Histories and Trajectories of Socio-Ecological Landscapes in the Lesser Antilles: Implications of Colonial Period Zooarchaeological Research

Summary

The arrival and colonization of the Caribbean by Europeans beginning in the 15th Century transformed the already dynamic landscapes of the region. To accommodate the slave-labor supported colonial plantation system and its orientation towards market exports, the region witnessed the introduction of exotic plants and animals, creating a ‘creolization’ of flora and fauna. In this paper, I discuss how environmental archaeology contributes to a nuanced and diachronic understanding of the human-environment dialectic in the West Indies; such research also serves to delineate the timing of introductions and extinctions, and identify any changes in biodiversity and ecosystem health. Further, under colonial rule, disenfranchised and enslaved communities developed informal ways to resist or respond to the dominant system, such as artisanal fishing and agriculture. Many of these economic practices continue today, and are now vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change, habitat destruction and overfishing. Zooarchaeological data can elucidate these localized histories and help explain how the colonial past continues to impact current patterns of natural resource use and modern socio-ecological landscapes. To this end, I present faunal data from three sites in the Lesser Antilles to illustrate how well structured research designs allow for the robust exploration of these problems.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Environmental Legacies of Colonialism in the Neotropics

Keywords

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