Abstract

The past distribution of Boa snakes and their interactions with Pre-Columbian human populations in the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean) remain enigmatic. These snakes currently have a patchy distribution in the islands and are nearly absent from archaeological deposits. This raises questions about whether their absence from Pre-Columbian contexts should be interpreted from a biological or a cultural point of view. In this study, I provide three new references to Boa remains from archaeological and natural deposits on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, most of which were manufactured into beads. These are the first objects in the Lesser Antilles known to be manufactured using snake bones and all appear to be made from Boa, despite a wider diversity of snakes occurring in this region. Using these new observations and combined pieces of evidence from archaeological, historical, and biological data sources, I propose that the extreme scarcity of Boa in zooarchaeological assemblages reflects their prominent status in Pre-Columbian Amerindian communities.

摘要

蟒蛇过去的分布及其与小安的列斯群岛（加勒比）前哥伦布时期人类的相互作用仍然是个谜。这些蛇目前在岛上分布不均，考古沉积物中几乎不存在。这就提出了一个问题，即是否应该从生物学或文化的角度来解释它们在前哥伦布时代的背景下的缺席。在这项研究中，我提供了三个关于来自瓜德罗普岛和马提尼克岛考古和自然矿床的蟒蛇遗骸的新参考资料，其中大部分被制成珠子。这些是小安的列斯群岛最早使用蛇骨制造的物品，而且似乎都是由蟒蛇制成的，尽管该地区出现了更广泛的蛇类。利用这些新的观察结果以及来自考古、历史和生物数据源的综合证据，我提出，动物考古组合中蟒蛇的极度稀缺反映了它们在前哥伦布时期美洲印第安人社区中的突出地位。