This study explores long-term landscape transformations of the Fort-Liberté region, Haiti. By using a landscaped biography approach, this research aims to understand the substantial developments... Show moreThis study explores long-term landscape transformations of the Fort-Liberté region, Haiti. By using a landscaped biography approach, this research aims to understand the substantial developments of the region, from the Amerindian occupation, through the Spanish colonization, to the French colonial period. The study of the transformation of the landscape in the longue-durée suggests that activities of cultural groups are considered as events that were connected to each other, not just as superposed layers or isolated events. The archaeological sites dispersed in the natural environment express the idea of a complex palimpsest of the region’s history. This study of the Haitian cultural landscape has proposed to take into account the multi-layered nature of the landscape in order to avoid the dichotomy between pre-colonial and colonial in this context of long-term landscape transformation Show less
Much attention has been paid to the exchange of objects, ideas, and people in the Caribbean. Networks of interaction connected local communities across pan-regional scales, shaping indigenous... Show moreMuch attention has been paid to the exchange of objects, ideas, and people in the Caribbean. Networks of interaction connected local communities across pan-regional scales, shaping indigenous socio-political integrations and their responses in colonial situations. This work examines the poorly understood cultural trajectories and reinterpretations of celts and paraphernalia exchanged in the late pre-colonial and early colonial Dominican Republic and the Windward Islands. Reconstructing the biographies of these artefacts traces their ‘object life’ sequences from start to finish. The dissertation principally applies microscopic wear trace analysis supported by experimental archaeology to examine the manufacturing technology and use of the studied objects. Integrated with contextual analysis and provenance data, the reconstructed biographies form a window into cross-cultural patterns of artefact production, function, and circulation. These are interpreted following a relational perspective adopted from Amerindian ontologies. The exchange of ground stone celts is shown to be closely interrelated with regional network structures. Though only specific communities specialised in production activities, requisite technical knowledge was widely shared. Once acquired, even exotic rocks and tool types were polished, hafted, and used in conventional ways. Conversely, the cultural and social values of most carved shell and bone paraphernalia are foremost expressed in local technological traditions and the preservation of inherited practices. These findings produce a better understanding of indigenous material culture and its relation to social interactions in the pre- and early colonial Caribbean. Show less
