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
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Dr. Marcie L. Venter, PhD.
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.
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.