On the shoals of giants: natural catastrophes and the overall destruction of the Caribbean’s archaeological record
Tóm tắt
In this paper I review a host of natural and cultural processes that have affected the preservation and integrity of archaeological sites on islands in the West Indies, many of which are located in low-lying coastal areas. Given the position of the Caribbean lithospheric plate—juxtaposed between four others—it is no surprise that by its very nature the region is volcanically active and frequently associated with earthquake and tsunami events. This makes coastal zones, and related archaeological sites in the region, highly susceptible to a wide range of destructive natural events. The high frequency of tropical systems (hurricanes and storms) in the Caribbean and rising sea level, coupled with human activities such as sand mining, development, and looting, makes the region’s archaeological record one of the most vulnerable and threatened in the world. Ongoing research is dedicated to understanding how past populations may have been affected by these events in the past.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Allaire L (1989) Volcanic chronology and the early Saladoid occupation of Martinique. In: Sigel PE (ed) Early ceramic population lifeways and adaptive strategies in the Caribbean. BAR International Series 506, Oxford, pp 147–168
Armstrong D (1980) Shellfish gatherers of St. Kitts: a study of Archaic subsistence and settlement patterns. In: Lewenstein S (ed) Proceedings of the eighth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles. Arizona State University Anthropological Research Papers, Tempe, pp 152–167
Baldwin J (2000) Tourism development, wetland degradation and beach erosion in Antigua, West Indies. Tour Geogr 2:193–218
Bélisle FJ (1983) Tourism and food production in the Caribbean. Ann Tour Res 10:497–513
Bird CF (1992) The impact of tropical cyclones on the archaeological record: an Australian example. Archaeol Ocean 27:75–86
Boomert A (2000) Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco interaction sphere: an archaeological/ethnohistorical study. Cairi Publications, The Netherlands
Borges P, Andrade C, Carmo Freitas M (2002) Dune, bluff and beach erosion due to exhaustive sand mining—the case of Santa Barbara beach, Sao Miguel (Azores, Portugal). J Coast Res S136-89-95
Brown BE, Dunne RP (1988) The environmental impact of coral mining in the Maldives. Environ Conserv 15:159–166
Bruun P (1962) Sea-level rise as a cause of shoreline erosion. J Waterw Harb Div 88:117–130
Bruun P (1983) Review of conditions for uses of the Bruun rule of erosion. Coast Eng 7:77–89
Bullen RP (1964) The archaeology of Grenada, West Indies. Contributions of the Florida State Museum. No. 11. University of Florida, Gainesville
Bullen RP, Bullen AK (1972) Archaeological investigations on St. Vincent and the Grenadines West Indies. American Studies, Report Number Eight. The William Bryant Foundation, Orlando
Burke K (1988) Tectonic evolution of the Caribbean. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 16:201–230
Callaghan RT (2007) Prehistoric settlement patterns on St. Vincent, West Indies. Carib J Sci 43:11–22
Callaghan RT (2010) Crossing the Guadeloupe passage in the Archaic Age. In: Fitzpatrick SM, Ross AH (eds) Island shores, distant pasts: archaeological and biological approaches to the pre-Columbian settlement of the Caribbean. University Press of Florida, Gainesville (in press)
Chanlatte Baik LA (1990) Cultura Ostionoide: un desarrollo algroalfarero antillano. In: Pantel Tekaks AG, Vargas I, Sanojas M (eds) En Actas del onceavo Congreso Internatcional de Arqueología del Caribe. Fundación Arqueológica, Antropologica e Histórica de Puerto Rico, San Juan
Cho D-O (2006) Challenges to sustainable development of marine sand in Korea. Ocean Coast Manag 26:1–21
Clark JJ, Walker J, Rodriguez Ramos R (2003) Depositional history and evolution of the Pas del Indio Site, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Geoarchaeol 18:625–648
Climatology of Caribbean Hurricanes <http://stormcarib.com/climatology/>. Accessed March 18, 2010
Cody AK (1991) From the site of Pearls, Grenada: exotic lithics and radiocarbon dates. In: Ayubi EN, Haviser JB (eds) Proceedings of the thirteenth congress for Caribbean archaeology. Reports of the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, No. 9. Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, pp 589–604
Conrad GW, Hammond W, Foster JW (2001) Organic artefacts from the Manantial de la Aleta, Dominican Republic: preliminary observations and interpretations. J Caribb Archaeol 2:1–20
Cooper J, Peros M (2010) The archaeology of climate change in the Caribbean. J Archaeol Sci 37:1226–1232
Courtaud P, Delpuech A, Romon T (1999) Archaeological investigations at colonial cemeteries on Guadeloupe: African slave sites or not? In: Haviser J (ed) African sites archaeology in the Caribbean. Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, pp 277–290
Crock JG, Petersen JB (2001) Stratified sites and storm events: the formation and destruction of beach sites in Anguilla, West Indies. In: Alofs L, Dijkhoff ACF (eds) Proceedings of the nineteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. Dijkhoff. Publications of the Archaeological Museum Aruba 9, pp 204–213
Curet LA (2003) Issues on the diversity and emergence of Middle-Range societies of the ancient Caribbean: a critique. J Archaeol Res 11:1–42
Curet LA (2005) Caribbean paleodemography: population, culture history, and sociopolitical processes in ancient Puerto Rico. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa
Daniel EB, Abkowitz MD (2003) Development of beach analysis tools for Caribbean small islands. Coast Manage 31:255–275
Daniel EB, Abkowitz MD (2005) Predicting storm-induced beach erosion in Caribbean small islands. Coast Manage 33:53–69
Delpuech A, Hofman CL, Hoogland MLP (1999) Excavations at the site of Anse a la Gourde, Guadeloupe: organisation, history and environmental setting. In: par l’Association Internationale d’Archéologie de la Caraïbe Région Guadeloupe Mission Archéologique (eds) Proceedings of the eighteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. St. Georges, Grenada, pp 156–161
Delpuech A, Hofman CL, Hoogland MLP (2001) Amerindian settlements and archaeological reality in the Lesser Antilles: the case of Grande Terre, Guadeloupe. In: Alofs L, Dijkhoff ACF (eds) Proceedings of the nineteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. Dijkhoff. Publications of the Archaeological Museum Aruba 9, pp 99–108
Drewett P (1991) Landscape change and the prehistoric settlement of Barbados. In: Ayubi EN, Haviser JB (eds) Proceedings of the thirteenth congress for Caribbean archaeology. Reports of the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, No. 9. Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, pp 221–231
Drewett P (2000) Prehistoric settlements in the Caribbean: fieldwork in Barbados, Tortola and the Cayman Islands. Archetype Publications, London
Drewett PL (2002) Amerindian stories: an archaeology of early Barbados. Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Bridgetown
Druitt TH, Kokelaar BP (eds) (2002) The eruption of Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, from 1995–1999. Geological Society Memoir 21. Geological Society, London
Ellison AM, Farnsworth EJ (1996) Anthropogenic disturbance of Caribbean mangrove ecosystems: past impacts, present trends, and future predictions. Biotropica 28:549–565
Erlandson JM (2008) Racing a rising tide: global warming, rising seas, and the erosion of human history. J Island Coast Archaeol 3(2):167–169
Erlandson JM (2010) As the world warms: rising seas, coastal archaeology, and the erosion of maritime history. J Coast Conserv. doi:10.1007/s11852-010-0104-5
Erlandson JM, Fitzpatrick SM (2006) Oceans, islands, and coasts: current perspectives on the role of the sea in human prehistory. J Island Coast Archaeol 1:5–32
Fitzpatrick SM, Callaghan RT (n.d.) Saladoid Seafarers: on the origins and migration of early Ceramic Age Amerindian Populations (Submitted for publication)
Fitzpatrick SM, Kappers M, Kaye Q (2006) Coastal erosion and site destruction on Carriacou, West Indies. J Field Archaeol 31:251–262
Fitzpatrick SM, Kappers M, Kaye Q, Giovas CM, LeFebvre MJ, Harris MH, Burnett S, Pavia JA, Marsaglia K, Feathers J (2010) Precolumbian settlements on Carriacou, West Indies. J Field Archaeol 34:247–266
Hesp PA, Hilton M (1996) Nearshore-surfzone system limits and the impacts of sand extraction. J Coast Res 12:726–747
Hesp PA, Shepherd MJ, Parnell K (1999) Coastal geomorphology in New Zealand, 1989–99. Prog Phys Geogr 23:501–524
Hou H-S, Lin T-Y, Hsu T-W (2002) Beach erosion along the I-Lan coast, northeastern Taiwan. In the conference proceedings of Littoral 2002: the changing coast. Porto, Portugal: EUROCAST/EUCC, 453–459
Huber R, Meganck R (1990) The management challenge of Grand Anse Beach Erosion, Grenada, West Indies. Ocean Shorel Manag 13:99–109
Iturralde-Vinent MA, Lidiak EG (2006) Caribbean tectonic, magmatic, metamorphic, and stratigraphic events. Implications for plate tectonics. Geol Acta 4:1–5
Kaye Q, Fitzpatrick SM, Kappers M (2004) A preliminary report on the excavation at Grand Bay, Carriacou, West Indies, June 28th–July 31st, 2004. Pap Inst Archaeol 15:82–89
Keegan WF (1994) West Indian archaeology. 1. Overview and foragers. J Archaeol Res 2:255–284
Keegan WF (1995) Recent climatic and sea level fluctuations in relation to West Indian Prehistory. In: Proceedings of sixteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. Conseil Régional de la Guadeloupe et Auditorium de la Ville de Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, pp 95–104
Keegan WF (2000) West Indian archaeology. 3. Ceramic Age. J Archaeol Res 8:135–167
Keegan WF (2006) Archaic influences in the origins and development of Taino societies. Carib J Sci 42:1–10
Keegan WF, Phulgence W (2010) Patrimony or patricide? In: Righter E, Siegel P (eds) Protecting heritage in the Caribbean. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa (in press)
Kidd J (2010) Can Haiti rebuild to save lives? Better supplies, methods needed to withstand earthquakes, experts say. The Star.com <http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/776172--can-haiti-rebuild-to-save-lives>. Accessed on March 18, 2010
Lander JF, Whiteside LS, Lockridge PA (2002) A brief history of tsunami in the Caribbean Sea. Sci Tsunami Hazards 20:57–94
Lewis JB (2002) Evidence from aerial photography of structural loss of coral reefs at Barbados, West Indies. Coral Reefs 21:49–56
Lindsay J, Robertson R, Shepard J, Ali S (eds) (2005) Volcanic hazard atlas of the Lesser Antilles. Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Littman SB (2001) Quaternary sea level change in the Caribbean: implications for archaeology. In: Alofs L, Dijkhoff ACF (eds) Proceedings of the nineteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. Dijkhoff. Publications of the Archaeological Museum Aruba 9, pp 58–64
London JB (2004) Implications of climate change on small island developing states: experience in the Caribbean region. J Environ Plan Manag 47:491–501
Masalu DCP (2002) Coastal erosion and its social and environmental aspects in Tanzania: a case study in illegal sand mining. Coast Manage 30:347–359
McElroy JL, Potter B, Towle E (1990) Challenges for sustainable development in small Caribbean islands. In: Beller W, d’Alaya P, Hein P (eds) Sustainable development and environmental management of small islands. UNESCO, Paris, pp 299–316
McGregor DFM, Potter RB (1997) Environmental change and sustainability in the Caribbean: terrestrial perspectives. In: Ratter BMW, Sahr WD (eds) Land, sea, and human effort in the Caribbean. University of Hamburg Press, Hamburg, pp 1–17
Mensah JV (1997) Causes and effects of coastal sand mining in Ghana. Singap J Trop Geogr 19:69–88
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2010) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurricane. Accessed March 18, 2010
Meschede M, Frisch W (1998) A plate-tectonic model for the Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic history of the Caribbean plate. Tectonophys 296:269–291
Nairn R, Johnson JA, Hardin D, Michel J (2004) A biological and physical monitoring program to evaluate long-term impacts from sand dredging operations in the United States Outer Continental Shelf. J Coast Res 20:126–137
Nunn PD (2000) Coastal changes over the past 200 years around Ovalau and Moturiki Islands, Fiji: implications for coastal zone management. Aust Geogr 31:21–39
Organization of American States (1983) Report on August 1983, OAS mission on tourism infrastructure. OAS Department of Regional Development, Washington
Pelinovsky E, Zahibo N, Dunkley P, Edmonds M, Herd R, Talipova T, Kozelkov A, Nikolkina I (2004) Tsunami generated by the volcano eruption on July 12–13, 2003 at Montserrat, Lesser Antilles. Sci Tsunami Hazards 22:44–57
Pelling M, Uitto JI (2001) Small island developing states: natural disaster vulnerability and global change. Environ Hazards 3:49–62
Peros MC, Graham E, Davis AM (2006) Stratigraphic investigations at Los Buchillones, a coastal Taino site in north-central Cuba. Geoarchaeol 21:403–428
Petersen JB, Bartone RN, Watters DR (1995) Pyroclastic, storm surge and Saladoid villager deposits: the archaeological and geological stratigraphy of the Trants Site, Montserrat. In Proceedings of sixteenth Congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. Conseil Régional de la Guadeloupe et Auditorium de la Ville de Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, pp 40–51
Petersen JB, Hofman CL, Curet AL (2004) Time and culture: chronology and taxonomy in the eastern Caribbean and the Guianas. In: Delpuech A, Hofman CL (eds) Late Ceramic Age societies in the Eastern Caribbean. British Archaeological Reports 1273, Oxford
Przywolnik K (2002) Coastal sites and severe weather in Cape Range Peninsula, northwest Australia. Archaeol Ocean 37:137–152
Pulsipher LM, Goodwin CM (1999) Here where the old people be: reconstructing the landscapes of the slavery and post-slavery era in Montserrat, West Indies. In: Haviser J (ed) African sites archaeology in the Caribbean. Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, pp 9–37
Ramcharan EK (2004) Mid-to-late Holocene sea level influence on coastal wetland development in Trinidad. Quat Int 120:145–151
Reid BA (2008) Archaeology and geoinformatics: case studies from the Caribbean. In: Reid BA (ed) Archaeology and geoinformatics: case studies from the Caribbean Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, pp 1–9
Richard Gill Associates Ltd (1995) Executive summary of impact assessments—Port St. Charles waterfront development, Heywoods, St. Peter, Barbados. Report submitted by Guy M. Griffith Engineers, Associated Consulting Engineers, Inc., and Richard Gill Associates Ltd
Rick TC, Erlandson JM (eds) (2008) Human impacts on ancient marine ecosystems: a global perspective. University of California Press, Berkeley
Righter E, Seigel P (eds) (2010) Protecting heritage in the Caribbean. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa (in press)
Robinson E (2004) Coastal changes along the coast of Vere, Jamaica over the past two hundred years: data from maps and air photographs. Quat Int 120:153–161
Rodríguez Ramos R (2002) Dinámicas de intercambio en el Puerto Rico prehispánico. Caribe Arqueol 6:16–22
Rodríguez Ramos R (2007) The Puerto Rico Precolonial History etched in stone. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology. Gainesville, University of Florida
Rodríguez Ramos R, Pagán Jiménez J (2006) Interacciones multivectoriales en el Circum-Caribe Precolonial un vistazo desde las Antilles. Caribb Stud 34(2):103–143
Rodríguez Ramos R, Babilonia E, Curet LA, Ulloa J (2008) The Pre-Arawak pottery horizon in the Antilles: a new approximation. Latin Am Antiq 19:47–63
Roe P (1985) A preliminary report on the 1980 and 1982 field seasons at Hacienda Grande (12 PSJ-7): overview of site history, mapping and excavations. In: Allaire L, Mayer F-M (eds) Proceedings of the tenth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, Centre de Recherches Caraïbes Université de Montreal
Rouse I (1992) The Tainos: rise and decline of the people who greeted Columbus. Yale University Press, New Haven
Ruppé RJ (1980) Sea-level rise and Caribbean prehistory. In: Lewenstein S (ed) Proceedings of the eighth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles. Arizona State University Anthropological Research Papers, Tempe, pp 331–337
Ryzewski K, Cherry JF, Leppard T, Murphy E, Faro EZ (2010) Survey and landscape archaeology on Montserrat: a report on the pilot season, January 2010. Report submitted to the Montserrat National Trust
Scheffers A (2002) Paleotsunami in the Caribbean, field evidences and datings from Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. Essener Geographische Arbeiten, 33
Scheffers A (2004) Tsunami imprints on the Leeward Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) and their relation to other coastal problems. Quat Int 120:163–172
Scheffers A, Kelletat D (2003) Sedimentologic and geomorphologic tsunami imprints worldwide—a review. Earth Sci Rev 63:83–92
Schleupner C (2008) Evavluation of coastal squeeze and beach reduction and its consequences for the Caribbean island Martinique. Ocean Coast Manag 51:383–390
Sigurdsson H, Carey S (1991) Caribbean volcanoes: a field guide. Geological Association of Canada, Toronto
Siung-Chang A (1997) A review of marine pollution issues in the Caribbean. Environ Geochem Health 19:45–55
Spenneman DHR (1987) The impact of cyclonic surge on archaeological sites in Tonga. Indo-Pac Prehist Assoc Bull 7:75–87
Spooner SQ (2004) Protecting the Caribbean’s historic shipwrecks: a new model for success. Tutela, conservazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale subacqueo, ICCROM, pp 331–341
Watters D (1983) Assessing the ocean’s roles in Antillean prehistory. In: Allaire L, Mayer F-M (eds) Proceedings of the ninth congress for the study of the pre-Columbian cultures of the Lesser Antilles. Centre de Recherches Caraïbes, Universite de Montréal, pp 531–541
Watters D, Donahue J (1990) Geoarchaeological research on Barbuda, Antigua, and Montserrat. In: Takakis AGP, Arenas IV, Obediente MS (eds) Proceedings of the eleventh congress for International Association for Caribbean Archaeology. La Fundacion Arqueologica, Antropologica e Historica de Puerto Rico, La Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recato de Rio Piedras, United States Department of Agriculture and Forest Service. San Juan, Puerto Rico, pp 375–379
Watters D, Norton GE (2007) Volcanically induced loss of archaeological sites in Montserrat. In: Reid B, Petitjean Roget H, Curet LA (eds) Proceedings of the twenty-first congress of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology. University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, pp 48–55
Watters D, Petersen J (1993) Preliminary report on the archaeology of the Rendezvous Bay site, Anguilla. In: Cummins A, King P (eds) Proceedings of the fourteenth congress for Caribbean archaeology. Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Bridgetown, pp 348–359
Wilson S (2007) The archaeology of the Caribbean. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Wilson S, Iceland HB, Hester TR (1998) Preceramic connections between Yucatan and the Caribbean. Latin Am Antiq 9:342–352
Yaw F Jr (2005) Cleaner technologies for sustainable tourism: Caribbean case studies. J Clean Prod 13:117–134