Under the direction of Dr. Michael Heckenberger, Isaac Shearn will conduct a one-year archaeological study of Dominica, a volcanic island in the southern Lesser Antilles noted for its intense topographic variability, rugged coastline, high rainfall, dense tropical forests, and fertile volcanic soils. The main objective of the project is to characterize settlement patterns and artifact variability within and between micro-regions in order to determine the degree of integration between communities on Dominica during the Late Ceramic Age (ca. A.D. 1000-1500). The project provides the basis for Mr. Shearn's doctoral dissertation research.
Relatively little archaeological work has been done on the pre-Columbian period in Dominica in comparison to most other islands in the region. The proposed research represents the first major syntheses of long-term archaeological investigations on this island. The proposed research will help resolve important problems in contemporary Caribbean archaeology, as well as test new geospatial methods for identifying communities in the archaeological record of the islands. By applying contemporary theory on the archaeology of communities to region-specific problems, this research will advance both the understanding of regional community organization, and broader theoretical and methodological issues surrounding the concept of community in Anthropology. In particular, this project will help identify the nature of socio-political integration in smaller, rich islands of the Lesser Antilles, and whether they represent small scale complex societies, which has broad relevance to understanding similar settings in other world areas.
Three primary research questions guide the study: 1) Were multiple sites within micro-regions integrated communities or do sites represent basically autonomous local communities?; 2) Were communities within micro-regions autonomous or were they integrated with other such communities in other micro-regions into higher-order regional communities?; and 3) If integrated, how were higher-order communities organized with respect to sociopolitical hierarchy and/or heterarchy within and between micro-regions? To address these questions, specific objectives of the proposed research include: identification of sites; characterization of variability in terms of site size and structure; characterization of relations between sites within the micro-region based on distance, intervisibility, and geographic setting; and collection of artifacts to provide evidence of interaction, including intra- and inter-island exchange. Excavations and systematic surface collections will be conducted within three micro-regions of Dominica to provide comparable datasets from each micro-region, and from multiple sites within each micro-region. The analysis will indicate whether communities included hierarchical characteristics, such as centers for specialized socio-political, ritual or economic activities or were more heterarchical, involving structurally similar and/or autonomous local groups.
The proposed research will include significant public outreach initiatives designed to promote cultural heritage management by raising awareness about the island's Amerindian history and the value of archaeological sites as cultural resources; and promote local participation in the execution, interpretation, and presentation of the research. To accomplish these objectives, Mr. Shearn will present lectures at community centers and schools, and participate in radio broadcasts; produce informational posters and exhibits for display in village community centers and national parks; design an exhibit for the Dominica Museum; and provide opportunities for students and others to participate in all stages of the research and design methods for the dissemination of the results.
This project was an archaeological investigation of pre-Columbian communities in Dominica, one of the most ruggedly mountainous volcanic islands in the eastern Caribbean. The main objective of the project was to investigate settlement patterns and artifact variability in a comparative framework in order to characterize aspects of community organization and regional sociopolitical integration during the Late Ceramic Age (ca. A.D. 600-1500). Although specific in focus, this research contributes to the growing understanding of socio-political organization and the social and technological achievements of communities involved in the Arawakan diaspora, which included social networks linking communities across a vast region. Following the recognition that the sea functioned more like a highway than a boundary, regional interactivity and inter-island relationships have come to dominate archaeological discourse in the Caribbean. This research considered the corollary that there may have been more apparent differences between communities separated by landmasses than those separated by the sea. In order to investigate the effects of a regionally oriented sociality at the local level, this project focused on the investigation of multiple, potentially related sites, settlements, and activity areas. Adopting a multiscalar perspective, three micro-regions along the windward coast of Dominica were chosen for extensive archaeological survey and comparisons were constructed both within and between micro-regions. Three questions structured the research: (1) In what ways were multiple sites within micro-regions functionally differentiated and what does this reveal about community organization? (2) To what extent were communities integrated at larger spatial scales? Were local communities autonomous, or were they integrated into higher-order/regional polities? (3) What types of hierarchical or heterarchical relationships characterized the organization of communities at both the local and micro-regional scale? Goals of the fieldwork included: identification of sites; characterization of variability in terms of site size and function; characterization of relations among sites with respect to ecological setting; and collection of artifacts to provide evidence of interaction, including intra- and inter-island exchange. Fifteen months of archaeological field research was conducted over the course of five years to collect the data presented here. Fieldwork was accomplished collaboratively with a crew of Dominicans, who enhanced the project with practical and intellectual contributions that led to a highly contextual understanding of the landscape ecology in which archaeological sites were identified. In addition, ethnographic homology and ethnohistoric documents provide information that enrich the archaeological analysis of community organization and integration. Between micro-regions, the comparison revealed significant differences between the communities separated by the landmass of Dominica, supporting the regional hypothesis that social groups were linked by, rather than bounded by the sea. The relationship between interior sites and coastal sites came to light as one of the critical dimensions of variability between sites within micro-regions, and a key factor in this relationship may have been canoe manufacture and travel. The coastal occupants needed access to the interior for the materials to build canoes, and interior occupants needed coastal access for regional awareness, marine resources and travel. Contemporaneous settlement and activity areas in micro-regions appear to have been functionally differentiated, but socially integrated in a system of redistribution. Interaction with other communities was dependent on canoes. This leads us to question the complex socio-political roles and the organization of labor involved in the construction and voyaging of these sometimes massive canoes, which were vital in linking local communities with the outside world, either as craft to conduct raids, to exploit distant resources, or to establish trading parties and marriage alliances with neighboring islands. The unequal distribution of status objects and exotic materials between micro-regions, suggests that certain communities held greater responsibility for inter-island exchanges.
