Indigenous and Transcultural Implications in the "Seasoning" of Early 17th-Century Settlers of Barbados

Summary

The early 17th century settlement of Barbados is often projected as "Little England" and the settlers unidimensional as "Englishmen Transplanted" onto a rather blank slate of an abandoned island (Puckrain 1984, Gragg 2003). Current archaeological investigations of the initial period of colonial settlement on Barbados focusing on Trents Plantation, and the pre-sugar era (1627-1640s) project an all-together different picture. The archaeological and historical record projects a multivalent, multicultural, mix of engagements between Indigenous, African, and European settlers. This complexity is expressed in the material record, particularly with the mix of locally produced and imported ceramics from the early 17th century plantation context at Trents. The emerging colony on Barbados was English in name, but backed by the Dutch, and assisted by a group of Indigenous people who joined them from Guyana and Africans captured from a Portuguese ship. Moreover, this colony was established in the 17th century Caribbean, a theater contested by the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English, as well as a complex array of Indigenous peoples. The result was the construction of a complex multi-vocal cultural ensemble of cultural and material expressions that is consistent with the dynamic cultural diversity that emerged in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22250