Similarity in Variation

The Late Ceramic Age (LCA) in the Caribbean is known for its’ great cultural diversity. However, Similarity in Variation focusses on illustrating cultural similarities between LCA settlements on the basis of grave assemblages. The goal is to mirror the cultural subseries defined on the basis of ceramic typology, and support them with cultural similarities encountered in grave assemblages. In order to demonstrate this similarity a range of variance is designed using grave assemblages from two LCA sites: Maisabel on Puerto Rico, and The Tutu Archaeological Village site on St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. The purpose of the range of variance is to show that, when a burial is different from what is generally encountered in the grave assemblage, the type of differentiated treatment corresponds to that encountered at other sites, thus illustrating cultural similarity. The range of variance thus encompasses elements which only rarely occurred in both assemblages of the above-mentioned...Show moreThe Late Ceramic Age (LCA) in the Caribbean is known for its’ great cultural diversity. However, Similarity in Variation focusses on illustrating cultural similarities between LCA settlements on the basis of grave assemblages. The goal is to mirror the cultural subseries defined on the basis of ceramic typology, and support them with cultural similarities encountered in grave assemblages. In order to demonstrate this similarity a range of variance is designed using grave assemblages from two LCA sites: Maisabel on Puerto Rico, and The Tutu Archaeological Village site on St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. The purpose of the range of variance is to show that, when a burial is different from what is generally encountered in the grave assemblage, the type of differentiated treatment corresponds to that encountered at other sites, thus illustrating cultural similarity. The range of variance thus encompasses elements which only rarely occurred in both assemblages of the above-mentioned sites, such as the presence of grave goods or the absence of certain skeletal elements. Next, the range of variance was applied to two contemporary sites on the Lesser Antilles: Kelbey’s Ridge on Saba, and Pointe de Caille on St. Lucia. All the elements in the range of variance found representatives at these two sites. A minority of the buried individuals were thus subject to a differentiated treatment after death. The occurrence of the same variations in treatment illustrates the cultural parallels between sites. Cultural diversity between sites was demonstrated by the presence of an element of variation in mortuary practice seen only at one of the four sites, such as the usage of fire in a funerary context at Kelbey’s Ridge.Show less

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Similarity in Variation