PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS. John H. Winter INTRODUCTION

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1 PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS John H. Winter INTRODUCTION For at least 500 years, the Bahamas Archipelago was occupied by Amerindian populations who migrated from the Greater Antilles region. These frontier populations were exposed to a different environment from their homeland: calcareous instead of siliceous (Winter et al 1985). As a result, the newcomers would develop different environmental strategies for survival, such as producing shelltempered ceramics instead of quartz tempered (Winter and Gilstrap 1991). Yet, this northward frontier expansion maintained many of the socio-cultural characteristics of the homeland, such as ceramic decoration and the production of petroglyphs. Within the Bahamas, petroglyphs can be found in either solution caves or solution holes. As a result of previous sea-level rising and falling, these features form in the limestone rock. The caves form at the top of freshwater lens, while the holes form at the halocline between the freshwater lens and saline groundwater (Mylroie 1988). This process often produces smoothed walls. The limestone rock surface can be cut into with a Strombus blade. At present, there are two varieties of petroglyph locations: wide mouth flank-margin caves and solution holes or narrowflank-margin caves. The wide mouth caves provide ample sunlight, face the ocean, and have many petroglyphs (Plate 1 ). The solution holes or narrow mouth caves provide reduced sunlight, are in the interior or face inland, and have only a single petroglyph (Plate 2). Most of the petroglyphs from this region are of the Timehri type. This type is anthropomorphic and can exist as complete figures or masks (Williams 1985). Williams (1985) maintains that this type is designed towards securing or maintaining objectives of subsistence horticulturalists. This would imply a sacred usage (Olsen 1973). The variety of the Timehri type implies a northward diffusion from Amazonia (Williams 1985). Within the Bahamas, the types vary in style between islands and caves on the same island. BAHAMIAN PETROGLYPHS The most famous and oldest recorded cave with petroglyphs is on the north coast of Rum Cay in Hartford Cave. Mallery (1893) makes an early report of the cave. This author visited the cave twice within a seven year period. During the author's first visit, the limestone rock was moist. This environment permitted a green algae to cover the surface. A third year of reduced rainfall conditions preceded the author's second visit. As a result of the lack of ground moisture, the algae died out revealing more petroglyphs. A re-examination of the cave reveals more than 30 petroglyphs. The cave is a wide mouth flank-margin cave. Most of the petroglyphs are towards the rear of the cave. Upon entering the cave from the western edge one can see a large face and below it concentric circles. Continuing along the western wall there exist a pair of circles with lines coming off the lower surface. At the rear of the cave, there are two of the "Hall of Fame" regions. Each region has more than ten petroglyphs within a section of rock (Plate 3). 672

2 WINTER 673 Most of the petroglyphs within the "Hall of Fame" regions are faces. One of the petroglyphs was removed and placed in the New World Museum, San Salvador. This petroglyph was of an Indian paddle (Plate 4-1 ). Above the paddle and to the left is a large mask (Plate 4-2) (Figure 1 ). A most interesting set of figures can be seen in the second "Hall of Fame" region. There is a swaddled figure next to a zemi face (Plate 5) (Figure 2). The teeth of the zemi resemble a pair of carved Strombus teeth, which the author excavated from Long Island, Bahamas (Winter 1990). Moving to the southeast corner of the cave, there exists a third "Hall of Fame" area. Again, most of the petroglyphs are faces. The faces appear oval or circular, have two eyes and a mouth. On the eastern corner of the cave there exists a lone petroglyph which makes use of two natural holes. The north coast of Crooked Island has two wide mouth flank-margin caves within the same lithified dune ridge. The McKay cave faces north, while the Kelly cave faces in a westerly direction. The McKay cave has petroglyphs on the rear wall, with a variety of images (Plate 6). The Kelly cave, initially reported by Hoffman (1973), reveals several new petroglyphs along the northern wall. There is an apparent difference between the shape of the faces in the two caves, perhaps indicating different time frames or populations. The remaining petroglyphs come from solution holes or narrow flank-margin caves. These features produce only a single petroglyph. On the eastern edge of Rum Cay near the Salt Pond entrance is Goat Cave, a narrow flank-margin cave. Near the entrance is a mask design (Plate 7). On Great Inagua in the southwestern interior is Salt Pond Cave, also a narrow flank-margin cave. Where the two chambers split there exist two petroglyphs: a face and a rayed crest. On San Salvador, a solution hole, Sugar Loaf Water Hole (Plate 8), and a narrow flank-margin cave, Beach Cave (Plate 9), each produced a petroglyph of a face. SUMMARY During the Bahamas' historic period: 1780's to 1830's, the caves were exploited for their guano and soil concentrations. Although much of the deposits were removed, the petroglyphs were left intact. In addition, Kelly and Beach Caves yielded additional remains from the prehistoric period: ceramics and human bone. There were more than 70 Strombus gigas shells, that had the small circular hole at the apex, stacked in the corner of Goat Cave. It is reasonable to assume that the other petroglyph locations would have yielded cultural and skeletal material from the prehistoric period. However, there are caves and holes that have no petroglyphs, but do have cultural and/or skeletal material. The reason for this difference is unknown. There is a similarity of design elements within the Bahamian petroglyphs and the Antillean region (Williams 1985). The zemi face from Hartford Cave bears a resemblance to the Arawak deity, Yocahu (Olsen 1973). It would appear that the Greater Antillean socio-cultural traditions continued into the Bahamian frontier. Through the use of petroglyphs, a common religious heritage bound the frontier Lucayan Taino of the Bahamas and the homeland Taino of the Greater Antilles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Dr. Don and Kathy Gerace of the Bahamian Field Station, San Salvador Island fortheir moral and logistical support on San Salvador, Rum Cay and Great Inagua. Mr. David Melville of the Rum Cay Club for logistical support. The Foundation for Field Research for financial and logistical support to Rum Cay. Mr. Georges Charlier for the use of his sailboat to Rum Cay. Mr. Basil Kelly and Mr. Eugene Pyfrom for logistical support on Crooked Island.

3 674 PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS BIBLIOGRAPHY Hoffman, Charles 1973 Petroglyphs on Crooked Island, Bahamas. Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles. pp9-12. Mallery, Garrick 1893 Picture-Writing of the American Indians. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Mylroie, John 1988 Karst of San Salvador. Field Guide to the Karst Geology of San Salvador, edited by J. Mylroie Department of Geology and Geography, Mississippi State University, pp Olsen, Fred 1973 Petroglyphs of the Caribbean Islands and Arawak Deities. Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, pp Williams, Denis 1985 Petroglyphs in the Prehistory of Northern Amazonia and the Antilles. Advances in World Archaeology - Vol. 4, edited by F. Wendorf And A. Close. Academic Press: New York. pp Winter, John 1990 A Reconnaissance of Long Island, Rum Cay, and Conception Island - July 4-22, Report to the Bahamian Department of Archives, Nassau, Bahamas, p Winter, John, Julian Granberry and Art Leibold 1985 Archaeological Investigations Within the Bahamas Archipelago. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress for the Study of the Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, pp Winter, John and Mark Gilstrap 1991 Preliminary Results of Ceramic Analysis and the Movements of Populations into the Bahamas. Proceedings of the Twelfth Congress of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology, pp

4 WINTER 675 Plate 1. Wide mouth flank-margin Plate 2. Solution hole

5 676 PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS CO O E DC ai 5 o o (0 X co IS Q.

6 WINTER 677 ** Plate 4. "Hall of Fame #1" - Hartford Cave Figure 1. Headdress Figure

7 678 PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS tlílnte' Plate 5. "Hall of Fame #2" Hartford Cave Figure 1.3

8 WINTER 679 Plate 6. McCay Cave, Crooked Island Plate 7. Goat Cave, Rum Cay

9 680 PETROGLYPHS OF THE BAHAMAS Plate 8. Sugar Loaf, San Salvador Plate 9. Beach Cave, San Salvador