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Island Historical Ecology

Island Historical Ecology

Peter E. Siegel

(2018)

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Book Details

Abstract

In the first book-length treatise on historical ecology of the West Indies, Island Historical Ecology addresses Caribbean island ecologies from the perspective of social and cultural interventions over approximately eight millennia of human occupations. Environmental coring carried out in carefully selected wetlands allowed for the reconstruction of pre-colonial and colonial landscapes on islands between Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Comparisons with well-documented patterns in the Mediterranean and Pacific islands place this case study into a larger context of island historical ecology.


Peter E. Siegel is Professor of Anthropology at Montclair State University. His articles have appeared in Current Anthropology, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and Journal of Field Archaeology, among others. Siegel’s research has been supported by the Heinz Family Foundation for Latin American Archaeology, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe.


“This highly important and most interesting book represents a valuable source of primary data on the historical ecology of the West Indies.” · Andrzej Antczak, Leiden University

“I am much impressed with the ground-breaking work involved in this project, and with its presentation. I believe it is a very valuable and novel addition to the scientific literature on the Lesser Antilles.” · Peter G. Roe, University of Delaware

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Island Historical Ecology i
Contents v
Figures viii
Tables xii
Acknowledgments xv
Foreword xvi
Preface xix
PART I. Method, Theory, and Applications of Island Historical Ecology 1
1. Migrations, Colonization Processes, and Landscape Learning 3
2. Unique Challenges in Archipelagoes 15
3. A Cultural Framework for Caribbean Island Historical Ecology across the Lesser Antilles 33
4. Methods for Addressing Island Historical Ecology 57
PART II. West Indian Island Historical Ecology 73
5. Trinidad 75
6. Grenada 129
7. Curaçao 155
8. Barbados 182
9. Martinique 202
10. Marie-Galante 226
11. Antigua 239
12. Barbuda 270
13. St. Croix 285
PART III. Synthesis and Future Directions in Island Historical Ecology 297
14. Assessing Colonization, Landscape Learning, and Socionatural Changes in the Caribbean 299
15. Insights from the Outside 345
References 367
Glossary 412
Contributors 416
Index 420