Sustained Island-Mainland Connections in the Colonial Caribbean Analysis of Jaguar and Puma Canine Pendants Recovered from LaSoye 2, Dominica
Author(s): Diane Wallman
Year: 2025
Summary
This is an abstract from the "Stable Isotope Analysis in Global History" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
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The two largest felids in the Americas, the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the puma (Puma concolor), serve as important markers of spirituality, ritual, and identity among Indigenous cultures in the Americas. The symbolism associated with jaguars, in particular, was transferred by the populations who migrated from mainland South America to the Caribbean islands, as iconographic representations of this species are found on ceramics, and as various manufactured objects. Additionally, pendants made from the teeth of jaguar have been recovered archaeologically in pre-Columbian contexts in Puerto Rico and Grenada. Recent excavations at LaSoye 2 in Dominica have recovered two jaguar canine pendants, and one puma canine pendant. LaSoye 2 was a settlement on the northeast coast of the island, occupied by an Indigenous Kalinago community, with European traders residing ephemerally at the site from a late 17<sup>th</sup>/early 18<sup>th</sup> century context. This paper presents the results of osteological analysis, radiometric dating, and stable isotope analyses on these pendants from LaSoye 2. The recovery of these materials suggests sustained cultural, and perhaps physical, connection with the South American mainland centuries after European arrival in the Caribbean.
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Cite this Record
Sustained Island-Mainland Connections in the Colonial Caribbean Analysis of Jaguar and Puma Canine Pendants Recovered from LaSoye 2, Dominica. Diane Wallman. Presented at The 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2025 ( tDAR id: 509830)
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Abstract Id(s): 53730