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
The ERC-Synergy project Nexus1492: New World Encounters In A Globalising World is, amongst others, investigating past activities in the indigenous Caribbean. One of these activities was the...Show moreThe ERC-Synergy project Nexus1492: New World Encounters In A Globalising World is, amongst others, investigating past activities in the indigenous Caribbean. One of these activities was the production of pottery. This thesis aims to investigate the chaîne opératoire of pre-colonial pottery through studying the 'act' of incising and punctating ceramic vessels during the Late Ceramic Age. This research was executed through the macroscopic analysis and comparison of 35 Meillacoid and Chicoid pottery sherd samples with 44 experimentally manufactured clay-slabs which were incised and punctated with 16 different experimental tools of various material types. The archaeological samples which were studied in this research are all originating from the pre-Columbian archaeological site of El Flaco, Dominican Republic. An inland site situated along the 'Ruta de Colon' and at the southern foothills of the Cordillera Septentrional at a distance of approximately 20km from the ocean. The main focus of this research is the potter's toolkit re-creation, comparing archaeological sample sherds with experimental clay-slabs with the goal of figuring out which tools were probably part of the potter's toolkit for the sake of incising and punctating ceramic vessels and which were not. Other variables like the dryness of clay vessels at the time of incising and punctating and the different possible gestures or motions are also discussed in this study. Preliminary conclusions include, but are not limited to a probably extensive toolkit with many tool-types as possible utensils for producing specific incisions and punctations, with tools from the category plant matter (read small wooden sticks and twigs) as the most important part of this toolkit. Additionally, it seems plausible that incisions and punctations were more likely to be applied to pre-colonial pottery on a relatively plastic clay, as opposed to a drier vessel.Show less
