Herramientas para el modelado

Douglas V. Armstrong

The Drax Hall study examines the life of enslaved labor-ers at a plantation that was established circa 1690 on Ja-maica’s north coast, just east of St. Ann’s Bay. The study is significant in that it represents the first comprehensive study of plantation slavery in the Caribbean based on evi-dence from an African Jamaican laborer settlement. The study began a survey and excavation of house sites asso-ciated with the settlement of enslaved African Jamaican laborers at Drax Hall in 1980 through 1982. It was then expanded to include excavation of the planter’s residence, or “great house.” The initial study of the households of enslaved laborers was the basis for Douglas Armstrong’s dissertation at UCLA (1983b). That study was followed up with additional excavations within the enslaved settle-ment and excavations aimed at gaining a contrasting data set represented by the planter’s residence and the cook house. The book The Old Village and the Great House:

An Archaeological Examination of Drax Hall Plantation St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica (Armstrong 1990) was the major published result of these combined projects.

The Drax Hall Plantation study involved the com-bined use of historical documentary data to reconstruct a social history focusing on the lives of the enslaved at Drax Hall Plantation (Armstrong 1983a, 1990). The site was selected after an extensive archival and field sur-vey that sought to locate a setting in which there was a high probability for the collection of a definitive body of data from discrete house sites. Data were initially com-piled for hundreds of estates, and the list was initially narrowed down on the basis of the quality of histori-cal documentation. Drax Hall and the Seville Plantation were initially selected from among twenty-one estates based on the combined quality of archival data (such as inventories, maps, and accounting records) and the in-tegrity of the archaeological site (based on walking sur-veys and the identification of discrete ruins of houses on the landscape). Drax Hall was studied first, and several years later an investigation was carried out at the Seville Plantation.

The findings of the Drax Hall study included a wealth of information related to life in the village of enslaved laborers (Armstrong 1991a, 1991b). Nearly 50 house sites were identified (Figure D.2), and 1 × 1 meter testing at each of these sites made it possible to date each house and project temporal trends in the landscape. In the ear-liest years of Drax Hall, plantation houses were clustered up the hill behind the planter’s residence (Armstrong

1991a). The houses were at a distance but close enough for surveillance by the planter. Even from the earliest period of occupation, houses were arranged in a cluster pattern that appears to have been organized as to maxi-mize airflow into and around the houses. For example, doorways face into the prevailing winds.

Houses were nearly all built onto the slope of the hill and were relatively easily identified as platforms. The down-slope walls were built up with limestone cobbles, and in places where this angle faced the wind we were able to identify steps leading into each house (Arm-strong 1990, 1991a). Houses varied in structure from one to three rooms and ranged in size from 3 × 4 meters to 3 × 8 meters. Several of the houses had flooring made of small cobbles of limestone and/or crushed limestone (marl). The foundations yielded indications of the pres-ence of posts spaced out at even intervals with larger holes, suggesting larger posts in the corners and around the doorways. Internal partitions for room divisions were observable as smaller round postholes. We could also differentiate between the types of flooring used in each room.

While the house structures were where we began our investigations, excavation took place both inside and outside the houses. The result was the definition of definitive patterns in the use of houses and yard space.

Much of the activities of each household took place in the yard behind the houses. Each yard had at least one hearth, marked by burned areas and sets of three or more stones grouped together to facilitate cooking us-ing round-bottomed earthenware and (later) iron pots.

The material record from Drax Hall provided a pat-tern that reflected both continuity and change (Arm-strong 1990). Elements of African-based knowledge were embedded in the use of locally produced earthen-ware cooking pots (Figure D.3) and in communal eat-ing practices involveat-ing soups and stews. Personal items included cowry shells and beads, and the configuration and use of external space in the house-yard compounds is loosely associated with West African living practices, in sharp contrast to European practices at that time both in Europe and the Caribbean. Even though the majority of manufactured artifacts found at the site were imports from Europe, what they used and how they used them were quite distinct. They bear evidence of reworking (for example, gun flints retouched into flints for strike-a-lights) and use based on local needs (Armstrong 1990).

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There was a preference for bowls over plates throughout the history of the site (again a reflection of the consump-tion of stews, or “pepper pot” dietary practices). Local reuse of goods included reworked European and local pottery to create pieces used in games of chance. The Drax Hall study clearly demonstrated an array of local practices and lifeways that reflected the emergence of a locally based and internally defined African Jamaican community.

One of the initial problems of the study was the ab-sence of data sets from the Caribbean that we could use for comparison. Thus, our interpretation of the signifi-cance of what we found was phrased as a “probability of specific practices.” Now that a wide body of compara-tive data exists, nearly all of these initial observations have been confirmed as definitive expressions of life and internal social dynamics in African Jamaican and Caribbean enslaved communities. Perhaps the most sig-nificant element of the study (yet one that is often over-looked) is the detailed dietary analysis that combines historical records and archaeological findings to report on unusual aspects of the slave diet. (Elizabeth Reitz as-sisted with this study.) We identified a diet that included imported cod fish (evidence found only in the account books for the estate) and cattle culled from the

planta-tion’s stock (evidence found in the archaeological record that was confirmed by account books that showed both the purchase of cattle and the practice of culling cattle for food). After emancipation, those who remained on the estate felt the loss of estate provisions (cod and cat-tle). Their diet shows evidence of a diverse starvation-style use of all available local marine shellfish (includ-ing a wide range of small mollusks that included many species of nerites). These dietary data indicate not only the range of diet, the cuts of meat that were consumed, and food preparation practices but also the fact that after emancipation the laborers had a difficult time finding enough food to eat.

While there are many other key findings, I will con-clude with an observation made on changes in the cul-tural landscape that appear over time in the archaeologi-cal record. By the mid-eighteenth century, ownership of the plantation had changed hands and William Beckford had become the absentee owner. Soon thereafter, there was a major change in the organization of space on the estate. The works, along with the manager’s house, were moved to the center of the cane fields and an aqueduct was built to carry water to this central industrial loca-tion. With this shift, the workers were less directly su-pervised, and over time many moved their houses down

Figure D.2. House Area 1 of the African Jamaican village at Drax Hall, Jamaica. Photo by Douglas V. Armstrong.

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the hill and adjacent to the aqueduct and its supply of fresh water. As a result, we find that this later period is marked by larger yard areas and greater distances be-tween houses. After emancipation, the village was grad-ually abandoned, but the relatively newer houses adja-cent to the aqueduct were the last to be abandoned.

When the initial study of the enslaved laborer settle-ment was completed, Armstrong returned to Jamaica to direct a combined project that included participants from The University of the West Indies, the Jamaica Na-tional Heritage Trust field school, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This project, which was known as the First African Jamaican Archaeological Field School, took place in January and March of 1983. Of note was the composition of this field program. Armstrong brought fellow UCLA doctoral student Kofi Agorsah to co-direct the program. E. Kofi Agorsah returned to Ja-maica after the project to join the Department of History and Archaeology at The University of the West Indies, Mona (Jamaica) as its first archaeologist. Project staff in-cluded Paul Farnsworth and Christopher DeCorse (both then doctoral students at UCLA) and George A. Aarons and Roderick Ebanks (both of the Jamaica National Heri-tage Trust). The University of the West Indies faculty who participated on the project included Barry Higman, Pat-rick Bryan, and Neville Hall from the Department of His-tory. Among the students who participated were Verene Shepherd, Dorrick Gray, and Basil Reid, all of whom have

gone on to have distinguished careers in Caribbean ar-chaeological and historical studies.

Further Reading

Armstrong, D. V. 1983a. “The Drax Hall Slave Settlement: Site Selection Procedures.” In Proceedings of the 9th Interna-tional Congress for the Study of Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 431–42. Montreal: Centre de Recherches Caraibes, Univer-sity de Montreal.

———. 1983b. “The ‘Old Village’ at Drax Hall Plantation: An Ar-chaeological Examination of an Afro-Jamaican Settlement.”

PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles.

———. 1985. “An Afro-Jamaican Slave Settlement: Archaeologi-cal Investigations at Drax Hall.” In The Archaeology of Slav-ery and Plantation Life, ed. Theresa Singleton, 261–87. New York: Academic Press.

———. 1990. The Old Village and the Great House: An Archaeo-logical and Historical Examination of Drax Hall Plantation, St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

———. 1991a. “The Afro-Jamaican House-Yard: An Archaeo-logical and Ethnohistorical Perspective.” Florida Journal of Anthropology Special Publication 7: 51–63

———. 1991b. “An Archaeological Study of the Afro-Jamaican Community at Drax Hall.” Jamaica Journal 24 (1): 3–8.

See also Afro-Caribbean Earthenwares; La Reconnais-sance Site (Trinidad); The Seville Sugar Plantation (Brit-ish Colonial Jamaica).

Figure D.3. Afro-Jamaican earthen-ware from Drax Hall, Jamaica. Photo by Douglas V. Armstrong.

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Duerden, J. E. (1869–1937)

Ivor Conolley

James Edwin Duerden, usually referred to in texts as J. E. Duerden, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1869.

He received his academic qualifications in zoology from the Royal College of Science, London, in 1889 and was appointed a Bruce Fellow at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1901. Duerden took positions in Ireland, the United States, Jamaica, South Africa, and England. He developed an interest in marine biology re-search from his first appointment, at the Royal College of Science in Dublin, where he served as a demonstra-tor in biology and paleontology. This interest continued in Jamaica, where he held the position of curator of the Institute of Jamaica Museum from 1895 to 1901, where he made benchmark contributions to Jamaican archae-ology (Figure D.4).

During his tenure as curator of the Museum of the Institute of Jamaica, Duerden conducted research and published journal articles on actinians, hydroids, poly-zoa, and corals. His outstanding work in marine biology in Ireland and Jamaica earned him recognition as an au-thority on the subject. His work in archaeology at the In-stitute of Jamaica became a valuable legacy to Jamaican archaeology, as he was engaged in island-wide surveys and studies of the native Jamaicans, the Taíno. Following this research, Duerden mounted the first known exhibit of precolonial “aboriginal Indian” artifacts in Jamaica.

The publication associated with this exhibition, “Ab-original Indian Remains in Jamaica” (Duerden 1897), was not just a report of the exhibit but was also the cul-mination of this island-wide research, which Duerden had been given a year to conduct. In 1900, the colonial government in Jamaica reviewed the operations and ex-penditures of the Institute of Jamaica and eliminated the full-time post of curator. This resulted in Duerden’s re-lease when his contract expired the following year.

Subsequently, the Carnegie Institute of Washington granted him facilities for research in recognition of the value of his marine expertise. His next position was that of associate professor at the University of Michigan, but soon after, in 1905, he took up a professorial appoint-ment at Rhodes University, South Africa, where he re-mained for twenty-seven years, until his retirement in 1932. In South Africa, Duerden focused his research on ostriches and sheep, once again becoming recognized as an authority for his contributions to the field. During this time, he commenced pioneer work on the skin and

fleece of South African Merino sheep, which he contin-ued on his retirement in Leeds, England. He was active up to his death in 1937.

Further Reading

Daily Gleaner. 1896. “Institute of Jamaica.” November 18. Insti-tute of Jamaica Letter Boxes and Press Clippings, National Library of Jamaica.

Duerden, J. E. 1897. “Aboriginal Indian Remains in Jamaica.”

Journal of the Institute of Jamaica 2 (4): 1–52.

Jamaica Post. 1896. “The Missing Brochure.” November 16. In-stitute of Jamaica Letter Boxes and Press Clippings, National Library of Jamaica.

Nature. 1937. “Prof. J. E. Duerden.” Nature 140 (October 2): 576.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v140/n3544/abs/

140576a0.html. Accessed November 14, 2012.

See also The Institute of Jamaica; Jamaica (Prehistory of).

Figure D.4. James Edwin Duerden (1869–1937). Courtesy of Pro-fessor J. Peires.

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Duhos (Dujos)

Joshua M. Torres

Duhos are ceremonial or ritual seats (Ostapkowicz 1997) that are primarily constructed of wood or stone. Duhos are represented as anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures in which the leg appendages serve as the legs of the stool and the heads often protrude from the center of the front of the stool and the genitalia are on the underside of the back of the stool. Duhos were status items imbued with powerful symbology, personalities, and histories that set their owners apart from the rest of the community and were a central part of the co-hoba ritual repertoire (Oliver 2009) As such, these items were generally attributable to the elite and represent the materialization of social practices associated with the veneration of those of status and rank. Duhos are pri-marily associated with Taíno groups in the northern Caribbean.

Two major types of duhos have been identified: those with backs and those without backs (Figure D.5). The use of duhos (without backs) as seats is questionable, as they may have actually functioned as elaborate serving

platters. Geographically, the highest frequency of docu-mented duhos comes from Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, although several examples have been recovered from the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas and a few rare speci-mens have been recovered from Cuba and Jamaica. The largest number of duhos was recovered from Cartwright Cave on Long Island in the Bahamas.

Most duhos are carved from wood, although some are made from coral or stone. In the Dominican Republic, wooden examples are prevalent. Wooden duhos are of-ten made of dense wood known as Guayacan (Lignum vitae). In Puerto Rico, stone duhos dominate the archae-ological record, although many wooden examples have also been recovered from the island. The facial features and shoulders of duhos are often deeply carved to allow for inlays of gold or bone.

Further Reading

Oliver, J. R. 2008. “El universo material y espiritual de los taí-nos.” In El Caribe precolombino Fray Ramón Pané y el

Uni-Figure D.5. Left, classic wooden duho with inlays of gold. Height: 22 cm; width: 43.8 cm; Dominican Republic. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. Top right, profile of stone duho recovered from Puerto Rico. Photo: cat. A17076, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution. Bottom right, profile of a small stone backless duho, also from Puerto Rico. Photo: cat. A17077, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution.

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verso Taíno, ed. J. R. Oliver, C. McEwan, and A. Casas Gil-berga, 136–201. Barcelona: Ministerio de Cultura.

———. 2009. Caciques and Cemí Idols: The Web Spun by Taíno Rulers between Hispanola and Puerto Rico. Tuscaloosa: Uni-versity of Alabama Press.

Ostapkowicz, J. M. 1997. “To Be Seated with ‘Great Courtesy

and Veneration’: Contextual Aspects of the Taíno Duho.” In Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean, ed. F. Bercht, 56–67. New York: Monacelli Press.

See also Chiefdoms (Cacicazgos); Cohoba; Zemíes (Cemís).