Martinique

Martinique measures 60 by 30 kilometers, encompassing a total area of some 1100 km2, making it the largest island of the Lesser Antilles. It is ecologically diverse, from its low coastal areas characterised by shrubs and littoral vegetation to its mountainous areas covered by dense tropical rainforest. The most striking feature of the island must be the dormant volcano Mont Pelée, which erupted to devastating effect in 1902 and is known to have had a considerable impact in Amerindian times as well. St. Lucia lies to the south, making Martinique an attractive target of study to compare with our St. Lucian fieldwork.

In February 2005, Martinique archaeologist dr. Benoît Bérard invited a team from Leiden to Martinique to carry out a survey of the interior of the southernmost tip of Martinique (district of Saint-Anne). The survey contributed to the general research programme into the late prehistoric era in southern Martinique

In all, the survey discovered 10 new archaeological sites, averaging about a site a day. Of these 10 sites, seven yielded ceramics, four yielded lithics and two yielded shell finds. All the ceramics discovered were non-diagnostic, late pre-Columbian and in a few cases probably Afro-Caribbean. Lithic finds consisted predominantly of jasper in all hues and shapes, ranging from red to yellow and from flakes with percussion bulbs to plain chunks. Pointe l’Etang II yielded not only jasper, but quartz and possibly Antigua flint as well. The two shell finds were an isolated Strombus Costatus lip, in the riverbank of the Massel river about 1.5 kms inland, and a broken Strombus Gigas, located high up in the hills at Cap Cabaret about 1 km inland.