International audienceA multiproxy analysis of lacustrine sediments cored in Grand-Case Pond at Saint-Martin, north of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, reveals three distinct climatic periods for the last 3700 years. From 3700 to ~2500 yr cal. BP and from 1150 yr cal. BP to the present, carbonate mud deposition occurred in connection with pond lowstands. These periods were also punctuated by severe drought events, marked by gypsum laminae, and hurricane landfalls, leading to marine sand inputs into the pond. The intermediate time interval, from 2500 to 1150 yr cal. BP, is typified by black organic mud deposition, suggesting that hypoxic to anoxic conditions prevailed at the pond bottom. These were probably linked with a perennial pond highstand and reflect more uniform and wetter climatic conditions than today. The carbon isotopic composition of the ostracod Perissocytheridea bisulcata shows that the lowest δ13C values are recorded during the hypoxic periods, as a consequence of bacterial recycling of isotopically depleted organic matter. Such a climatic history agrees closely with that documented from other records in the Caribbean area, such as the Cariaco Basin, central coast of Belize or Barbados. By constrast, discrepancies seem to emerge from the comparison between hurricane activity recorded at Saint-Martin on the one hand and Vieques (Puerto Rico) on the other hand. We explain this apparent contradiction by a balance between two distinct storm paths in response to latitudinal shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Stronger storm activity over the Gulf coast and the inner Caribbean Sea is favoured by a southern position of the ITCZ in connection with dry climatic conditions. Plausible links with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are also suggested

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During the Ceramic Age (500 BCE–1500 CE), Lesser Antilles rice rats (Tribe Oryzomyini) made up a significant portion of the diet of Caribbean islanders. Archaeological excavations across the archipelago resulted to the discovery of large quantities of remains from to these now extinct taxa. It offers a unique opportunity to investigate the past biogeography of this taxon of high cultural and ecological importance. We have studied 1140 first lower molars originating from 40 archaeological sites across eleven islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago using two-dimensional geometric morphometric approaches to establish spatiotemporal patterns relying on phenotypic variations. This study identified three morphological groups, present in all chrono-cultural periods, that were geographically restricted and consistent with published ancient mitochondrial DNA clusters. These three geographically-separate groups likely represent three distinct genera of rice rats. The first group includes specimens from the North of the archipelago (Saint-Martin, Saba, Saint-Eustatius, Saint-Kitts, and Nevis) and likely referable to as Pennatomys sp.; the second, occurring in the South (Martinique), is assigned to Megalomys desmarestii; and the third corresponds to specimens from the center of the Lesser Antilles (Antigua, Barbuda, Marie-Galante, and Guadeloupe) and likely corresponds to Antillomys sp. These oryzomyine morphotypes are present during all studied periods and support an older presence of these rodents in the region. Our results are congruent with ancient DNA studies that favor the hypothesis of a natural introduction of the group in the archipelago before settlement of human populations. Moreover, the observed phenotypic homogeneity and stability over the 2000 years of Pre-Columbian occupation suggests that rice rats were not part of long-distance inter-island exchanges by humans. Instead, rice rat human consumption was likely based on in-situ hunting of local populations.

St- James Shells from sepulchres of pilgrims have been identified as Pecten maximus which is an Atlantic Pecten jacobeus, Mediterranean species, was not well named by Linnaeus. Different measures of actual specimens describe the shell with width and height of the valve, height and width of the ligament scar. These two last measures are significantly correlated with height of the shell. So it can insured that the valve have been cut before being sold to pilgrim. A typology of pilgrims shells is proposed : valve is flat or rounded, cut or not, number and position of bores are noted. About half of pilgrims shells examined are cut, rounded with two bores laterally on the umbo (type TB2-2ul). The sell of shells of P. maximus is attested near the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Merchants probably used shells from Atlantic ocean that they cut to a small model, much more easy to wear. More samples have to be examined to determined if there is a link between "typology " and chronology of pilgrims shells.

Archaeological research, conducted on the French part of Saint-Martin, in the Lesser Antilles, documents the history of Amerindian communities on this island from the 4th millennium BC to the 15th century AD. Eight sites, spanning almost completely this sequence, have yielded extensive assemblages of invertebrate remains. Analysis and comparison of these assemblages with contemporaneous settlements from nearby islands reveal trends in the ways Amerindian communities exploited these resources. These results, especially when contrasted with a palaeo-climatic frame recently produced for Saint-Martin, reflect the intricate ways in which anthropic and natural systems interact.

La montée du niveau marin et la multiplication des épisodes extrêmes (fortes tempêtes, cyclones) induits par le changement climatique global, conjugués à une pression anthropique accrue sur les rivages, sont autant de phénomènes qui affectent de façon grandissante les zones côtières. Sur le littoral caribéen, des centaines de sites archéologiques sont aujourd’hui menacés par une destruction plus ou moins rapide. Dans ce contexte, le projet « Archéologie Littorale Outre-Atlantique » (ALOA), pour l’heure initié en Guadeloupe, contribue à renforcer l’action des services de l’État dans les domaines de la connaissance et de la préservation du patrimoine archéologique côtier des Petites Antilles. Le projet ALOA vise ainsi à développer diverses actions de sciences participatives par l’activation d’un réseau d’observateurs utilisant un outil interactif en ligne spécifiquement créé à cet effet. Il permet de signaler les sites archéologiques littoraux nouvellement exposés. Le dispositif ALOA propose alors des préconisations à l’attention des services de l’État et des gestionnaires du territoire, concernant l’intérêt scientifique des sites menacés, leur degré de vulnérabilité, et les mesures de prévention ou d’intervention prioritaires pouvant être envisagées.

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