Archaeology and Geoinformatics: Case Studies from the Caribbean (Caribbean Archaeology and Ethnohistory)

251 Pages·2008·2.42 MB·English

by  Basil A. Reid

Archaeology and Geoinformatics
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CARIBBEAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOHISTORY
Series Editor Antonio L. Curet
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Archaeology and
Geoinformatics
Case Studies from the Caribbean
Edited by Basil A. Reid
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
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Copyright © 2008
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: ACaslon
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information S ciences- Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-P ublication Data
Archaeology and geoinformatics : case studies from the Caribbean / [edited by] Basil A. Reid.
p. cm. — (Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1601-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-5470-1 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8053-3 (electronic) 1. Indians of the West Indies— Antiquities.
2. Archaeological g eology— Caribbean Area. 3. Excavations (Archaeology)—Geographic
information systems— Caribbean Area. 4. Caribbean A rea— Antiquities. I. Reid, Basil A.,
1961–
F1619.A73 2008
972.900285—dc22
2007036716
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction
Archaeology and Geoinformatics: Case Studies from the Caribbean
Basil A. Reid 1
Part I: Archaeology, GIS, and Visibility Models
1. The Caribbean: A Continent Divided by Water
Joshua M. Torres and Reniel Rodríguez Ramos 13
Part II: Archaeology, GIS, and Cultural Resource Management
2. Developing W eights- of- Evidence Predictive Models for the Cultural
Resource Management of Pre- Columbian Sites in Trinidad
Basil A. Reid 33
3. Forward Planning: The Utilization of GIS in the Management of
Archaeological Resources in Barbados
Kevin Farmer 74
4. Developing an Archaeological Information System for Trinidad and Tobago
Bheshem Ramlal and Basil A. Reid 86
Part III: Archaeology, GIS, Cartography, GPS, Satellite Imagery,
Aerial Photography, and Photogrammetry
5. Maps, Matricals, and Material Remains: An Archaeological GIS of
Late- Eighteenth- Century Historic Sites on St. John, Danish West Indies
Douglas V. Armstrong, Mark W. Hauser, David W. Knight, and Stephan
Lenik 99
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vi / Contents
6. Understanding Nevis: GPS and Archaeological Field Survey in a
Postcolonial Landscape
Roger H. Leech 127
7. The Use of Imagery to Locate Taino Sites in Jamaica in a GIS Environment
Parris Lyew- Ayee and Ivor Conolley 137
Part IV: Archaeology and Geophysics
8. Geophysics and the Search for Raleigh’s Outpost on Trinidad
Eric Klingelhofer 155
9. Geophysics and Volcanic Islands: Resistivity and Gradiometry on
St. Eustatius
R. Grant Gilmore III 170
Conclusion
Postscript: Archaeology and Geoinformatics from a Caribbeanist Perspective
Basil A. Reid 184
Glossary of Terms 195
References Cited 205
Contributors 225
Index 229
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Illustrations
Figures
1.1. Map of the Caribbean Basin with GTOPO30 digital elevation model
(DEM) and political boundaries 14
1.2. Recalculated DEM using Bowditch’s standard distance to the visible
horizon formula 18
1.3. Recalculated DEM using Bowditch’s standard distance to the visible
horizon formula showing sample points f rom/t o which visibility is
possible 20
1.4. Visibility ranges based on point sample 21
1.5. Map showing variability in distances between coasts and landmass visibility
ranges 23
1.6. Overlapping visibility areas in the Greater Antilles 24
1.7. Overlapping visibility areas in the Lesser Antilles 27
2.1. Map of Trinidad showing the location of the three watersheds selected for
this study 34
2.2. Map of Trinidad showing the location of the watersheds in relation to the
island’s physiography 35
2.3. Map of Trinidad and Tobago showing a sample of p re- Columbian sites on
the island 38
2.4. Flow chart of weights- of- evidence procedure used in this study 39
2.5. Output weights of Landform evidential theme (Cipero watershed) 49
2.6. Output weights of Soil Texture evidential theme (Cipero watershed) 49
2.7. Output weights of Land Capability evidential theme (Cipero water-
shed) 50
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viii / Illustrations
2.8. Output weights of Relief evidential theme (Cipero watershed) 50
2.9. Output weights of Landform evidential theme (South Oropouche
watershed) 51
2.10. Output weights of Land Capability evidential theme (South Oropouche
watershed) 51
2.11. Output weights of Relief evidential theme (South Oropouche water-
shed) 51
2.12. Output weights of Landform evidential theme (Rest North water-
shed) 52
2.13. Output weights of Soil Texture evidential theme (Rest North water-
shed) 52
2.14. Output weights of Land Capability evidential theme (Rest North
watershed) 52
2.15. Output weights of Relief evidential theme (Rest North watershed) 53
2.16. Posterior probability of Cipero watershed 62
2.17. Posterior probability of South Oropouche watershed 63
2.18. Posterior probability of Rest North watershed 64
2.19. Archaeological site favorability for Cipero watershed 65
2.20. Archaeological site favorability for South Oropouche watershed 66
2.21. Archaeological site favorability for Rest North watershed 67
3.1. Map of Barbados showing prehistoric site locations 77
4.1. Entity- relationship diagram of conceptual model 92
4.2. Attribute data entry form 93
4.3. Map of Trinidad created using the archaeological sites data set 93
4.4. Map of Trinidad created using the land-u se data set 94
4.5. Selected sites that are within 500 m of a river a nd/ or the coastline 95
4.6. Sites intersected with digital elevation model 95
5.1. Oxholm’s map of St. John, 1780 101
5.2. Oxholm’s map of St. John, 1800 102
5.3. Beck’s map of St. Croix, 1754 107
5.4. Map of Coral Harbor, 1720 108
5.5. Oxholm’s 1777 draft map of St. John 111
5.6. Fortifi cation of Cruz Bay (Oxholm drawing) 112
5.7. Fort at Coral Bay (Oxholm drawing) 113
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Illustrations / ix
5.8. Color aerial survey/ base map, 1994 117
5.9. Field survey: Mark Hauser using GPS to locate sites 118
5.10. Identifi cation of historic sites (Cinnamon Bay Plantation) 119
5.11. GIS plot of sites dating to 1780 and 1800 (quarter boundaries also
shown) 120
5.12. Plantation production by estate and quarter (sugar, cotton, provision), 1780
versus 1800 122
5.13. Change in distribution of unfree (enslaved) population from 1780 to
1800 123
6.1. Map of Nevis showing the “divisions” 131
6.2. Mountravers: the plantation landscape 132
6.3. Upper Woodland plantation, plans from archaeological survey 133
6.4. Parris’s Garden, an eighteenth- century villa 134
7.1. Map of the parish of Trelawny located in n orth- central Jamaica 139
7.2. An example of how the X- parallax is observed 143
7.3. An infrared image of the study area 145
7.4. Land- cover classifi cations of the study area 147
7.5. Map showing potential areas for future Taino site exploration 149
8.1. Locational map of Los Gallos Point, Trinidad 157
8.2. Site map of Los Gallos Point, also depicting the possibly contemporary
aboriginal Quemada Point site 158
8.3. Mercer team employing magnetometer at Los Gallos Point in 1998 159
8.4. Plan of the 1998 magnetometer surveys 160
8.5. Mercer team using Mark 1 prototype resistivity meter in 2002 162
8.6. Magnetometer survey (1998) of the Main Survey Area, with the smaller
2002 resistivity survey area imposed 163
8.7. Detail of the 1998 magnetometer survey with the same area of the 2002
resistivity survey 164
8.8. Mercer team taking soil temperature readings in 2002 165
8.9. Test Unit 9, 2004 166
8.10. Test Unit 10, 2004; east–west soil stain of possible slot 167
9.1. Geographical location of St. Eustatius 173
9.2. Location of Pleasures Estate Plantation and English Quarter Plantation
on St. Eustatius 175
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