Archaic Age Bahamas? New perspectives from Long Island

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.

It has long been assumed that the Bahamas were colonized by Ceramic Age peoples who began their expansion into the Caribbean islands from northeastern South America about 500 BC. The widespread occurrence of pottery in the Bahamas (Palmetto Ware), and the timing of initial ‘Lucayan" settlement in the Bahamas is dated to AD 700-800 (dates that coincide with the Ostionoid and Meillacoid population expansions) have been used to support this assumption. Yet archaeological research conducted since 2016 on Long Island in the central Bahamas is revealing a much different confluence of elements. Instead of large agricultural villages, the archaeological sites on Long Island are small and short-lived with multiple activity areas in the same general location. Lucayan sites are directly on the coast, buried beneath beach sand on the lee shore and backed by a mangrove swamp; or they are eroding from Atlantic coast dunes. Neither location is well suited for intensive agriculture. In addition, special purpose sites are common. Palmetto Ware occurs in low frequencies suggesting it was not the primary method of cooking; and at least three earth ovens, spanning 400 years, have been excavated. This presentation is an overview of recent investigations on Long Island.

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): 24103