Jade axes from the site of Pearls, Grenada. A field-based microwear analysis

Summary

This paper reports upon the wear trace analysis of 20 ground stone axes from the Ceramic Age site of Pearls, Grenada. The selection contains several exotic lithic materials including twelve jadeitites, for which the nearest known source is over eleven hundred kilometres away. Pearls is a heavily disturbed site on the Atlantic coast of Grenada, of which much of the material record is held in private custody. Yet, the site holds central importance in the wider interacting region, as a lithic, ceramic, and ornament production centre with suggested exchange ties to many source areas and partner sites. A biographical study was undertaken in order to obtain information about the context in which the jadeitite materials arrived at the site, where and how they were manufactured, and if they had been put to use. Collections from the Windward Islands have thus far not been analysed using microwear analysis, making this study a first. Further, the analysis was enabled by transporting a DinoLite digital microscope and a Nikon Optiphot metallographic microscope to the field. The methodological complications with a study of archaeological records accessible solely through non-institutional sources will be evaluated.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15803