Featured Project
Interaction and Exchange Among Prehistoric Caribbean Societies, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Figure 1. General map of Caribbean and St. Croix.
Dr. Meredith
D. Hardy (Southeast Archeological Center) conducted a two-part study on prehistoric Caribbean artifacts from both the
Folmer Andersen Collection, housed at Christiansted National Historic Site (CHRI), St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
artifacts excavated from Salt River Bay National Historic Site and Ecological Preserve (SARI) (Figure 1). The study
focused on the kinds of social and political organizations and the economy of Saladoid-era (ca. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600)
peoples on St. Croix. It used archeological and settlement pattern data as a case study to better understand the lives
of ancient Caribbean societies, how they settled the landscape, their interactions, contacts, and exchanges both among
themselves and their island neighbors, and how these communities, societies, and their interactions changed over time.
Dr. Hardy's research has demonstrated that the ancient societies on St. Croix were much more complex than previously
believed, and participated in long-distance interaction and trade networks that spanned across the Caribbean. Both
parts of this study involved a geochemical composition analysis, of two kinds of artifacts, 1) Saladoid period pottery
dating from ca. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600, and local clays likely used to make them, and 2) finely carved and ground stone
ornaments, celts, and axes made from semi-precious stones not available on St. Croix nor neighboring islands. These
kinds of artifacts were most likely produced by craft specialists within the local island societies, and are often
cited as evidence for communication and contacts between different communities both on and between islands.
There have been few attempts to assemble detailed physiographic, geological, and
archeological data in order to locate potential sources of clays used to make pottery, and stone objects used to make
tools and ornaments, for the ancient societies of the Caribbean.
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 "Figure 1. General map of Caribbean and St. Croix.")
