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Excavations at Heywoods, Barbados, and the Economic Basis of the Suazoid Period in the Lesser Antilles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Peter L. Drewett ,
Mary Hill Harris ,
Lee Ann Newsom  and
Elizabeth S. Wing
Peter L. Drewett
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H OPY
Mary Hill Harris
Affiliation:
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge
Lee Ann Newsom
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, Museum Road, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl 32611–2035, USA
Elizabeth S. Wing
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, Museum Road, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl 32611–2035, USA
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Abstract

The Suazoid period lasted some three hundred years (c. AD 1100–1400) in a small geographic area in the Lesser Antilles from Tobago to Southern Martinique. Defined by a relatively narrow ceramic series, the people represented by this material are still poorly understood. Deriving from peoples from mainland South America, they evolved a marine-based settlement area of some 35,000 square miles including six main islands and many smaller ones. This paper discusses the economic basis for one Suazoid group based on evidence from test-pitting an extensive site at Heywoods, Barbados. Formerly a mangrove swamp, the site yielded extensive evidence for a marine-based economy. In addition, the first evidence on Barbados for an Archaic presence (c. 2000 BC) was located, together with Saladoid (c. 2.00 BC–AD 650) and Troumassoid (c. AD 650–1100) activity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , 1993 , pp. 113 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1993

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References

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