego Colón and the near extinction of the Indians ........................................................................................................................................... 103 5.3 Chaotic contacts: Spanish-Taíno relationships during the colonial period .................................. 105 5.3.1 Another world: strange creatures and mythical beings ...................................................... 105 7 5.3.2 Differing attitudes and the processes of interaction .......................................................... 109 5.4 Trade and exchange in colonial Hispaniola ................................................................................... 112 5.4.1 A Spanish perspective: how trade was to be organised ..................................................... 112 5.4.2 The earliest exchanges: the log of Columbus ..................................................................... 115 5.4.3 Exchange on the higher level: interactions with the local elite .......................................... 119 5.4.4 Spanish provisioning and supply lists .................................................................................. 124 5.4.5 Synthesis: early exchanges, 1492-1495 ................................................................................ 125 5.4.6 The collecting of tribute......................................................................................................