“For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands

Joanna Ostapkowicz; Rick J. Schulting; Gareth R. Davies

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101504

“For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands

Joanna Ostapkowicz^*, Rick J. Schulting, Gareth R. Davies

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This paper presents the first systematic study of pre-Columbian imported stone celts recovered from the limestone islands of the Lucayan archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands of the northern Caribbean/West Atlantic. The majority derive from antiquarian collections and early archaeological investigations, prior to the destruction of many sites due to guano mining and development; only a handful have been recovered during archaeological investigations since the 1960s. The corpus includes 224 celts, of which 162 are complete and provide the measurements for a comparison with width/length ratios of celts from the proximate source islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. While the Lucayan archipelago shows a slightly higher proportion of wider celts, consistent with more reworking, overall the corpus suggests that exchange networks were sufficient to meet demand. This conclusion is supported by the absence of any clear diminution in size with distance from sources. The majority of stone celts (71.9 %) have been identified as various forms of “jade,” supplemented with a range of other materials. Despite the higher value often attributed to jade cross-culturally, we find no clear evidence for its differential treatment, though the archipelago's northern islands do have a lower proportion of jade versus non-jade celts. “For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. “…the occasional discovery of beautifully polished stone implements proves that [the Lucayans] were in communication with distant lands, for there is no rock, except soft coral limestone, anywhere in the archipelago.”

Original language	English
Article number	101504
Pages (from-to)	1-21
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
Volume	70
Early online date	28 Mar 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101504
Publication status	Published - Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodríguez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper.

Funding Information:
Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodríguez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Keywords

Jade
Museum collections
Pre-Columbian Caribbean
Stone axes
The Bahamas/Turks and Caicos Islands

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "“For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands",

abstract = "This paper presents the first systematic study of pre-Columbian imported stone celts recovered from the limestone islands of the Lucayan archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands of the northern Caribbean/West Atlantic. The majority derive from antiquarian collections and early archaeological investigations, prior to the destruction of many sites due to guano mining and development; only a handful have been recovered during archaeological investigations since the 1960s. The corpus includes 224 celts, of which 162 are complete and provide the measurements for a comparison with width/length ratios of celts from the proximate source islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. While the Lucayan archipelago shows a slightly higher proportion of wider celts, consistent with more reworking, overall the corpus suggests that exchange networks were sufficient to meet demand. This conclusion is supported by the absence of any clear diminution in size with distance from sources. The majority of stone celts (71.9 %) have been identified as various forms of “jade,” supplemented with a range of other materials. Despite the higher value often attributed to jade cross-culturally, we find no clear evidence for its differential treatment, though the archipelago's northern islands do have a lower proportion of jade versus non-jade celts. “For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. “…the occasional discovery of beautifully polished stone implements proves that [the Lucayans] were in communication with distant lands, for there is no rock, except soft coral limestone, anywhere in the archipelago.”",

keywords = "Jade, Museum collections, Pre-Columbian Caribbean, Stone axes, The Bahamas/Turks and Caicos Islands",

author = "Joanna Ostapkowicz and Schulting, {Rick J.} and Davies, {Gareth R.}",

note = "Funding Information: Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK{\textquoteright}s Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodr{\'i}guez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper. Funding Information: Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodr{\'i}guez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s)",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101504",

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N1 - Funding Information: Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodríguez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper. Funding Information: Work towards this paper was supported by a grant from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project SIBA: Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago (AH/N007476/1). This study would not have been possible without the support of the many project partner museums and institutions holding Bahamian/TCI collections, including: National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, Nassau; Lowe Museum, Abaco; Turks and Caicos National Museum, Cockburn Town; American Museum of Natural History, New York; National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA; Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque; Field Museum, Chicago; Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; University of Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; and the British Museum, London. Archives have also been particularly helpful in establishing collection histories, including the National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland; Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Alice Knaf, Quinty Boosten, Chloe Buytendijk, Hester Dijkstra, Eva Kelderman, Tijmen Opsomer and Fons Vermeulen assisted with visual material identifications. Many thanks to Jeff Walker, Reniel Rodríguez Ramos and to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly improved the paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)

PY - 2023/6

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N2 - This paper presents the first systematic study of pre-Columbian imported stone celts recovered from the limestone islands of the Lucayan archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands of the northern Caribbean/West Atlantic. The majority derive from antiquarian collections and early archaeological investigations, prior to the destruction of many sites due to guano mining and development; only a handful have been recovered during archaeological investigations since the 1960s. The corpus includes 224 celts, of which 162 are complete and provide the measurements for a comparison with width/length ratios of celts from the proximate source islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. While the Lucayan archipelago shows a slightly higher proportion of wider celts, consistent with more reworking, overall the corpus suggests that exchange networks were sufficient to meet demand. This conclusion is supported by the absence of any clear diminution in size with distance from sources. The majority of stone celts (71.9 %) have been identified as various forms of “jade,” supplemented with a range of other materials. Despite the higher value often attributed to jade cross-culturally, we find no clear evidence for its differential treatment, though the archipelago's northern islands do have a lower proportion of jade versus non-jade celts. “For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. “…the occasional discovery of beautifully polished stone implements proves that [the Lucayans] were in communication with distant lands, for there is no rock, except soft coral limestone, anywhere in the archipelago.”

AB - This paper presents the first systematic study of pre-Columbian imported stone celts recovered from the limestone islands of the Lucayan archipelago, comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands of the northern Caribbean/West Atlantic. The majority derive from antiquarian collections and early archaeological investigations, prior to the destruction of many sites due to guano mining and development; only a handful have been recovered during archaeological investigations since the 1960s. The corpus includes 224 celts, of which 162 are complete and provide the measurements for a comparison with width/length ratios of celts from the proximate source islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. While the Lucayan archipelago shows a slightly higher proportion of wider celts, consistent with more reworking, overall the corpus suggests that exchange networks were sufficient to meet demand. This conclusion is supported by the absence of any clear diminution in size with distance from sources. The majority of stone celts (71.9 %) have been identified as various forms of “jade,” supplemented with a range of other materials. Despite the higher value often attributed to jade cross-culturally, we find no clear evidence for its differential treatment, though the archipelago's northern islands do have a lower proportion of jade versus non-jade celts. “For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. “…the occasional discovery of beautifully polished stone implements proves that [the Lucayans] were in communication with distant lands, for there is no rock, except soft coral limestone, anywhere in the archipelago.”

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“For there is no rock”: Lucayan stone celts from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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