PHYTOLITH AND STARCH ANALYSIS AT AMERINDIAN SITE, MOULIN À EAU, CAPESTERRE-BELLE-EAU, GUADELOUPE ARCHIPELAGO, LEEWARD ISLANDS, LESSER ANTILLES

Summary

Four stratigraphic column samples from an Amerindian village located on the island of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles, were submitted for phytolith analysis. Evidence for the earliest phase of occupation at Moulin à Eau village site dates to c. AD 700 - 800 and the latest phase dates to c. AD 1200. Currently, it is unknown whether there was either a hiatus or continuous occupation of the site until colonial settlement. Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach Guadeloupe in 1493, landing just south of Capesterre-Belle-Eau. The first permanent French settlement on Guadeloupe was established in 1674. The goal of this analysis was the recovery of plant microfossils in the form of phytoliths and starch grains that may have derived from subsistence activities during the occupation of this site. Upon completion of the phytolith analysis a question regarding the possibility for sweet potato (Ipomoea) cultivation remained. Therefore, pollen analysis of one sample (Sample 45), which was recovered from an Amerind occupation dating to approximately AD 800, was undertaken to ascertain whether sweet potato was cultivated at the site.

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