Dr. Wing and two graduate assistants will analyze a large series of faunal and floral remains recovered from archaeological sites in the Caribbean. Included in this sample are materials from Haiti, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, Nevis, Antigua, Barbados and the Bahamas. In particular, the team wishes to reconstruct subsistence practices across this wide range of islands, see how they changed over time, and to examine the role played by domesticated and captive wild species. To accomplish this, analysis will be conducted on assemblages currently curated at the Florida State Museum as well as other institutions in the United States. The Caribbean is a particularly interesting region for such a study, because no indigenous species were domesticated in this region and all are outside introductions from the South and Central American mainlands. In regions where domestication takes place, it is extremely difficult to determine the point in time when the shift from wild to domesticated occurs. In the Caribbean, however, such is not the case, and it thus should be possible to determine just when different domesticates enter the diet and then trace their effects over time. This research is significant because it will provide insight into one of the most important changes in human prehistory: the shift from a hunting and gathering way of life to one based on domesticated plants and animals. It will allow researchers not only to study changes in subsistence practice but also broader alterations in social organization. The study will also increase our understanding of how cultures change, and, hopefully, help us predict the potential effects when improved species are introduced in less developed areas of the world.
