This thesis contextualizes the archaeological site of San Hironimo, a former contact site on Curaçao by comparing the settlement layout and the material culture to other contact sites in the...Show moreThis thesis contextualizes the archaeological site of San Hironimo, a former contact site on Curaçao by comparing the settlement layout and the material culture to other contact sites in the broader Caribbean. On Curaçao, the contact period begins with the arrival of the Spanish in 1499 on the island. The island was inhabited by the Indigenous population, the Caquetío. They primarily lived in villages throughout the island. The arrival of the Spaniards would have disastrous consequences for the native inhabitants. The majority of the Indigenous population was enslaved and deported against their will to Santo Domingo to work there in the gold mines. Only a fraction of the population remained. They had no free will, and their villages, including Ascension, were supervised by the Spanish. The Spanish were not the only Europeans who wanted to colonize Curaçao. In the 17th century, the Dutch defeated the Spanish and took over Curaçao. During the expulsion of the Spanish, the Dutch burned down Ascension. For a long time, the exact location of Ascension was unknown because the oldest maps that portrayed the village were inaccurate. Throughout the years, people began to search for the contact villages. In the 1980s and 1990s, objects of Indigenous and colonial material were collected on an archaeological site in the western part of Curaçao. The archaeologist Jay Haviser found clues in historical documents and on the oldest maps of the island, that this could possibly be Ascension. To confirm his beliefs, he conducted prospective research in the area in 1987. After his research, no information about the settlement layout, nor a feature analysis or material analysis was published. Additionally, his research was conducted in 1987 and since then new archaeological research methods have been introduced. To obtain more information about the contact village Ascension and the contact period in general in Curaçao, this thesis was written. This thesis uses the available knowledge that has already been documented in historical documents concerning the contact period in Curaçao. Especially, the published information about the contact period and the contact sites on Curaçao. Furthermore, new information will be revealed about the settlement layout and the material assembly of the San Hironimo site. Namely, for this thesis a feature analysis and a material analysis have been conducted with the assistance of archaeological (digital) methods that have been introduced after the time of Haviser’s excavation. The features encountered during the excavation were of Indigenous origin and were primarily found in the northern area of the research area. Features consisted of postholes, graves of an adult and child, and a pit. The artefacts collected at the site were mostly of Indigenous origin. However, European colonial material was present as well. The San Hironimo site is compared to contemporary contact villages of El Cabo in the Dominican Republic and Argyle on St. Vincent. The material culture collected at those sites show similarities with the San Hironimo collection. Especially, in the retrieved colonial material. Following previous excavations in the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles, the San Hironimo site fits perfectly in the picture of a contact site in the beginning of colonization in the Caribbean.Show less
Molluscan shell remains are among the most widespread materials to be found at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean. Particularly that of the Queen Conch (Aliger gigas, previously...Show moreMolluscan shell remains are among the most widespread materials to be found at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean. Particularly that of the Queen Conch (Aliger gigas, previously known as Strombus gigas or Lobatus gigas), which became a significant resource for Amerindians throughout the region during the Archaic and formed a central part of many coastal Caribbean economies during the Ceramic. Not only as a source of food, providing plenty of meat, but also for its shell which provided as a handy source material for tools and ornaments. The extraction of meat from the shell of Aliger gigas comes in a variety of techniques, from breaking open the shell, to perforating a part of the shell’s spire to cut the animal loose, to burning the shell, but also to simply let the animal out to dry or decompose. The prevalence of some of these techniques over others is an interesting topic in archaeomalacology that is often overshadowed by tool and ornament manufacture. Perhaps most relevant is the research done by Antczak in the Los Roques archipelago, Venezuela. The ABC-islands, and particularly Curaçao, were particularly reliant on Queen Conch, as a food source as well as a source material for tools. In this thesis, the author examines a sample of Aliger gigas individuals taken from the excavations performed by Leiden University at Spaanse Water, Curaçao, to try and understand which food extraction techniques are still visible in the shell assemblage. Shells are analysed on macro-scale, and visible traces of alteration are recorded using a make-shift typology based on prior research and stored in a database. Results show a clear inclination towards food extraction that leave no mark on the shell (i.e., drying, heating, or decomposing), followed by other techniques such as breaking and perforating. Quantitative conclusions are hard to make, as the sample set is a rather small part of the total Aliger gigas assemblage of Spaanse Water. In any case, the high level of variability in extraction techniques raises questions that might require future research to look at food extraction as a cultural process, not unlike tool and ornament manufacture.Show less
Molluscan shell remains are among the most widespread materials to be found at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean. Particularly that of the Queen Conch (Aliger gigas, previously...Show moreMolluscan shell remains are among the most widespread materials to be found at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean. Particularly that of the Queen Conch (Aliger gigas, previously known as Strombus gigas or Lobatus gigas), which became a significant resource for Amerindians throughout the region during the Archaic and formed a central part of many coastal Caribbean economies during the Ceramic. Not only as a source of food, providing plenty of meat, but also for its shell which provided as a handy source material for tools and ornaments. The extraction of meat from the shell of Aliger gigas comes in a variety of techniques, from breaking open the shell, to perforating a part of the shell’s spire to cut the animal loose, to burning the shell, but also to simply let the animal out to dry or decompose. The prevalence of some of these techniques over others is an interesting topic in archaeomalacology that is often overshadowed by tool and ornament manufacture. Perhaps most relevant is the research done by Antczak in the Los Roques archipelago, Venezuela. The ABC-islands, and particularly Curaçao, were particularly reliant on Queen Conch, as a food source as well as a source material for tools. In this thesis, the author examines a sample of Aliger gigas individuals taken from the excavations performed by Leiden University at Spaanse Water, Curaçao, to try and understand which food extraction techniques are still visible in the shell assemblage. Shells are analysed on macro-scale, and visible traces of alteration are recorded using a make-shift typology based on prior research and stored in a database. Results show a clear inclination towards food extraction that leave no mark on the shell (i.e., drying, heating, or decomposing), followed by other techniques such as breaking and perforating. Quantitative conclusions are hard to make, as the sample set is a rather small part of the total Aliger gigas assemblage of Spaanse Water. In any case, the high level of variability in extraction techniques raises questions that might require future research to look at food extraction as a cultural process, not unlike tool and ornament manufacture.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
Recent archaeological studies in the northern Dominican Republic demonstrate an ethnocultural diverse region, reflected in the admixtures of ceramic series, and a distinct settlement pattern....Show moreRecent archaeological studies in the northern Dominican Republic demonstrate an ethnocultural diverse region, reflected in the admixtures of ceramic series, and a distinct settlement pattern. During the Late Ceramic Age (AD 800 – AD 1500), Indigenous Caribbean communities relied upon their interaction networks as a fundamental part of their lifeways, in which movement and visibility played an important role. With the arrival of Columbus in 1492, the northern part of the Dominican Republic became the first colonised area in the Americas. After the establishment of La Isabela, the Spanish started to search for gold in the inland of the island, along what became known as the Ruta de Colón. This thesis used a GIS-based total landscape approach to model visibility and movement affordances on a landscape scale, contributing to a better understanding of Late Ceramic Age Indigenous interaction networks in the northern Dominican Republic. The visual properties and path frequency values within the spatial neighbourhood of different site categories were compared against those of completely spatially random locations to assess the role of movement and visibility in the determination and use of settlements. Material culture-based movement corridors were compared with the accumulated least-cost path model to evaluate the trajectories of Indigenous path networks. Furthermore, the relation between the reconstructed Ruta de Colón’s trajectory and the Indigenous path networks was assessed to gain more insights into the role of Indigenous movement corridors within the initial stage of European colonisation. This thesis demonstrates that the most important movement corridors in the northern Dominican Republic were east-west oriented and located along the coast and in the Cibao Valley. The Puerto de Los Hidalgos is one of the important north-south oriented movement corridors with the highest path frequency values to traverse the Cordillera Septentrional. The region displays a high degree of diversity in terms of visual properties. The accumulated least-cost path model confirms the hypothesised interactions between Montecristi, the Cibao valley and the northern coast, and lithics, ceramics and marine and agricultural resources were exchanged along these paths. The movement and visual property comparison of site categories suggest that multicomponent sites were important gathering places in regional interaction networks. Meillacoid and Chicoid sites seem to have similar path frequency values within small neighbourhoods, however, Chicoid sites are better connected to movement corridors on a regional scale. Visibility seemed to be more important for the location of Chicoid sites Meillacoid and multicomponent sites. The path frequency values suggest that sites with mounds were important gathering places with prominent positions in regional interaction networks. The good visual properties of these site locations could relate to the construction of mounds on these sites. Extraction sites are better connected to local path networks, while habitation sites seem to be better connected to regional path networks. Visibility was also more important for the site locations of habitation sites than for extraction sites. The path frequencies and visual properties of small, medium and large sites were similar and their variability dependents on the local contexts of the landscape. The Ruta de Colón does not directly correspond with the modelled high path frequency movement corridors, except in the Puerto de Los Hidalgos and the Cibao valley, and was composed of Indigenous path segments. The Ruta de Colón is considered predominantly colonial as the Spanish used it as the most efficient path to reach the gold resources, but it is important to acknowledge the role of Indigenous paths, guides and communities within this initial stage of European colonisation.Show less
At the site of El Carril flaked materials from mostly sedimentary rocks have been excavated and examined to get a better understanding of domestic and craft activities that were carried out there...Show moreAt the site of El Carril flaked materials from mostly sedimentary rocks have been excavated and examined to get a better understanding of domestic and craft activities that were carried out there by the indigenous peoples in AD 900-1450. This research has been carried out as a pilot study wherein the combination of starch grain-use wear approach has for the first time been applied to flaked materials from sedimentary rocks. With the combination of the starch grain-use wear approach it had been able to identify the domestic and craft activities carried out . At least two domestic and craft activities carried out in El Carril. First the ad hoc crafting of the producing flaked materials for the domestic or craft activity required and secondly the processing of yams and beans.Show less
In this thesis an attempt was made in order to (re)construct ancient indigenous landscapes through visibility analyses, during the Late Ceramic Age (AD 800- 1500) in the coastal zone of the...Show moreIn this thesis an attempt was made in order to (re)construct ancient indigenous landscapes through visibility analyses, during the Late Ceramic Age (AD 800- 1500) in the coastal zone of the Montecristi, the Dominican Republic. The northern part of the Dominican Republic has been very important in understanding the Spanish conquest of the island, since is one of the first areas where indigenous communities encountered the Europeans. At the time the Europeans arrived in the New World, complex indigenous exchange networks connected the Caribbean islands with the mainland of South America. The information that the indigenous peoples gave to the Spaniards about these networks was crucial for the conquest of the Caribbean. Visibility is considered to be an important parameter to (re)construct the indigenous socio-political dynamics in the Caribbean. In the defined case-study area, 44 sites were categorized by altitude and size and used to carry out multiple viewshed analyses in order to analyze the relationship between the sites and the visual prominent geomorphological areas in the casestudy area, the reconstruction of role of visibility in the determination of site location, the relationship between multiple viewsheds and site clusters and the possible role of visibility in the control of marine resources and indigenous communication networks. The multiple viewshed analyses revealed that it is possible that the low-elevated (Meillacoid) sites in the coastal lowlands are able to visually control the coastal and coastal lowland area, the (Meillacoid) hilltop sites overview the hinterland, that most of the (Meillacoid) sites can see at least three other surrounding sites, that sites within a similar geomorphological area are more likely to overview each other then sites without such a shared aspect and that there could have been an indigenous visibility network, in which the large (Meillacoid) hilltop sites had indirect control over the coastal zone.Show less
In the article Resilience in Pre-Columbian Caribbean House-Building: Dialogue Between Archaeology and Humanitarian Shelter of Samson et al. (2015) the Caribbean architectural mode is presented. The...Show moreIn the article Resilience in Pre-Columbian Caribbean House-Building: Dialogue Between Archaeology and Humanitarian Shelter of Samson et al. (2015) the Caribbean architectural mode is presented. The only sites used in that research are near the coast and on the Northern Lesser Antilles and the Greater Antilles. In this thesis a site that was located more land inward, El Flaco on Hispaniola and a site from the Southern Lesser Antilles, Argyle on St. Vincent, were analyzed to see if those comply with Caribbean architectural mode. This is supposed to contribute to the knowledge of housebuilding trends or widely shared similarities in housebuilding throughout the Caribbean. The addition of the two sites indicate that the mode might be wider spread in more distinct locations. Both sites do comply to the mode even though their situation is very different. Seven characteristics have been analyzed. These are formulated by Samson et al. (2015) and in this thesis the sites of Argyle and El Flaco have been studied concerning these characteristics. It was quickly evident that not all characteristics are directly visible in the site plans of Argyle and El Flaco, but most can be found which leads to the conclusion that El Flaco and Argyle comply with the Caribbean architectural mode.Show less
This research aims at determining the uses of marine and land molluscs (meat and shell) in five late pre-colonial sites (~AD1000-1500) located in the north western part of the Dominican Republic....Show moreThis research aims at determining the uses of marine and land molluscs (meat and shell) in five late pre-colonial sites (~AD1000-1500) located in the north western part of the Dominican Republic. The specific systematic archaeological survey was carried out in order to obtain the representative samples. The following research questions were formulated: 1) Which molluscan species and in what quantity have been recovered in each site? 2) Is there any quantitative/qualitative change visible in the shell material recovered in each site as the sites’ locations move further inland from the coast? 3) What was the function of the molluscs whose shells were recovered in each site? 4) What socio-economic processes could have caused these changes observed in the composition of shell assemblages? These questions were answered with the data that was generated by the analyses of the gathered archaeological material.Show less
In the summer of 2013 and 2014 research was conducted by the Nexus-1492 project on the Amerindian site El Flaco in the Dominican Republic. This site contains platforms and montículos. Montículo A...Show moreIn the summer of 2013 and 2014 research was conducted by the Nexus-1492 project on the Amerindian site El Flaco in the Dominican Republic. This site contains platforms and montículos. Montículo A is excavated in diagonal 2 by 2 m units by using the box-grid method. These units are excavated in arbitrary layers of 10 cm. Montículo A contained a lot of archaeological material, such as ceramics, shell and fauna material. This research contributed to the reconstruction of the formation process of montículo A, which is investigated by J.A.M. Vermeer. Vermeer is investigating the formation process of the montículos on the site El Flaco. He does this by looking at the geological and archaeological components used for the phasing of the montículos. This study contributes to this research by examining the taphonomy and larger context of the shell material. The results of the shell material support Segaar’s hypothesis that there were two phases of occupation on the site, a possible Meillacoid and a Chicoid occupation. Next to that, the composition of the shell material is analyzed and divided into three classes: bivalves, gastropods and crustaceans. Furthermore, the habitat of the shell species is investigated to provide an indication of the food strategy or the ‘food network’ that was used by the Amerindian inhabitants. It is likely that a large portion of this diet consists of one gastropod, the Pleurodonte formosa. However, palynology is needed to provide a definitive answer to this problem.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
Bodily ornaments are abundant in the circum-Caribbean region. Made of a variety of raw materials, most notably shell, stone and minerals, they have been recovered from the archipelago and...Show moreBodily ornaments are abundant in the circum-Caribbean region. Made of a variety of raw materials, most notably shell, stone and minerals, they have been recovered from the archipelago and surrounding mainlands. Most studies have focused on iconographic analysis of the motifs depicted on pendants and on the sourcing of exotic raw materials from which they were made. Technologies of production have also received attention, with emphasis on workshop contexts from the Early Ceramic Age (400 BC – AD 600/800) which present abundant debitage. For the later period (until AD 1492), considerably less is known. This research proposes a theoretical framework focused on the cultural biographies of ornaments. The main objective is to approach how pre-Colonial indigenous communities have dealt with ornaments, including the collection of raw material, production sequence, use, reuse and deposition. A chaîne opératoire approach is also put forward, in order to assess technological choices, gestures, techniques, toolkits and skill levels. Two case studies from the Late Ceramic Age are discussed: the Valencia Lake Basin in north-central Venezuela (AD 800 – 1200) and the northwest of the Dominican Republic, especially the site of El Flaco (AD 1200 – 1400). Microwear analysis was conducted on 161 beads and pendants using optical light microscopy, with magnifications of up to 200x. Experimental replications of specific techniques with local tools and contact materials were also made to serve as analogues to the microscopic evidence. An overview of the biographies of ornaments among lowland South American indigenous societies was made in order to shed light into the patterns observed in the archaeological material. Analysis has shown that in the Valencia Lake Basin the production of ornaments had an important role, involving high skill and the use of a specialized toolkit for shell working. The ornaments display different degrees of wear and indicate different systems of attachment with strings, regardless of type and depositional contexts. In El Flaco, bead making was only limitedly present and restricted to specific raw materials. Most beads, made of calcite and igneous rocks, probably entered the site through exchange networks. In general, the beads are intact and present limited use-wear, with different intensities and distribution regardless of the type. This combined approach (microscopic, experimental and ethnographical) permitted a new insight into the role of ornaments in these contexts and on how their biographies were connected to social relations at local and regional levels.Show less
The site of Anse Trabaud, placed between the bay and mangrove area, has been observed during the fieldwork of Leiden University in 2012, during which the shell material of unit 7 was brought back...Show moreThe site of Anse Trabaud, placed between the bay and mangrove area, has been observed during the fieldwork of Leiden University in 2012, during which the shell material of unit 7 was brought back to be studied. The site is a pre-Columbian site, the habitation dated 700 to 1500 after Christ. The settlement was built on a sand ridge between the bay and the Morne des Petrifications, a mangrove area. The period of habitation was during the post Saladoid period, when the northern Lesser Antilles were less populated, while the southern Lesser Antilles kept the same population and even experienced some growth. The question that was to be answered with the research was: what can the shell material say about the subsistence strategies of the people of Anse Trabaud? The shell material gathered at this site is the subject of this thesis, to help find out what the subsistence strategies of the people of Anse Trabaud were. In the material there were nine most common species: Cenchristis muricatus, Chiton sp., Cittarium pica, Donax denticulatus, Lucina pectinata, Mytilopsis leucophaeata, Nerita tesselata, Pleurodonte formosa and Nerita versicolor. Most shell material was found in layer 4 and 5, which was most probably a shell midden, and in layer 8, which was the earliest layer of this deposition. Most shells that were found in the shell material from unit 7 were from the sea, with four species that were found in the mangrove and two from the land. The results from the analysis of the data that was gathered from the material leads to the conclusion that the sea was the most important for the subsistence strategies of the people of Anse Trabaud, most shells were gathered in the shallow water of bay. The shells in the mangrove were less important to the diet and the shells on land were probably gathered during other activities during the day. All species were probably gathered during specific seasons, to prevent over-use.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
Threepointers are amongst the most enigmatic artefacts of the pre-Columbian insular Caribbean (ca. 200 BC – AD 1492). According to the ethnohistoric chronicles they possessed a largely ritual...Show moreThreepointers are amongst the most enigmatic artefacts of the pre-Columbian insular Caribbean (ca. 200 BC – AD 1492). According to the ethnohistoric chronicles they possessed a largely ritual function and were designated as zemies, Amerindian spirit-objects. Nevertheless, what threepointers actually signified and how they were used is not known, nor have previous studies been able to verify the existing hypotheses. This pilot study explores a biographical way of visualising the threepointer artefact group, addressing the question of how they operated in Amerindian society. Microscopic trace analysis has been carried out on a sample of 59 threepointers, describing the microwear patterns that developed due to manufacture and use. Supplemented with data on the material proveniences and archaeological contexts, the research presents a broad range of evidence. These data are inserted in a biographical framework aimed at reconstruction of the cultural expectations behind the biographical trajectories of threepointers. As threepointers moved through five distinct phases in their biographies, being cause, conception, birth, life, and death, they were continuously recontextualised in the eyes of society. The thesis investigates how this process reflects on the cultural and societal values of the Amerindians. A reinterpretation of the ethnohistoric chronicles using ethnographic observations circumscribes this biographical framework in the context of Amerindian ontologies. Intersubjectivity between people and threepointers was the mechanism that allowed threepointers to interact with human sociality as autonomous actors. Through this mechanism, threepointers could be drawn to the human habitus, acculturated, and made to act on their own subjectivity. This study finds that threepointers were enormously variable in ‘conception’ and ‘birth’, knew active uses during ‘life’, but had no common significance in ‘death’. It argues that their unique existence is the direct result of their potential for intersubjectivity. Threepointers effectively functioned as devices capable of influencing the natural flow of the world.Show less
In this thesis titled Burying Beliefs the mortuary practices of Ceramic Age groups from Colombia, Western-Venezuela, and the off-shore islands are studied in order to identify the various social...Show moreIn this thesis titled Burying Beliefs the mortuary practices of Ceramic Age groups from Colombia, Western-Venezuela, and the off-shore islands are studied in order to identify the various social aspects of these practices. This research is primarily based on a literature study including both archaeological- and ethnographic literature, combined with an in-depth analysis of the data gathered from this literature. It was important to be cautious in this research as in a literature study a research bias in inevitable. The main objective of this research was to determine to what extend ethnographic data can be used to complement the archaeological evidence in order to identify the various social aspects of mortuary practices. The ethnographic dataset consists of accounts of various indigenous communities inhabiting the South American mainland, each adopting their own sets of beliefs and practices. Additionally, in order to study the social aspects of mortuary practices in depth a solid theoretical framework was necessary. The theoretical framework applied in this study consisted of various theories on the sociality of a society such as, ritual, rites of passage, personhood, worldview, and materiality. Through the combination of these concepts it was possible to execute a solid in-depth analysis of the various social aspects of a mortuary practice as nearly every aspect of a society could be highlighted and studied through this theoretical framework. It became clear throughout this research that ethnographic data can be very valuable as a means of complementing the archaeological evidence if care is taken in doing so. Furthermore, this study shows that the study of mortuary practices goes beyond the study of the human remains and the burial assemblage as there are many factors involved which are determinant for the construction and performance of these practices, which are not necessarily retrievable archaeologically.Show less
Since 10 Octobre 2010 is Saba, as one of the BES-islands, under the legislation of the Netherlands. This legislation prescribes that an archaeological investigation is required when a certain...Show moreSince 10 Octobre 2010 is Saba, as one of the BES-islands, under the legislation of the Netherlands. This legislation prescribes that an archaeological investigation is required when a certain surface will be disturbed by for instance building activities. Therefore it is common in the Netherlands to built an archaeological predictive model in order to get an accurate impression of chance of presence of archaeology in the concerning region. Their guidelines are drafted in the KNA. An archaeological predictive model displays the expectancy of archaeological sites in a certain region gradually and it is based on an analysis of the human behaviour in a certain area. Many elements of the landscape influence this behaviour and they are called the location factors. The elements that allows to map are individually valued and aggregated to one predictive model. This thesis analyzed the possibilities for building a predictive model for Saba. It mainly focusses on pre-Columbian archaeology since there are better alternatives for mapping historical archaelogy. Saba is located in the Caribbean region and the landscape and archaeology of this island differ enormeously in comparison to the Netherlands. Therefore it is investigate if the Dutch guidelines for predictive modeling are sufficient for Saba. Maybe there exists better alternatives and is it required to adapt these guidelines. To determine what the location factors on Saba were the history and the landscape of the island and the Caribbean region is discussed. Additionally the artifact assemblage, the type of site and the location of the sites in the landscape were explained. At last the author conducted an expedition to the island in order to get an accurate impression of its landscape and its relation to the present archaeology. Afterwards all location factors were mapped, digitalized and value in archaeological expectancy. Next these location factors were combined on 12 different ways to a predictive model. 10 of these models were focused on the entire archaeological landscape of Saba and 2 models were focused on the archaeological expectancy of specified subsistence economy. To compare the quality of all these models, they were tested by the existing archaeological dataset on significance (Attwell and Fletcher 1985) and gain (Kvamme 1988). Due to these tests it turned out that a combination of the location factors slope, elevation and landingpoints leads to the most realistic predictive model for pre-Columbian Saba. Predictive modelling according to the Dutch guidelines are less suitable and therefore they need to be adapted to Saba’s circumstances.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
One of the most defining moments in history is Europe’s discovery of the ‘New World’ in 1492. It is generally known how Columbus succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean, while trying to reach Asia...Show moreOne of the most defining moments in history is Europe’s discovery of the ‘New World’ in 1492. It is generally known how Columbus succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean, while trying to reach Asia via a westward route. It meant a sudden and unexpected encounter between two radically different cultures. According to popular belief, the Spaniards offered beads and mirrors to ‘ignorant’ Indians and took home all the gold they could find. The Taíno were passive bystanders in the process of Spanish imperialism and colonialism. This thesis aims to eliminate these misconceptions through a critical reassessment of the role of European material culture in intercultural contacts in Hispaniola during the first decades of the colonial period. The discussion centres on the Taíno attitude towards these new objects, while emphasising their active participation and creative responses to the impacts of Spanish domination. An understanding of the dynamics, interactions and exchanges of the colonial encounter cannot be achieved without knowing the cultural-historical backgrounds of both parties. Their descriptions constitute Part I of the thesis. In Part II it is investigated which objects the Taíno received from the Spaniards and what they gave in return. The main questions to be answered are why the Taíno accepted the seeming trinkets of the Europeans and how and to what extent these were integrated into native society. Archaeology offers an indispensable dataset that, however, hitherto has not reached its full potential, not least because of the many difficulties involved in the archaeology of postcontact Taíno settlements. This thesis provides a current state of affairs by listing a representative number of site descriptions that have not been published in a similar way before.Show less
