The impacts of cattle introduction in Puerto Rican landscapes during the colonial period

Summary

In this presentation I examine the environmental impacts that cattle introduction had in Puerto Rico by combining geoarchaeological and ethnohistorical methods. During the sixteenth century hides became one of the most profitable commodities to be produced in the Caribbean. For the bigger islands of the Antilles, it has been reported that these early populations proliferated, leading to underground economies based upon their exploitation. Through the analysis of historical accounts and the provisional analysis of sedimentation rates associated to grazing in various sites in the island from the sixteenth century onward, I will explore how the presence of cattle played a role in transforming Puerto Rican environments. This study is part of a broader effort to elucidate the long history of human occupation and its impacts on the landscapes of Puerto Rico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17430