Available as an ebook at:
Amazon Kindle
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble Nook
Chegg Inc

Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

edited by Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L. P. Hoogland and Annelou L. van Gijn
contributions by Mathijs A. Booden, Iris Briels, Jago Cooper, Fernando Luna Calderon, Alfredo Coppa, Andrea Cucina, Roberto Rodriguez Suarez, Jaime R Pagan-Jimenez, Charlene Dixon Hutcheson, A. J. Daan Isendoorn, Hylke de Jong, Loe Jacobs, Sebastiaan Knippenberg, Yvonne Lammers-Keijsers, Michaela Lucci, Marcos Martinon-Torres, Channah Nieuwenhuis, Raphael Panhuysen, Glenis Tavarez Maria, Michael Turney, Rita Vargiu, William F. Keegan, Tamara L Varney, Johannes Zijlstra, José R. Oliver, Gareth R. Davies, Harold J Kelly, Lee A. Newsom, Roberto Valcarcel Rojas, Christy de Mille and Benoit Berard

University of Alabama Press, 2008
eISBN: 978-0-8173-8196-7 | Cloth: 978-0-8173-1585-6 | Paper: 978-0-8173-5453-4
Library of Congress Classification F1619.C76 2008
Dewey Decimal Classification 972.901072

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Explores the application of a selected number of newly emerging methods and techniques

During the past few decades, Caribbean scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have increasingly developed and employed new methods and techniques for the study of archaeological materials. The aim of earlier research in the Caribbean was mainly to define typologies on the basis of pottery and lithic assemblages leading to the establishment of chronological charts for the region, and it was not until the 1980s that the use of technological and functional analyses of artifacts became widespread. The 1990s saw a veritable boom in this field, introducing innovative methods and techniques for analyzing artifacts and human skeletal remains. Innovative approaches included microscopic use-wear analysis, starch residue and phytolith analysis, stable isotope analysis, experimental research, ethnoarchaeological studies, geochemical analyses, and DNA studies.

The purpose of this volume is to describe new methods and techniques in the study of archaeological materials from the Caribbean and to assess possible avenues of mutual benefit and integration. Exploring the advantages and disadvantages in the application of a selected number of newly emerging methods and techniques, each of these approaches is illustrated by a case study. These studies benefited from a diverse array of experience and the international background of the researchers from Canada, the Netherlands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Italy, Mexico, Dominican Republic, England, and the United States who are integral members of the archaeological community of the Caribbean. A background to the study of archaeological materials in the Caribbean since the 1930s is provided in order to contextualize the latest developments in this field.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L. P. Hoogland, and Annelou L. van Gijn, are all on the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

REVIEWS

“. . . The case studies do an excellent job of demonstrating the fundamental role that archaeometry now plays in Caribbean archaeology and illustrate the diversity of experience and backgrounds of the researchers. . . . Crossing the Borders ushers Caribbean archaeology into a new phase. . . . Well-written and illustrated, the book is a showcase of some of the most interesting and thoughtful archaeological reserach underway in the Caribbean.”
—New West Indian Guide

“Individual studies discuss the advantages and disadvantages of specific, newly created techniques, and each new approach is exemplified with a case study. A straightforward narrative historical background of the study of Caribbean archaeological materials is also provided, for quick and easy reference. An index enhances this extensively researched, in-depth, up-to-date guide, enthusiastically recommended for Caribbean studies and college library shelves.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Crossing the Borders is an impressive collection of works on a wide range of archaeometric techniques used in the Caribbean. But what makes this book really cross borders is the list of contributors which includes researchers from at least seven countries representing four different languages and three continents. Thus, this book is truly breaking political, social, geographic, as well as, academic barriers.”
—Institute for Archaeological Research

“This comprehensive and current archaeometric study of the islands provides a wealth of data and enhances communications between European and New World archaeologists working in the Caribbean. It is an important and much-needed example of collaboration cross-cutting national boundaries in the multi-national region of the Caribbean.”
—L. Antonio Curet, The Field Museum

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
List of Illustrations	000
1. Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries and National Borders: New Methods and 
Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean
Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L. P. Hoogland, and Annelou L. van Gijn	000
Part I. Provenance Studies
2. In Tuneful Threefold: Combining Conventional Archaeological Methods, 
Archaeometric Techniques, and Ethnoarchaeological Research in the Study of 
Precolonial Pottery of the Caribbean
Corinne L. Hofman, A. J. Daan Isendoorn, Mathijs A. Booden, and Loe F. H. C. 
Jacobs	000
3. American Gold and European Brass: Metal Objects and Indigenous Values in 
the Cemetery of El Chorro de Maita, Cuba
Jago Cooper, Marcos Martinon-Torres, and Roberto Valcarcel Rojas	000
4. Chert Sourcing in the Northern Lesser Antilles: The Use of Geochemical 
Techniques in Discriminating Chert Materials
Sebastiaan Knippenberg and Johannes J. P. Zijlstra	000
Part II. Functional Studies of Artifacts
5. A New Material to View the Past: Dental Alginate Molds of Friable 
Artifacts
Charlene Dixon Hutcheson	000
6. Saladoid Lapidary Technology: New Methods for Investigating Stone Bead 
Drilling Techniques
Christy de Mille, Tamara Varney, and Michael Turney	000
7. Lithic Technology: A Way to More Complex Diversity in Caribbean 
Archaeology
Benoit Berard	000
8. Tool Use and Technological Choices: An Integral Approach toward Functional 
Analysis of Caribbean Tool Assemblages
Annelou van Gijn, Yvonne Lammers-Keijsers, and Iris Briels	000
9. Understanding the Function of Coral Tools from Anse a la Gourde: An 
Experimental Approach
Harold J. Kelly and Annelou van Gijn	000
10. The Significance of Wear and Residue Studies: An Example from Plum Piece, 
Saba
Channah Jose Nieuwenhuis	000
11. Starch Residues on Lithic Artifacts from Two Contrasting Contexts in 
Northwestern Puerto Rico: Los Muertos Cave and Vega de Nelo Vargas Farmstead
Jaime R. Pagan Jimenez and Jose R. Oliver	000
12. The Buren in Precolonial Cuban Archaeology: New Information Regarding the 
Use of Plants and Ceramic Griddles during the Late Ceramic Age of Eastern 
Cuba Gathered through Starch Analysis
Roberto Rodriguez Suarez and Jaime R. Pagan Jimenez	000
Part III. New Trends in Paleobotanical and Paleo-Osteological Research
13. Caribbean Paleoethnobotany: Present Status and New Horizons 
(Understanding the Evolution of an Indigenous Ethnobotany)
Lee A. Newsom	000
14. New Evidence of Two Different Migratory Waves in the Circum-Caribbean 
Area during the Pre-Columbian Period from the Analysis of Dental 
Morphological Traits
Alfredo Coppa, Andrea Cucina, Menno Hoogland, Michaela Lucci, Fernando Luna 
Calderon, Raphael G. A. M. Panhuysen, Glenis Tavarez Maria, Roberto Valcarcel 
Rojas, and Rita Vargiu	000
15. Tracing Human Mobility with 87Sr/86Sr at Anse a la Gourde, Guadeloupe
Mathijs A. Booden, Raphael G. A. M. Panhuysen, Menno L. P. Hoogland, Hylke N. 
de Jong, Gareth R. Davies, and Corinne L. Hofman	000
16. Epilogue: The Correct Answer Requires the Right Question (and the 
Technology to Back It Up)
William F. Keegan	000
References Cited	000
Contributors	000
Index	000

See other books on: Borders | Caribbean | Crossing | Techniques | West Indies
See other titles from University of Alabama Press

Nearby on shelf for Latin America. Spanish America / West Indies: