Archaeological Investigations on Guadeloupe, French West Indies The Troumassoid Turning Point

Comprising 20 scientific contributions to the archaeology of Guadeloupe, French West Indies, this volume places the latter Caribbean Island in the spotlight by presenting the results of four contemporaneous archaeological sites.

By means of these four sites, this book explores a variety of issues contemplating the transition from the Early to the Late Ceramic Age in the Lesser Antilles. Studies of pre-Columbian material culture (ceramics, lithics, faunal, shell and human bone remains) are combined with additional microanalyses (starch and phytolith analyses, micromorphology and thin sections) to sort out the processes that triggered the cultural transition just before the end of the first millennium CE.

The multidisciplinary approach to address these sites Saladoid shows the current state of affairs on project-led archaeology in the French West Indies and should be of great value to both researchers and students of Caribbean archaeology, material cultures, zooarchaeology, environmental studies, historical ecology, and other related fields.

1. General Presentation 2. Context 3. Site Level 4. Material Culture 5. Microanalysis 6. Synthesis: The Troumassoid Turning Point: Local Development or Introduction of New Houses, Subsistence Patterns, and Cermaics?7. Epilogue: From Saladoid to Troumassoid: A Ceramic Analysis

Martijn M. van den Bel is an archaeologist and project leader for Inrap in the Lesser Antilles and French Guiana. In addition to his work in project-led archaeology, he participates in various multidisciplinary projects as an archaeologist addressing the impact of ancient human presence in the tropical forest of French Guiana. He also conducts archival research contemplating the Colonial Encounter in the Lesser Antilles and the Coastal Guianas during the 17th century.