Jose R. Oliver - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Jose R. Oliver
New West Indian Guide, Jun 3, 2020
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Basil A. ... more This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Basil A. Reid (ed.), The Archaeology of Caribbean and Circum-Caribbean Farmers
Antiquity, Mar 1, 2013
José Antonio Cheibub, Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge Unive... more José Antonio Cheibub, Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Figures, tables, appendix, bibliography, index, 202 pp.; hardcover 84,paperback84, paperback 84,paperback25.99. Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, Presidential Impeachment and the New Political Instability in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 241 pp.; hardcover $80.
Latin American Antiquity, Dec 20, 2022
The area of the Atures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco River (Venezuela), where multiple Indigenous ... more The area of the Atures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco River (Venezuela), where multiple Indigenous communities gathered to trade goods, has been identified as a prominent center of commerce since early colonial times. However, the exchange activities taking place there between local and nonlocal actors before European colonization are poorly understood, based only on the ethnohistoric record. This article presents an archaeometric analysis of stone beads and ceramic roller stamps, items previously associated with trade practices, from two recently excavated sites in the region, Picure (AD 1030–1480) and Rabo de Cochino (AD 1000–1440); it assesses their provenance, production, and value. We propose that Picure was a site of a bead-manufacturing workshop and a place where roller stamps were exchanged. The stamps were acquired and produced by different potting groups. Analysis of thechaîne opératoireand production techniques shows processes of adaptation and emulation associated with the multiple, multiethnic communities during the period from AD 1000 to 1480. Both beads and stamps are linked to identity regalia that were likely used as part of ceremonies taking place in the area of the Rapids, as indicated by the numerous and monumental petroglyphs found on the islands.
Antiquity, Sep 1, 2006
By the early 1990s, archaeologists became aware of a new site with very early pottery located in ... more By the early 1990s, archaeologists became aware of a new site with very early pottery located in the wooded savannahs along the San Jacinto drainage in Colombia. San Jacinto-1 came to be known as a special-purpose Archaic site exhibiting the second earliest known pottery assemblage in the New World, firmly dated to between 69405780 cal. BP (2σ ). Only Taperinha and Caverna de Pedra Pintada in the Lower Amazon in Brazil had yielded earlier dates (7500 cal. BP). The excavations at San Jacinto-1 formed the basis for Oyuela-Caycedo and Bonzani’s PhD dissertations in 1993 and 1995. The publication of San Jacinto 1 promises an improved synthesis of both dissertations, recast within an historical ecological approach, and provides additional insights into the significance of the site. It will undoubtedly and deservedly bring it to the attention of a broader audience, stimulating further discussion on the origins of pottery, sedentism, and the all-important transition from hunting and gathering to incipient agriculture. These are research questions that transcend the interests of Colombian or even South American archaeology.
Antiquity, Dec 1, 2009
Pre-Columbian Jamaica is the first major summary of archaeological evidence published since 1897 ... more Pre-Columbian Jamaica is the first major summary of archaeological evidence published since 1897 for the island. Until now, most scholars working in the Caribbean have had a limited understanding of the data that supported its ancient history. In PreColumbian Jamaica Philip Allsworth-Jones has compiled the most salient and relevant information of all 271 pre-Columbian sites thus far recorded along with a perceptive and useful commentary for each of the sites’ research history and the relevant artefact collections. The book includes two most welcome surprises: it includes (pp. 199-286) Duerden’s hard-to-find synthesis Aboriginal Indian remains of Jamaica (1897) and is accompanied by a CD-ROM (operated with c ©Microsoft Access) containing a wealth of illustrations, maps, data, tables, and so on, that would have been too expensive to print. This is therefore a book designed for consultation and as a research tool by anyone who is interested in finding what kinds of materials and data are available for pre-Columbian sites in Jamaica.
Oxford Art Online, Apr 11, 2023
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 31, 2022
Antiquity, Jun 1, 2006
must be seen in a broader context. The other two respondents, Fotiadis and Hamilakis, are much mo... more must be seen in a broader context. The other two respondents, Fotiadis and Hamilakis, are much more trenchant. For the former, the term Aegean prehistory should be discarded – it is a limited historical object that has outlived its usefulness: shorn of its unique geopolitically-driven foundational status ‘it is reduced to an area of expertise’ (p. 165). For Hamilakis, the cultural variation in time and space, the presence of different disciplinary traditions and the ways in which the archaeology is used and re-used suggest that ‘the invention of Aegean prehistory is a result of an homogenizing discourse’ due to ‘historical contingencies’ of the last 200 years (p. 171); we should adopt a radical new approach. For most of the contributors, though, the politics with which they are mostly concerned tends to be that of the relationship of their sub-discipline to Classical Studies within the institutional settings of the United States, or the wider Anglophone world. There is a faint air of crisis; the ‘reflection’ is also meant as justification of the sub-discipline. One sees no such lack of confidence from the historians and ancient historians in RM who willingly adopt global comparative perspectives where appropriate, before turning their gaze back to the pond. The best of the papers in all three books are those which pose challenges and demand that we rethink our histories as well as our tellings of others. There’s life in the old frogs yet.
Antiquity, Dec 1, 2012
The editors of this volume take as its fundamental premise that there is something distinctive an... more The editors of this volume take as its fundamental premise that there is something distinctive and different about the French colonial ‘experience’ in the circum-Caribbean area when compared to that of the Spanish and British elsewhere in the Americas, especially in regards to the processes of local adaptations, transculturation, transvaluation (creolisation) and assimilation. Its contributors evaluate both the documentary and archaeological evidence from the south-eastern United States, as far north as Maryland and as far south as French Guiana. With two exceptions, the chapters concentrate on the Gulf Coast and Mississippi basin.
Arts, Apr 2, 2019
The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse r... more The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse rock art sites in lowland South America. In this paper, we aim to formally describe the spatial distribution and stylistic attributes of rock engravings and paintings on both banks of the Orinoco, centred on the Átures Rapids. Drawing on an exhaustive literature review and four years of field survey, we identify salient aspects of this corpus by investigating patterns of diversity and similarity. Based on a stylistic classification of Middle Orinoco rock art, this permits us to discuss potential links, as well as notable discontinuities, within the assemblage and possibly further afield. We consider the theoretical implications of our work for the study of pre-Columbian art and conclude with some suggestions for advances in methods for achieving the goal of deriving broader syntheses.
This is the report of excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Caguana in Puerto-Rico, a famous r... more This is the report of excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Caguana in Puerto-Rico, a famous religious centre in an otherwise under-explored area. Subtitled simbolimo iconografico, cosmovision y el poderio caciquil Taino de Boriquen' this volume also sheds new light on how the Taino chiefs acquired their power and how they reinforced their dominance through iconography. Text in Spanish.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, May 13, 2009
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2010
En este estudio se discuten los resultados de las investigaciones de campo realizadas en 1984-85 ... more En este estudio se discuten los resultados de las investigaciones de campo realizadas en 1984-85 en la cuenca de El Jobo, en el Valle del Río Pedregal del Estado Falcón, en el occidente de Venezuela, región en donde la serie paleoindia joboide fue identificada por J. M. Cruxent por primera vez. La investigación fue concebida como un primer acercamiento para comprobar o refutar la validez de la hipótesis propuesta por Cruxent: la correlación entre cuatro etapas de terrazas aluviales y la secuencia crono-tipológica de El Camare, Las Lagunas (etapas pre-proyectil), El Jobo y Las Casitas (etapas con puntas de proyectil). Se demuestra que las terrazas de la cuenca de El Jobo sí pueden ser correlacionadas y fechadas y que, además, presentan transgresión cronológica. Las terrazas de menor elevación arrojan fechas del Holoceno, entre 6670 y 1060 y años A.P. (Terraza I) y en sus segmentos superiores fechan entre 10,000 años A.P. (Terraza IA) y posiblemente más de 15,700 años
Arts, 2019
The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse r... more The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse rock art sites in lowland South America. In this paper, we aim to formally describe the spatial distribution and stylistic attributes of rock engravings and paintings on both banks of the Orinoco, centred on the Átures Rapids. Drawing on an exhaustive literature review and four years of field survey, we identify salient aspects of this corpus by investigating patterns of diversity and similarity. Based on a stylistic classification of Middle Orinoco rock art, this permits us to discuss potential links, as well as notable discontinuities, within the assemblage and possibly further afield. We consider the theoretical implications of our work for the study of pre-Columbian art and conclude with some suggestions for advances in methods for achieving the goal of deriving broader syntheses.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2011
Wiley-Blackwell's 'Peoples of the Americas Series', which presents summaries of important New Wor... more Wiley-Blackwell's 'Peoples of the Americas Series', which presents summaries of important New World culture areas. In this volume, Joyce provides the most comprehensive review currently available of the archaeological record of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. For decades, Oaxaca has been a highly productive crucible for forging archaeological understandings of the development of Mesoamerican societies. Oaxaca's archaeological record begins in the terminal Pleistocene, and contains Archaic adaptations that transition into Formative, Classic, and Postclassic periods, extending through the Spanish arrival in 1520. As such, it offers one of the longest cultural sequences to be found anywhere in the New World. A major addition to this record is the Rio Viejo data recovered from the Pacific Coast by Joyce and others since before 1991 and presented here alongside more familiar sequences from the Mixtecas (Alta, Baja, and Costa), the Nochixtlan and Ejutla Valleys, and the Oaxaca Valley and its sub-units. An enormous amount of research has been conducted in Oaxaca, and Joyce does an excellent job of bringing this evidence together. Not surprising given so much information is that competing interpretations of certain developments have at times been proposed. In
This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contrib... more This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, to the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and beyond in Central America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. As curator and head of the Americas section in the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas of the British Museum (1993–2012), he skillfully introduced a broad international public to the richness and diversity of ancient Latin Am...
Scientific Reports, 2021
Ross et al. 1 report results from the analysis of 103 pre-Columbian crania from 10 localities wit... more Ross et al. 1 report results from the analysis of 103 pre-Columbian crania from 10 localities within the insular and circum-Caribbean. Based on geometric morphometric (GMM) and hierarchical cluster analyses, the authors conclude that individuals from Hispaniola (n = 15), Jamaica (n = 7), and the Bahamas (n = 8) form a distinct cluster (HJB) representing the migration of Caribs (peoples belonging to the Cariban language family) into the region, ca. AD 800. Ross et al. 1 link the HJB cluster to a western Venezuelan homeland based on ostensible similarities between Carib pottery found in that region and the Meillacoid ceramics archaeologically associated with HJB populations. A second cluster comprising Cuba (n = 21) and the Yucatán (n = 12) and a third consisting of Puerto Rico (n = 10), Venezuela (n = 4), and Colombia (n = 5) are linked to continental emigration events at ca. 5000 BC and ca. 800-200 BC, respectively. Specimens from Florida (n = 15) and Panama (n = 6) form a fourth cluster. To support the ethnic distinctiveness of the Carib migrants/HJB cluster, the authors rely on Columbus' account of cannibal marauders, identified as "Caribs", attacking peaceful Arawakan-speaking communities of the Bahamas. Ross et al. 's 1 study contains important shortcomings that bear on the reliability of their conclusions. We discuss the most significant issues here, and based on these we conclude there is no evidence to substantiate a Carib migration from Venezuela to Hispaniola 700 years before Columbus' arrival. The critical weaknesses of the paper lie in the number, chronology, and archaeological contexts of the crania examined. Substantiation of Ross et al. 's 1 proposed migrations requires cranial specimens from a given island cluster to be appropriately associated in time and space with the continental specimens argued to represent source populations. It also requires the latter to be securely assigned to the proposed source culture based on archaeological context. The authors do not meet any of these evidentiary requirements. The four individuals from Venezuela, for instance, are of unknown age, location, and cultural affiliation and are unlikely to represent the full biological diversity and (presumably) associated ethnic and linguistic diversity of this region. The importance of considering archaeological context is critically exemplified by the 12 Chichén Itzá samples. Although not reported by Ross et al. 1 , at least 11 of these derive from the Sacred Cenote, a Maya human sacrificial context (ca. AD 800-1200) recently shown by Sr 87 /Sr 86 and δ 18 O analyses to contain high proportions of non-local individuals, some possibly originating from as far away as Central America and Mexico's Central Highlands 2. Two samples from Ross et al.
New West Indian Guide, Jun 3, 2020
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Basil A. ... more This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Basil A. Reid (ed.), The Archaeology of Caribbean and Circum-Caribbean Farmers
Antiquity, Mar 1, 2013
José Antonio Cheibub, Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge Unive... more José Antonio Cheibub, Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Figures, tables, appendix, bibliography, index, 202 pp.; hardcover 84,paperback84, paperback 84,paperback25.99. Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, Presidential Impeachment and the New Political Instability in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 241 pp.; hardcover $80.
Latin American Antiquity, Dec 20, 2022
The area of the Atures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco River (Venezuela), where multiple Indigenous ... more The area of the Atures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco River (Venezuela), where multiple Indigenous communities gathered to trade goods, has been identified as a prominent center of commerce since early colonial times. However, the exchange activities taking place there between local and nonlocal actors before European colonization are poorly understood, based only on the ethnohistoric record. This article presents an archaeometric analysis of stone beads and ceramic roller stamps, items previously associated with trade practices, from two recently excavated sites in the region, Picure (AD 1030–1480) and Rabo de Cochino (AD 1000–1440); it assesses their provenance, production, and value. We propose that Picure was a site of a bead-manufacturing workshop and a place where roller stamps were exchanged. The stamps were acquired and produced by different potting groups. Analysis of thechaîne opératoireand production techniques shows processes of adaptation and emulation associated with the multiple, multiethnic communities during the period from AD 1000 to 1480. Both beads and stamps are linked to identity regalia that were likely used as part of ceremonies taking place in the area of the Rapids, as indicated by the numerous and monumental petroglyphs found on the islands.
Antiquity, Sep 1, 2006
By the early 1990s, archaeologists became aware of a new site with very early pottery located in ... more By the early 1990s, archaeologists became aware of a new site with very early pottery located in the wooded savannahs along the San Jacinto drainage in Colombia. San Jacinto-1 came to be known as a special-purpose Archaic site exhibiting the second earliest known pottery assemblage in the New World, firmly dated to between 69405780 cal. BP (2σ ). Only Taperinha and Caverna de Pedra Pintada in the Lower Amazon in Brazil had yielded earlier dates (7500 cal. BP). The excavations at San Jacinto-1 formed the basis for Oyuela-Caycedo and Bonzani’s PhD dissertations in 1993 and 1995. The publication of San Jacinto 1 promises an improved synthesis of both dissertations, recast within an historical ecological approach, and provides additional insights into the significance of the site. It will undoubtedly and deservedly bring it to the attention of a broader audience, stimulating further discussion on the origins of pottery, sedentism, and the all-important transition from hunting and gathering to incipient agriculture. These are research questions that transcend the interests of Colombian or even South American archaeology.
Antiquity, Dec 1, 2009
Pre-Columbian Jamaica is the first major summary of archaeological evidence published since 1897 ... more Pre-Columbian Jamaica is the first major summary of archaeological evidence published since 1897 for the island. Until now, most scholars working in the Caribbean have had a limited understanding of the data that supported its ancient history. In PreColumbian Jamaica Philip Allsworth-Jones has compiled the most salient and relevant information of all 271 pre-Columbian sites thus far recorded along with a perceptive and useful commentary for each of the sites’ research history and the relevant artefact collections. The book includes two most welcome surprises: it includes (pp. 199-286) Duerden’s hard-to-find synthesis Aboriginal Indian remains of Jamaica (1897) and is accompanied by a CD-ROM (operated with c ©Microsoft Access) containing a wealth of illustrations, maps, data, tables, and so on, that would have been too expensive to print. This is therefore a book designed for consultation and as a research tool by anyone who is interested in finding what kinds of materials and data are available for pre-Columbian sites in Jamaica.
Oxford Art Online, Apr 11, 2023
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 31, 2022
Antiquity, Jun 1, 2006
must be seen in a broader context. The other two respondents, Fotiadis and Hamilakis, are much mo... more must be seen in a broader context. The other two respondents, Fotiadis and Hamilakis, are much more trenchant. For the former, the term Aegean prehistory should be discarded – it is a limited historical object that has outlived its usefulness: shorn of its unique geopolitically-driven foundational status ‘it is reduced to an area of expertise’ (p. 165). For Hamilakis, the cultural variation in time and space, the presence of different disciplinary traditions and the ways in which the archaeology is used and re-used suggest that ‘the invention of Aegean prehistory is a result of an homogenizing discourse’ due to ‘historical contingencies’ of the last 200 years (p. 171); we should adopt a radical new approach. For most of the contributors, though, the politics with which they are mostly concerned tends to be that of the relationship of their sub-discipline to Classical Studies within the institutional settings of the United States, or the wider Anglophone world. There is a faint air of crisis; the ‘reflection’ is also meant as justification of the sub-discipline. One sees no such lack of confidence from the historians and ancient historians in RM who willingly adopt global comparative perspectives where appropriate, before turning their gaze back to the pond. The best of the papers in all three books are those which pose challenges and demand that we rethink our histories as well as our tellings of others. There’s life in the old frogs yet.
Antiquity, Dec 1, 2012
The editors of this volume take as its fundamental premise that there is something distinctive an... more The editors of this volume take as its fundamental premise that there is something distinctive and different about the French colonial ‘experience’ in the circum-Caribbean area when compared to that of the Spanish and British elsewhere in the Americas, especially in regards to the processes of local adaptations, transculturation, transvaluation (creolisation) and assimilation. Its contributors evaluate both the documentary and archaeological evidence from the south-eastern United States, as far north as Maryland and as far south as French Guiana. With two exceptions, the chapters concentrate on the Gulf Coast and Mississippi basin.
Arts, Apr 2, 2019
The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse r... more The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse rock art sites in lowland South America. In this paper, we aim to formally describe the spatial distribution and stylistic attributes of rock engravings and paintings on both banks of the Orinoco, centred on the Átures Rapids. Drawing on an exhaustive literature review and four years of field survey, we identify salient aspects of this corpus by investigating patterns of diversity and similarity. Based on a stylistic classification of Middle Orinoco rock art, this permits us to discuss potential links, as well as notable discontinuities, within the assemblage and possibly further afield. We consider the theoretical implications of our work for the study of pre-Columbian art and conclude with some suggestions for advances in methods for achieving the goal of deriving broader syntheses.
This is the report of excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Caguana in Puerto-Rico, a famous r... more This is the report of excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Caguana in Puerto-Rico, a famous religious centre in an otherwise under-explored area. Subtitled simbolimo iconografico, cosmovision y el poderio caciquil Taino de Boriquen' this volume also sheds new light on how the Taino chiefs acquired their power and how they reinforced their dominance through iconography. Text in Spanish.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, May 13, 2009
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2010
En este estudio se discuten los resultados de las investigaciones de campo realizadas en 1984-85 ... more En este estudio se discuten los resultados de las investigaciones de campo realizadas en 1984-85 en la cuenca de El Jobo, en el Valle del Río Pedregal del Estado Falcón, en el occidente de Venezuela, región en donde la serie paleoindia joboide fue identificada por J. M. Cruxent por primera vez. La investigación fue concebida como un primer acercamiento para comprobar o refutar la validez de la hipótesis propuesta por Cruxent: la correlación entre cuatro etapas de terrazas aluviales y la secuencia crono-tipológica de El Camare, Las Lagunas (etapas pre-proyectil), El Jobo y Las Casitas (etapas con puntas de proyectil). Se demuestra que las terrazas de la cuenca de El Jobo sí pueden ser correlacionadas y fechadas y que, además, presentan transgresión cronológica. Las terrazas de menor elevación arrojan fechas del Holoceno, entre 6670 y 1060 y años A.P. (Terraza I) y en sus segmentos superiores fechan entre 10,000 años A.P. (Terraza IA) y posiblemente más de 15,700 años
Arts, 2019
The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse r... more The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse rock art sites in lowland South America. In this paper, we aim to formally describe the spatial distribution and stylistic attributes of rock engravings and paintings on both banks of the Orinoco, centred on the Átures Rapids. Drawing on an exhaustive literature review and four years of field survey, we identify salient aspects of this corpus by investigating patterns of diversity and similarity. Based on a stylistic classification of Middle Orinoco rock art, this permits us to discuss potential links, as well as notable discontinuities, within the assemblage and possibly further afield. We consider the theoretical implications of our work for the study of pre-Columbian art and conclude with some suggestions for advances in methods for achieving the goal of deriving broader syntheses.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2011
Wiley-Blackwell's 'Peoples of the Americas Series', which presents summaries of important New Wor... more Wiley-Blackwell's 'Peoples of the Americas Series', which presents summaries of important New World culture areas. In this volume, Joyce provides the most comprehensive review currently available of the archaeological record of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. For decades, Oaxaca has been a highly productive crucible for forging archaeological understandings of the development of Mesoamerican societies. Oaxaca's archaeological record begins in the terminal Pleistocene, and contains Archaic adaptations that transition into Formative, Classic, and Postclassic periods, extending through the Spanish arrival in 1520. As such, it offers one of the longest cultural sequences to be found anywhere in the New World. A major addition to this record is the Rio Viejo data recovered from the Pacific Coast by Joyce and others since before 1991 and presented here alongside more familiar sequences from the Mixtecas (Alta, Baja, and Costa), the Nochixtlan and Ejutla Valleys, and the Oaxaca Valley and its sub-units. An enormous amount of research has been conducted in Oaxaca, and Joyce does an excellent job of bringing this evidence together. Not surprising given so much information is that competing interpretations of certain developments have at times been proposed. In
This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contrib... more This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, to the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and beyond in Central America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. As curator and head of the Americas section in the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas of the British Museum (1993–2012), he skillfully introduced a broad international public to the richness and diversity of ancient Latin Am...
Scientific Reports, 2021
Ross et al. 1 report results from the analysis of 103 pre-Columbian crania from 10 localities wit... more Ross et al. 1 report results from the analysis of 103 pre-Columbian crania from 10 localities within the insular and circum-Caribbean. Based on geometric morphometric (GMM) and hierarchical cluster analyses, the authors conclude that individuals from Hispaniola (n = 15), Jamaica (n = 7), and the Bahamas (n = 8) form a distinct cluster (HJB) representing the migration of Caribs (peoples belonging to the Cariban language family) into the region, ca. AD 800. Ross et al. 1 link the HJB cluster to a western Venezuelan homeland based on ostensible similarities between Carib pottery found in that region and the Meillacoid ceramics archaeologically associated with HJB populations. A second cluster comprising Cuba (n = 21) and the Yucatán (n = 12) and a third consisting of Puerto Rico (n = 10), Venezuela (n = 4), and Colombia (n = 5) are linked to continental emigration events at ca. 5000 BC and ca. 800-200 BC, respectively. Specimens from Florida (n = 15) and Panama (n = 6) form a fourth cluster. To support the ethnic distinctiveness of the Carib migrants/HJB cluster, the authors rely on Columbus' account of cannibal marauders, identified as "Caribs", attacking peaceful Arawakan-speaking communities of the Bahamas. Ross et al. 's 1 study contains important shortcomings that bear on the reliability of their conclusions. We discuss the most significant issues here, and based on these we conclude there is no evidence to substantiate a Carib migration from Venezuela to Hispaniola 700 years before Columbus' arrival. The critical weaknesses of the paper lie in the number, chronology, and archaeological contexts of the crania examined. Substantiation of Ross et al. 's 1 proposed migrations requires cranial specimens from a given island cluster to be appropriately associated in time and space with the continental specimens argued to represent source populations. It also requires the latter to be securely assigned to the proposed source culture based on archaeological context. The authors do not meet any of these evidentiary requirements. The four individuals from Venezuela, for instance, are of unknown age, location, and cultural affiliation and are unlikely to represent the full biological diversity and (presumably) associated ethnic and linguistic diversity of this region. The importance of considering archaeological context is critically exemplified by the 12 Chichén Itzá samples. Although not reported by Ross et al. 1 , at least 11 of these derive from the Sacred Cenote, a Maya human sacrificial context (ca. AD 800-1200) recently shown by Sr 87 /Sr 86 and δ 18 O analyses to contain high proportions of non-local individuals, some possibly originating from as far away as Central America and Mexico's Central Highlands 2. Two samples from Ross et al.
Andean Past, Special Pulications-Monograph No.4, 2021
This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contrib... more This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, to the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and beyond in Central America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. As curator and head of the Americas section in the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas of the British Museum (1993–2012), he skillfully introduced a broad international public to the richness and diversity of ancient Latin American civilizations through his spectacular and well-researched exhibitions As director of Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks (2012–2019), he developed a research project entitled Art from Central America and Colombia (2014–2017), consisting of intense international workshops to contextualize, problematize, and shed new light on the Robert W. Bliss collections. This begat (in 2018) another ambitious project titled Waves of Influence–Revisiting Costal Connections between Northwest South America and Mesoamerica. McEwan was driven by a deep need to share his knowledge of Pre-Columbian America with everyone, from indigenous groups and the general public, to research fellows, students, and academic specialists. His many publications have left their mark and are enumerated in the bibliography incorporated into this monograph. This biography captures not just Colin McEwan as the central subject, but also a generation of diverse actors, encapsulating an era in the history of anthropology and archaeology.
Andean Past, Special Publications, Monograph 4, 2021
This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contrib... more This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, to the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and beyond in Central America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. As curator and head of the Americas section in the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas of the British Museum (1993–2012), he skillfully introduced a broad international public to the richness and diversity of ancient Latin American civilizations through his spectacular and well-researched exhibitions As director of Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks (2012–2019), he developed a research project entitled Art from Central America and Colombia (2014–2017), consisting of intense international workshops to contextualize, problematize, and shed new light on the Robert W. Bliss collections. This begat (in 2018) another ambitious project titled Waves of Influence–Revisiting Costal Connections between Northwest South America and Mesoamerica. McEwan was driven by a deep need to share his knowledge of Pre-Columbian America with everyone, from indigenous groups and the general public, to research fellows, students, and academic specialists. His many publications have left their mark and are enumerated in the bibliography incorporated into this monograph. This biography captures not just Colin McEwan as the central subject, but also a generation of diverse actors, encapsulating an era in the history of anthropology and archaeology.
Andean Past, Special Publications, Monograph 4, 2021
This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contrib... more This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, to the mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and beyond in Central America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean. As curator and head of the Americas section in the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas of the British Museum (1993–2012), he skillfully introduced a broad international public to the richness and diversity of ancient Latin American civilizations through his spectacular and well-researched exhibitions As director of Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks (2012–2019), he developed a research project entitled Art from Central America and Colombia (2014–2017), consisting of intense international workshops to contextualize, problematize, and shed new light on the Robert W. Bliss collections. This begat (in 2018) another ambitious project titled Waves of Influence–Revisiting Costal Connections between Northwest South America and Mesoamerica. McEwan was driven by a deep need to share his knowledge of Pre-Columbian America with everyone, from indigenous groups and the general public, to research fellows, students, and academic specialists. His many publications have left their mark and are enumerated in the bibliography incorporated into this monograph. This biography captures not just Colin McEwan as the central subject, but also a generation of diverse actors, encapsulating an era in the history of anthropology and archaeology.