The Saint-Martin island's (French Lesser Antilles) Amerindian archaeomalacological record : insight into a six millennia history of interacting pre-Columbian societies and environments

Summary

Substantial archaeomalacological assemblages have been studied from 7 pre-Columbian sites on the French part of the island of Saint-Martin (Lesser Antilles). Most of these sites were excavated through salvage archaeology procedures on large surfaces, allowing relative comprehension of their structural and functional organization, as well as the recovery of solid molluscs samples. These 7 ensembles line the complete known chronological sequence of the island's Amerindian occupation, from the 4th millennium b.c. to the 15th century a.d.. They therefore yield elements for diachronic considerations on the Amerindian exploitation systems of a specific resource - in this case molluscs - and their evolution through time in relation with macro-parameters (i.e. cultural evolutions and changes, paleoenvironmental parameters).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Caribbean Environmental Archaeology: New Perspectives on Human Ecodynamics and Social Relations

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