When originally published in German in 1924, this volume was hailed as the first modern, comprehensive archaeological overview of an emerging area of the world, now known as the Caribbean islands. Sven Loven decided to update and reissue the work in English, which he thought to be the future international language of scholarship. This work is a classic, with enduring interpretations, broad geographic range, and an eager audience.

This is the first in a six-volume publication which examines the history of the Caribbean, its people and landscape on a thematic basis. This volume covers the history of the origins of the earliest Caribbean peoples and analyses their various political, social, cultural and economic organisations over time, in and around the region. Topics covered include: ethnohistorical research; biogeographic teleconnections; the Palaeoindians in Cuba and surrounding regions; agricultural societies; indigenous societies at the time of the Spanish Conquest; the hierarchy of chiefdoms; and the development of slavery.

Volume 1 of the General History of the Caribbean relates to the history of the origins of the earliest Caribbean people, and analyses their various political, social, cultural and economic organizations over time. This volume investigates the movement of Paleoindians into the islands, and looks at the agricultural societies which developed. It then explores the indigenous societies at the time of the Spanish Conquest, the hierarchy of the chiefdoms, and the development of slavery.

Archaeological Frontiers and External Connections is the fourth volume in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in cooperation with the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope (1909–1979). Volume editors are Gordon R. Willey (1913–2002), Bowditch Professor of Mexican and Central American Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, and Gordon F. Ekholm (1909–1987), Associate Curator of Mexican Archaeology of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This volume presents an intensive study of matters of significance in various areas: archaeology and ethnohistory of the Northern Sierra, Sonora, Lower California, and northeastern Mexico; external relations between Mesoamerica and the southwestern United States and eastern United States; archaeology and ethnohistory of El Salvador, western Honduras, and lower Central America; external relations between Mesoamerica and the Caribbean area, Ecuador, and the Andes; and the case for and against Old World pre-Columbian contacts via the Pacific. Many photographs accompany the text. The Handbook of Middle American Indians was assembled and edited at the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University with the assistance of grants from the National Science Foundation and under the sponsorship of the National Research Council Committee on Latin American Anthropology.

A true "first," this encyclopedia is the only comprehensive guide ever published on the archaeology and traditional culture of the Caribbean. In The Peoples of the Caribbean, archaeologist Nicholas J. Saunders assembles for the first time a comprehensive sourcebook on the archaeology, folklore, and mythology of the entire region, charting a story 7,000 years in the making. Drawing on decades of study in the Caribbean and South America, Saunders explores landmark archaeological sites, such as Caguana in Puerto Rico, with its ceremonial architecture and ballcourts, and plantation sites, such as Jamaica's Drax Hall. The author dives into the underwater archaeology of Spanish treasure galleons and untangles stories of cannibalism, zombies, and hallucinogenic snuffing rituals. He examines the impact of key Europeans, such as Christopher Columbus, and introduces readers to the native people, such as the Arawak, who welcomed them. Bringing the story up-to-date, Saunders chronicles the struggle of the indigenous people, from the Caribs of Dominica to the Taíno of the Dominican Republic, trying to reclaim and revitalize their historical cultural identity.

This book presents a cross-cultural approach to the study of urban space. Essays written by major contributors in contemporary urban studies provide a range of case studies from Asia, Latin America, North America, and Europe to address important questions about space and power, processes of change, aesthetics and attitudes toward space, and social divisions expressed through urban life. The essays fall into three interlocking sections: conceptual and linguistic approaches to urban space; visual and social examinations of world cities; and policy examinations of spatial analyses. Together with the jointly compiled bibliography, this collection of essays is designed to stimulate comparative debate and identify new areas for urban research. Essays contrast empty space in Barcelona and Savannah, explore the concept of healthy and unhealthy urban environments in the classical writings and in modern-day Vienna, and develop a model of space for Shanghai from the point of view of privacy. The subcultural ethos characterizing Tokyo and the castle as a symbol for the community in Japan are two more essay topics. The plaza in Spanish-American towns, the outdoor spaces in Italy (balcony, street, courtyard), and the school in Honduras are sites for socio-cultural analyses in three more essays. The last group of essays focus on discourses in urban planning, especially the responses of people to the growth, marketing, and decay of residential places. African-American neighborhoods and waterfront development provide examples for this section. These essays in their theoretical and geographical breadth make significant strides in defining the cultural meaning of urban space. They will be read with interest by city planners, ecologists, and other social scientists involved in finding human solutions to the metropolitan environment.

Couva is a modern pulsating town in Trinidad—an island once owned by Spain—that is prosperous and sufficiently well populated. But the town wasn’t always as lively and contemporary as it is today. Old Couva (i.e., Savaneta) had been settled by Amerindians who originated in South America. From being a stretch of mostly uncultivated fertile soil to being the centre of the Saint Anne’s Mission and founded by Roman Catholic Capuchin missionaries in Eastern Couva in 1687 to convert the pagan Amerindians to Christianity as part of Spain’s colonial policy, it emerged, after the closure of the mission, as primarily sugar plantations functioning profitably off the brutal exploitation of black slaves as labourers. Starting in the late eighteenth century, Couva was one area where the Spanish government granted land to immigrant planters to grow crops. Due to its fertile soils, the planters mostly cultivated sugarcane. Couva sprang up as a new community called Exchange Village—quite different from the Catholic mission—around St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church post-emancipation until today, when it has become Trinidad’s industrial capital based on a vibrant petrochemical industry. Couva has evolved both culturally and dynamically over the years, contributing to its rich culture, history, and heritage. This brief historical account of old Couva covers pre-Columbian times through the period of Spanish rule from 1498 to 1797, the year when the British seized control of Trinidad. It examines how the above-mentioned seminal developments have had a profound impact on the socioeconomic history of Couva. It also briefly covers the renaissance of Couva as a village and its evolution into a modern town.

Comprising 17 chapters and with a wide geographic reach stretching from the Florida Keys in the north to the Guianas in the south, this volume places a well-needed academic spotlight on what is generally considered an integral topic in Caribbean and circum-Caribbean archaeology. The book explores a variety of issues, including the introduction and dispersal of early cultivars, plant manipulation, animal domestication, dietary profiles, and landscape modifications. Tried-and-true and novel analytical techniques are used to tease out aspects of the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean database that inform the complex and often-subtle processes of domestication under varying socio-environmental conditions. Contributors discuss their findings within multiple constructs such as neolithisation, social interaction, trade, mobility, social complexity, migration, colonisation, and historical ecology. Multiple data sources are used which include but are not restricted to rock art, cooking pits and pots, stable isotopes, dental calculus and pathologies, starch grains, and proxies for past environmental conditions. Given its multi-disciplinary approaches, this volume should be of immense value to both researchers and students of Caribbean archaeology, biogeography, ethnobotany, zooarchaeology, historical ecology, agriculture, environmental studies, history, and other related fields.