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The legacy of 1300 years of land use in Jamaica.

Elliott, S., Maezumi, S. Y., Robinson, M., Burn, M., Gosling, W. D., Mickleburg, H. L., Walters, S. and Beier, Z. J.M., 2024. The legacy of 1300 years of land use in Jamaica. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 19 (2), 312-343.

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DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2022.2078448

Abstract

Despite decades of archaeological research on Jamaica, little is known about how settlers influenced landscape change on the island over time. Here, we examine the impact of human occupation through a multi-proxy approach using phytolith, charcoal, and stratigraphic analyses. White Marl was a continuously inhabited village settlement (ca. 1050–450 cal yrs BP) with large mounded midden areas, precolonial house structures, and human landscape management practices. We have shown that the local vegetation at White Marl was directly affected by human settlement through the use of agroforestry and burning, and suggest that fire was used to modify vegetation. Manioc phytoliths were found throughout human occupation and are broadly associated with increases in evidence for burning, suggesting fire was used to modify the landscape and clear vegetation for crop cultivation. The phytolith assemblages relate to three distinct temporal vegetation phases: (1) the earliest occupation dominated by arboreal vegetation (pre-ca. 870 cal yrs BP); (2) a transition to palm-dominated vegetation (ca. 870–670 cal yrs BP); and (3) the latest occupation representing European colonization associated with a more open, grass-dominated landscape (after ca. 670 cal yrs BP). These transitions occur independent of changes in paleoclimate records, suggesting humans were the dominant driver of vegetation change.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1556-1828
Uncontrolled Keywords:Phytoliths; fire; agroforestry; vegetation modification; manioc
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:37236
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:18 Jul 2022 10:41
Last Modified:20 May 2024 13:37

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