Ceramics are the most abundant materials found in archaeological excavations. Mainly based on stylistic types, they have been used for decades by archaeologists as a chronological marker. However, the development of ethnological research in the second half of the 20th century has revealed the importance of technological studies focused on the pottery production or manufacturing processes. Such studies investigate the technological choices (cultural and social) made by the artisans using the concept of operational sequence (or chaîne opératoire) developed by the French archaeologist Leroi-Gourhan. Variability in technological choices may be related to differences in community of practice, embedded in a social learning system.

If we want to make sure heritage is available for future research, education and public interpretation, we need laws to preserve it. This is the basis of Amanda Byer’s NEXUS 1492 research. In this post, Amanda answers some of our questions.

It is common knowledge that that the city of St. Petersburg has some of the largest and most important first-class museums in the world – every guidebook or travel blog will praise the wonders of the Hermitage, the Winter Palace, and the Russian Museum. Lesser known, however, are the interesting Latin American and Caribbean collections of archaeological and ethnographic objects, drawings, and collection documentation also kept by the Russian Academy of Sciences, in particular at the Kunstkamera Museum.

Information visualization is defined as the study of visual representations of abstract data to reinforce human cognition. In simpler terms, what I aim do is to make pictures of data in such a way that it becomes easier for people to interpret the information

In the Caribbean region, landscape change is part of the region’s history. The Caribbean exemplifies man-made changes to landscape, beginning with Amerindians, continuing to the importation of exotic species through the colony area, extreme land degradation caused by sugar plantation, forced settlement of millions of enslaved Africans, diverse populations of indentured laborers, and continued mixing of cultures from globalized interactions today, such as tourism. This has led to not only intense environmental degradation, introduction of new species, but also the fostering of diverse cultures and communities – creating today’s melting pot of environment and community. Today, the small islands of the Caribbean are often described as vulnerable: with limited resources, growing populations and a dependence on unsustainable economic markets. This perspective often overlooks the adaptability or resilience of these island communities.

In archaeology we are interested in studying past peoples’ lives and answer questions like: – What did these people eat? – Were they healthy or were they sick? – And if they were sick, what diseases were they suffering from? As these people have long been dead and they did not always leave stories behind for us to interpret we needed to find a new way to get a glimpse in the past.

[Para leer esta nota en español por favor haga click aqui!] The phrase “Hell on Hispaniola” is often used to describe the Spanish colonial period on the island of La Española in non-Spanish histories around the world. Its validity and its use has been contested by Spanish scholars for over a century, many claiming that it is part of the “grand historical narrative” of the Black Legend, based in large part on Bartolome de Las Casas’s book – A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.

In this research a mixed methods approach was employed to investigate how indigenous history and heritage have been represented in the curricula of public primary and secondary schools in several countries of the Caribbean. Content analysis of these documents was conducted at two levels: the intended and the enacted curriculum. The data collected this way was completed with data obtained from interviews and descriptive surveys.

The initial intercultural encounters in the New World have led to the creation of new social identities and changing material culture repertoires. The reflection of Amerindian- Spanish- and African interaction can be studied through looking at the presence of indigenous ceramics and new manufacturing techniques in the early Spanish colonial sites. I have looked at the sites of Cotuí (the first goldmine exploited by the Spaniards in the New World) and Concepción de la Vega (The fort of one of the most important early colonial cities of the island).

When Columbus arrived to the so called “New World” in 1492, the Spaniards initiate a process of familiarization to the land and of contestation of it against the indigenous populations. This was not only a contact period, but a truly clash of worlds! Bohío/La EspañolaBefore the arrival of Europeans the island was known by the indigenous as Bohío. And it was quite an old world for its inhabitants. However, for Spaniards, this “new world” was called La Española, and this re-naming of the land was the first contestation and evidence of a world transformation.