Coming to the Islands: Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Investigation of Human Mobility in the Bahamian Archipelago

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in the Archaeology of the Bahama Archipelago" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Initial settlement of the Bahamian archipelago is currently thought to have derived from Cuba and/or Hispaniola. The first forays may have been seasonal, with permanent settlement not in evidence until ca. AD 1000. As well as initial settlement, we might expect a continued movement of individuals between the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses of human dental enamel provide the opportunity to explore both early settlement and subsequent movements. A recent strontium isotope study of modern plants from the Bahamian archipelago demonstrates very homogeneous results, so that outsiders from different geologies should be readily apparent. This paper presents the first strontium and oxygen isotope results on human remains from the archipelago, with associated radiocarbon dates enabling an investigation of the temporality of migrations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Advances in the Archaeology of the Bahama Archipelago

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24258