A thesis which contributes a new perspective to the ongoing discussion on the human contacts made between North and Meso-America before Columbus. This is done specifically by looking at maize as an...Show moreA thesis which contributes a new perspective to the ongoing discussion on the human contacts made between North and Meso-America before Columbus. This is done specifically by looking at maize as an exotic good used for ritual and as a medium for narrative. It highlights the religious aspects of exchange and the travel of ideas and narratives with material in a time before writing was widespread. Because of the latter fact, the research is done through a multi-disciplinary approach, utilizing botany, archaeology and ethnology.Show less
El Flaco is an Amerindian site located in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic and has been excavated by the ERC-synergy research project NEXUS 1492. El Flaco is a precolonial hamlet...Show moreEl Flaco is an Amerindian site located in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic and has been excavated by the ERC-synergy research project NEXUS 1492. El Flaco is a precolonial hamlet which was occupied between the 10th and 15th centuries AD. One of the goals of the NEXUS 1492 project is to gain new information about the human plant dynamics of the site. One way of investigating this is to conduct paleoethnobotanical analysis on hearth features in which food plants, fuel plants, and plant foods were processed, cooked, and consumed in different ways. The research described in this thesis consists of macrobotanical and phytolith analyses of five hearth features from El Flaco. The main aim of this research is to investigate which plant foods could have been part of the diet of the former inhabitants of El Flaco. With the macrobotanical analysis, only one taxon could be identified, which is Portulaca spp. This taxon is edible, but since it is a highly invasive plant, it was likely accidentally charred and not consumed. The results of the phytolith analysis showed that five taxonomic groups (six taxa) were likely consumed: Marantaceae/Cannaceae, Annonaceae, Cucurbitales (wild), Cucurbita spp. (domesticated), and Zea mays.Show less
This Master thesis on archaeology and cultural heritage management of the Caribbean and Amazonia was written at the University of Leiden, Faculty of Archaeology. The special emphasis in this...Show moreThis Master thesis on archaeology and cultural heritage management of the Caribbean and Amazonia was written at the University of Leiden, Faculty of Archaeology. The special emphasis in this research is on finding out which role the Amerindian past and archaeology play in a Surinamese image of the past. The research design in the first place needed to reveal the past perception of individual people with a Surinamese Caribbean background. The interviewees who participated in this research however were Surinamese migrants who are living since many years in the Netherlands. The approach taken to reveal the past emphasis of individuals from the Surinamese community was through holding semi structured open interviews. The Surinamese community in the context of this research consists of groups of people that share their experience and memory on Suriname within communication, both in the Netherlands and their mother-country. It is within this community that an image of the Surinamese past is being constructed. A key note to the research is that the past is a present construct. From this point of departure multiple pasts do exist. People in their own diversity, within different environments, have to deal with personal socio-cultural realities. This implicates that a meaningful past for Surinamese people needs to be constructed from their individual and community perspectives. This research applied insights from memory theory, archaeological theory, heritage theory and a more anthropological example to show that such a construct asks for people’s balanced historical involvement and community concern. Community concern demands reciprocal involvement that should accomplish mutual understanding. The goal of this thesis is to show that archaeology can be a tool in accomplishing shared understanding and concern from doing research after past happenings and cultural environments. The thesis further advocates engaged archaeology as a tool to create shared understanding. Engaged archaeology does not only imply that an archaeologist should listen to society and people’s concern in order to find topics for research. It even more asks for stimulating participation of people in past interrogation and creating an open critical attitude towards personal perceptions and those of others. The role of the archaeologist in this process of past communication is one of being an example to people with respect to care about archaeological heritage and involvement in both the past and people’s present environment. As an archaeological professional, who executes a profession that primarily is concerned with people, the archaeologist’s task is to facilitate involvement and provide society with critical questions on people’s past supposition. The practice of archaeology in itself needs to be a research environment where people communicate their understandings and from this realize a more inclusive community of involved people that show interest in their surroundings and each other. There can be worked towards a more stable future from contemporary knowledge or understanding about the past. Besides the interview technique, in order to find out more on people’s past concern this research aimed for application of methods from the social sciences. These were methods like discourse analysis and grounded theory. From the interrogation a better understanding of contemporary Surinamese community was accomplished. It made clear that Amerindians in Suriname in general were perceived as being unchanged. From a Western colonial perspective they did not bring about much development and their culture was regarded primitive. Their political, economic and cultural significance was neglected within the culturally diverse and divided Surinamese colonial community. From contemporary and continuous political and societal shifts reorientation on those people who are indigenous to Suriname as well as on other groups in society however is needed in order to create communality. The recommendation to Surinamese society is that ongoing conceptualization on the past and people in society, is necessary in order to accomplish a stable community.Show less
This thesis is written as an orientation on heritage management and archaeology in Suriname. To be able to draw conclusions on this subject, the discussion first is on theoretical insights about...Show moreThis thesis is written as an orientation on heritage management and archaeology in Suriname. To be able to draw conclusions on this subject, the discussion first is on theoretical insights about heritage management. The theoretical discussion emphasizes the western scholar perspective in heritage management as well as archaeology. This western progressivist evolutionary perspective also has its consequences for policymaking in Suriname. Decisions from the past are of influence in the present. As a result UNESCO World Heritage enlisting of the Paramaribo city centre has led to many initiatives on the level of cultural perception but also is basic to a quite heavy financial and organizational responsibility for Surinamese society. Further heritage policy making must take notion of the existing commitments but also needs orientation on what fits the market economy of the country. Both building a sense of national consciousness and responsibility for the countries vulnerable Indigenous inhabitants and their culture should be taken care of within future policy making. From the before mentioned point of view archaeology and heritage management opens new possibilities. Revitalization of archaeology within Suriname could lead to an awareness of the processes that created present day society and give greater time depth to human presence in Suriname. It has the ability to set Surinamese history stronger within the regions communal past and to create mutual understanding. To emphasize the possibilities of the discipline there should be looked at better implementation of archaeology within existing management frameworks. Also should be undertaken a better societal advertisement of archaeological work. This can only be reached by making archaeology more public within the country. In this manner valuable archaeological information will be spared and cultural perception will increase.Show less
