More than a Supply Stop: The Maima Village Before and After Columbus

Author(s): Shea Henry

Year: 2015

Summary

In the winter of 1503-04, Christopher Columbus was marooned and provisioned by the Taino village of Maima located on the north central coast of Jamaica.  What we know about the Taino of this village remains what was written in the accounts of those marooned Spanish explorers.  After the year spent in this village the Spanish returned to the area and founded the settlement of Sevilla la Nueva, resulting in the people of Maima becoming victims of forced labor, conversion and disease.  What is missing from the archaeological and historical records is evidence of the people’s lives just before contact, which this paper endeavors to explore.  Recent excavations on the site have revealed a complexity to the village, previously overlooked for its connection to Columbus and the historic events following contact. This research provides context for the contact and post contact events that led to the end of Maima.    

Cite this Record

More than a Supply Stop: The Maima Village Before and After Columbus. Shea Henry. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 434224)

Keywords

General
Caribbean Contact Spanish

Geographic Keywords
Canada North America

Temporal Keywords
Pre Contact and Contact Era

Spatial Coverage

min long: -141.003; min lat: 41.684 ; max long: -52.617; max lat: 83.113 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 359