Crossing the Borders
432 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
59
Paperback
Release Date:19 Mar 2008
ISBN:9780817354534
Crossing the Borders
New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean
University of Alabama Press
Explores the application of a selected number of newly emerging methods and techniques
During the past few decades, Caribbean scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have increasingly developed and employed new methods and techniques for the study of archaeological materials. The aim of earlier research in the Caribbean was mainly to define typologies on the basis of pottery and lithic assemblages leading to the establishment of chronological charts for the region, and it was not until the 1980s that the use of technological and functional analyses of artifacts became widespread. The 1990s saw a veritable boom in this field, introducing innovative methods and techniques for analyzing artifacts and human skeletal remains. Innovative approaches included microscopic use-wear analysis, starch residue and phytolith analysis, stable isotope analysis, experimental research, ethnoarchaeological studies, geochemical analyses, and DNA studies.
The purpose of this volume is to describe new methods and techniques in the study of archaeological materials from the Caribbean and to assess possible avenues of mutual benefit and integration. Exploring the advantages and disadvantages in the application of a selected number of newly emerging methods and techniques, each of these approaches is illustrated by a case study. These studies benefited from a diverse array of experience and the international background of the researchers from Canada, the Netherlands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Italy, Mexico, Dominican Republic, England, and the United States who are integral members of the archaeological community of the Caribbean. A background to the study of archaeological materials in the Caribbean since the 1930s is provided in order to contextualize the latest developments in this field.
. . . The case studies do an excellent job of demonstrating the fundamental role that archaeometry now plays in Caribbean archaeology and illustrate the diversity of experience and backgrounds of the researchers. . . . Crossing the Borders ushers Caribbean archaeology into a new phase. . . . Well-written and illustrated, the book is a showcase of some of the most interesting and thoughtful archaeological reserach underway in the Caribbean.’
—New West Indian Guide
Individual studies discuss the advantages and disadvantages of specific, newly created techniques, and each new approach is exemplified with a case study. A straightforward narrative historical background of the study of Caribbean archaeological materials is also provided, for quick and easy reference. An index enhances this extensively researched, in-depth, up-to-date guide, enthusiastically recommended for Caribbean studies and college library shelves.’
—Midwest Book Review
‘Crossing the Borders is an impressive collection of works on a wide range of archaeometric techniques used in the Caribbean. But what makes this book really cross borders is the list of contributors which includes researchers from at least seven countries representing four different languages and three continents. Thus, this book is truly breaking political, social, geographic, as well as, academic barriers.’
—Institute for Archaeological Research
‘This comprehensive and current archaeometric study of the islands provides a wealth of data and enhances communications between European and New World archaeologists working in the Caribbean. It is an important and much-needed example of collaboration cross-cutting national boundaries in the multi-national region of the Caribbean.’
—L. Antonio Curet, The Field Museum
Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L. P. Hoogland, and Annelou L. van Gijn, are all on the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
