Mutations des sociétés précolombiennes sur l’île de Saint-Martin, Petites Antilles

Bonnissent, Dominique

doi:10.4000/nda.150

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The association of certain animals to veneration and divinities (Breton 1665:341; du Tronchoy 1709:189—the latter's descriptions are specifically linked to agouti) again recalls parallels with South American ontologies, suggesting agouti may have perhaps been accorded ceremonial/cosmological value, as recognized for certain common prey animals in South America (Viveiros de Castro 1998). The agouti zoomorphs (Bonnissent 2008:585; Donop 2005; Lopinot and Ray 2018) and repeated mention of agouti teeth in ceremonial context recommends ceremonial/cosmological value for agouti skeletal remains. Despite their mention in the texts, no culturally modified agouti teeth have been reported so far archaeologically, although non-dietary cultural modifications (e.g., scoring, polishing, cut marks, drilling, etc.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A single agouti burial at Sugar Factory Pier on Saint Kitts (approximately AD 700–1000) (Wing 1993: 247) shows that, in some cases, at least, agoutis transcended a purely dietary status. Agouti zoomorphs, found at Baie aux Prunes (Saint Martin) (Bonnissent 2008:585), Lopinot Cemetery (Trinidad) (Lopinot and Ray 2018), and Savanne Suazey (Grenada) (Donop 2005), may have held a ceremonial/cosmological value for Indigenous Caribbean islanders (Waldron 2011).…”

Section: Pre-contact Caribbean Commensal Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethnohistoric Accounts as Valuable Resources for Deciphering Commensal Relationships of Pre-Contact Caribbean Agouti (Dasyproctidae: Dasyprocta)

Rabinow

2021

Journal of Ethnobiology

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The Neotropical rodent agouti (Dasyprocta sp.), arguably one of the most prominent pre-Contact introduced commensals of the Lesser Antilles, has long been proposed as having been managed and maintained in captivity by Indigenous Caribbean groups. These claims, however, remain so far unsubstantiated. Ethnohistoric texts may serve as valuable resources for establishing the commensal relationships agouti shared with Indigenous Caribbean groups. Here, I synthesize the evidence from seventeenth century French ethnohistoric texts to address the question of pre-Contact agouti management and captivity and concretize some of the many other commensal relationships linking agouti to Indigenous groups. Ethnohistoric texts reveal that, in addition to having been managed through garden hunting, agoutis occurred as tame, in close proximity to settlements, although they do not appear to have been maintained in captivity. Agoutis also occurred as detached from human settlements, maintaining minimal interaction with human groups. Ethnohistoric texts repeatedly associate agoutis and agouti skeletal elements with ritual practices, suggesting ceremonial/cosmological value. This study shows that ethnohistoric texts hold critical potential for substantiating pre-Contact commensal relationships and, by extension, may offer insight into Indigenous identities and lifeways, and island ecology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pre-contact Caribbean Commensal Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnohistoric Accounts as Valuable Resources for Deciphering Commensal Relationships of Pre-Contact Caribbean Agouti (Dasyproctidae: Dasyprocta)

Rabinow

2021

Journal of Ethnobiology

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“…Current archaeological evidence for the earliest Amerindian occupation of the Lesser Antilles comes from the Pre-ceramic occupation dated to 5.3 ky cal BP at Etang Rouge on Saint-Martin (Martias 2005;Bonnissent 2008) and a pollen core drilled in the marshes of the Vieux Fort River on Marie-Galante, which produced evidence for the human-induced modification of the landscape and accumulation of micro-charcoals at around 5 kyr cal BP (Siegel et al 2008). The date of 10.7 ky BP (12 ky cal BP) for layer 5 of Blanchard Cave containing the terminal phalanx referred to Ara cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of the former existence of an endemic macaw in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles

Gala

Lenoble

2015

J Ornithol

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International audienceThe discovery of a bone referred to the genus Ara Lacépède, 1799 from a Pleistocene fossil-bearing deposit on Marie-Galante demonstrates macaws to have been present in Guadeloupe before any Amerindian settlement. This directly contradicts the hypothesis that macaws described in historical records concerning the Lesser Antilles were introduced by native peoples from South America. The fossil bone is a terminal phalanx similar in size to a large macaw. Based on its size and geographic arguments, the fossil bone found on Marie-Galante can be attributed to an endemic large macaw (Lesser Antillean Macaw, Ara guadeloupensis Clark in Auk 22:266–273, 1905) presumed to have inhabited the Guadeloupe Islands. This discovery currently provides the strongest evidence supporting the former existence of this now-extinct macaw

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“…Archaeological records confirm the ancient introduction and translocation of continental plants and animals that are still present today, including manioc ( Manihot esculenta ), maize ( Zea mays ), papaya ( Carica papaya ) (Newsom and Wing, 2004; Pagán Jiménez et al, 2005), dogs ( Canis familiaris ), and agouti ( Dasyprocta sp.) (Bonnissent, 2008; Giovas et al, 2012, 2016; Wing, 2001a). Lesser Antillean rice rats (tribe Oryzomyini) are considered to be endemic to the archipelago, as the timing of their arrival in this area has been estimated via molecular clock analysis to the Late Miocene (6.814–6.303 Mya – Brace et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extensive evidence for anthropic inter-island exchange in the Lesser Antilles has been evidenced for example dogs, humans, raw materials, and artefacts (i.e. Bonnissent, 2008, 2013; Fitzpatrick, 2015; Hofman et al, 2006, 2007, 2008; Hofman and Hoogland, 2011; Knippenberg, 2007; Laffoon et al, 2013, 2015, 2016; Stouvenot and Randrianasolo, 2013). It is still unclear whether rice rats were part of this network.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeobiogeography of extinct rice rats (Oryzomyini) in the Lesser Antilles during the Ceramic Age (500 BCE–1500 CE)

et al. 2020

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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.

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Mutations des sociétés précolombiennes sur l’île de Saint-Martin, Petites Antilles

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Ethnohistoric Accounts as Valuable Resources for Deciphering Commensal Relationships of Pre-Contact Caribbean Agouti (Dasyproctidae: Dasyprocta)

Ethnohistoric Accounts as Valuable Resources for Deciphering Commensal Relationships of Pre-Contact Caribbean Agouti (Dasyproctidae: Dasyprocta)

Evidence of the former existence of an endemic macaw in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles

Archaeobiogeography of extinct rice rats (Oryzomyini) in the Lesser Antilles during the Ceramic Age (500 BCE–1500 CE)

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