Assessing Ceramic Evidence for Oristán, Jamaica’s Second Spanish Colonial Settlement

Major

Archaeology

2nd Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Junior

2nd Student Major

Archaeology

3rd Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Junior

3rd Student Major

Archaeology

4th Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Senior

4th Student Major

Art History

5th Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Senior

5th Student Major

Archaeology

Institution

Murray State University

KY House District #

3; 5; 36; 6; 5

KY Senate District #

2; 1; 36; 2; 1

Department

Earth and Environmental Science

Abstract

Title: Assessing Ceramic Evidence for Oristán, Jamaica’s Second Spanish Colonial Settlement

Beginning 1492, the Spanish Empire expanded across the Caribbean. Jamaica was an early target of colonial expansion, with its first European settlement founded on the island’s north coast at Sevilla la Nueva in 1509. The second settlement, Oristán (1519), was founded along Jamaica’s southwest coast near modern Bluefields. The Spanish presence in Jamaica was short-lived—the island ceded to the British in the 1650s. Excavations conducted in 2019 by archaeological field school students overseen by Principal Investigators Dr. Marcie L. Venter (MSU) and Dr. Chris Begley (Transylvania), intended to identify evidence for this settlement. In this poster, we examined the ceramic data recovered. They indicated that the primary occupation in the study area dated to the British Colonial era, with murky archaeological evidence for an earlier Spanish presence. The ceramic data specifically suggested an early to mid-18th Century through the early 19th Century British occupation. Historic maritime maps reinforced this period of occupation, as did oral tradition of estate owners. In addition to providing important date ranges, the ceramic assemblage also indicated that the British colonists were primarily utilizing imported goods. In addition to British ceramic imports, other ceramics were recovered. These included plain and glazed low-fired earthenwares, tin-enameled wares, and one green-colored lead-glazed piece of coarse earthenware. The unglazed pottery suggested local ceramic products were utilized and made by either a remnant indigenous population or Afro-Jamaicans. The green-glazed earthenware was similar to materials found at other Spanish colonial sites. In sum, these data did not rule out a Spanish presence in Bluefields, but they did suggest the definitive identification of a Spanish occupation would be complicated, considering the number of groups interacting in a volatile geopolitical context. Likewise, any possible Spanish material culture was likely disturbed by and obscured by the longer-term presence of British colonists in the area.

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Assessing Ceramic Evidence for Oristán, Jamaica’s Second Spanish Colonial Settlement

Title: Assessing Ceramic Evidence for Oristán, Jamaica’s Second Spanish Colonial Settlement

Beginning 1492, the Spanish Empire expanded across the Caribbean. Jamaica was an early target of colonial expansion, with its first European settlement founded on the island’s north coast at Sevilla la Nueva in 1509. The second settlement, Oristán (1519), was founded along Jamaica’s southwest coast near modern Bluefields. The Spanish presence in Jamaica was short-lived—the island ceded to the British in the 1650s. Excavations conducted in 2019 by archaeological field school students overseen by Principal Investigators Dr. Marcie L. Venter (MSU) and Dr. Chris Begley (Transylvania), intended to identify evidence for this settlement. In this poster, we examined the ceramic data recovered. They indicated that the primary occupation in the study area dated to the British Colonial era, with murky archaeological evidence for an earlier Spanish presence. The ceramic data specifically suggested an early to mid-18th Century through the early 19th Century British occupation. Historic maritime maps reinforced this period of occupation, as did oral tradition of estate owners. In addition to providing important date ranges, the ceramic assemblage also indicated that the British colonists were primarily utilizing imported goods. In addition to British ceramic imports, other ceramics were recovered. These included plain and glazed low-fired earthenwares, tin-enameled wares, and one green-colored lead-glazed piece of coarse earthenware. The unglazed pottery suggested local ceramic products were utilized and made by either a remnant indigenous population or Afro-Jamaicans. The green-glazed earthenware was similar to materials found at other Spanish colonial sites. In sum, these data did not rule out a Spanish presence in Bluefields, but they did suggest the definitive identification of a Spanish occupation would be complicated, considering the number of groups interacting in a volatile geopolitical context. Likewise, any possible Spanish material culture was likely disturbed by and obscured by the longer-term presence of British colonists in the area.