Leiden University. The university to discover.

The wise (wo)man builds his house upon the

rock: Architectural resilience in the pre-
Columbian Greater Antilles and Virgin Islands
Alice V. M. Samson, Caribbean Research Group
Faculty of Archaeology
Insular architectural mode
Mode architecturale insulaire
Modo de arquitectura insular
Insular architectural mode
- Similar architectural footprint
- Similar small size
- High-pitched roofs
- Reinforced facades
- Prepared floors
- Durability
- Securely anchored foundations
- Irregular siting

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Colonial documents & ethnography
Source:
culturasindigenas09.blogspot.com
Adapted from Oviedo 1851
sites with structure plans
sites with rock-cut postholes
Published domestic structures
Cuba
Los Buchillones (3-5)
Loma del Convento (2)
Jardines&Calvera 1999;
Pendergast et al. 2002,2003;
Valcrcel Rojas 2005;
Valcrcel Rojas et al. 2006
Puerto Rico
Maisabel (1-3)
El Bronce (3)
Lujn I (8)
Ro Tanam (7)
Playa Blanca 5 (1)
Ro Cocal I (4)
Siegel 1989, 1992; Curet
1992; Robinson et al
1983,1985; Rivera&Prez
1997; Carlson 2007;
Rivera & Rodrguez
1991;Goodwin et al.
2003; Oliver 2003
U.S.V.I.
Tutu (8)
Righter et al. 2002
Turks and
Caicos
MC-6 (8)
Sullivan 1981 in Keegan
2007
Jamaica
Bellevue-Mannings Hill
(1)
Medhurst 1976/77;
Allsworth-Jones 2008
Dominican
Republic
El Cabo (30)
Samson 2010, 2011;
Hofman et al. 2006,2008
Approach
- Archaeological
- Architectural focus (i.e. not related
features or artefactual assemblages)
- Bootstrapping from better documented
sites: Tutu, El Cabo
- What do the structures have in common?
- What can archaeology add to the drawings
of Oviedo?
- How are structures different from the
tropical lowlands?
1. Architectural footprint
El Cabo, Structure 11
El Cabo, Structure 4
1. Architectural footprint
2. Small house size
40% small
50% medium
10% large
3. High-pitched roofs
Wall/roof posthole El Cabo
4. Reinforced facades
El Cabo, Structure 1
Cabo
Tutu
Lujn
4. Reinforced facades
5. Prepared floors
El Cabo, Structure 11
Cabo
Tutu
Lujn
6. Durability
6. Durability
El Cabo, main unit
sites with rock-cut postholes
7. Securely anchored foundations
Cuba
El Morillo
Loma del Convento
Hernndez & Tpanes 2008;
Knight 2010
Puerto Rico
Lujn I
Playa Blanca 5
Rivera & Prez 1997;
Rivera & Rodrguez
Dominican
Republic
El Cabo
Samson 2010; Hofman et
al. 2006,2008
Turks and
Caicos
MC-6
Sullivan 1981 in Keegan
2007
Florida
USA
Miami Circle
Palm Royal Circle
Carr 2006; Wheeler &
Carr 2004; Collins et al.
2006
7. Securely anchored foundations
7. Securely anchored foundations
El Cabo, main unit
Punta Macao, DR (photo Gabriel Atiles)
Caletn Blanco, Cap Cana, DR
(photo Harold Olsen)
7. Securely anchored foundations
7. Securely anchored foundations
Structure 1, Lujn I, Vieques, PR (Rivera and Prez 1997)
7. Securely anchored foundations
El Morillo, Matanzas, Cuba (Hernndez de Lara y Rodrguez
Tpanes 2008)
Anse la Gourde, Guadeloupe
(Hofman, Hoogland & Delpuech 2001)
7. Securely anchored foundations
http://www.archaeology.org/
image.php?page=9909/
abstracts/jpegs/miami.jpeg
7. Securely anchored foundations
Miami Circle, Miami, Florida (Carr
2006, Wheeler & Carr 2004)
Human ecodynamics
- Coastal ecologies
- Mesic (wet) climate C11th-16th
- Sea-level fluctuation, flooding, storms
- Greater Antilles 5-10% annual chance of
hurricane landfall
- Earthquakes
- Tsunamis
Domestic resilience*
- High-pitched roofs fixed to ground deflect
wind over structure
- Smaller/numerous vs larger/single favoured
survivorship ratios
- Irregular siting breaks up wind gusts & reduces
vulnerability
- Deep foundations securely anchored structures
- Prepared floors creates level and stable site
- Reinforced facades point of anchorage
- Weight distributed evenly though structure
- Fast dismantlement and recovery: sacrificial principle
* Recommendations on reducing hurricane and earthquake
vulnerability from Cuny, F. C. 1982. Improving of Rural Housing
Units to Withstand Hurricanes. Oxfam.
1) To elevate the house as a dataset in
the Caribbean
2) Provide a basis for regional and interregional
comparison
3) To develop a perspective on pre-Columbian
human ecodynamics in terms of strategies in
architectural resilience.
Conclusions (1/2)
Conclusions (2/2)
Insular architectural mode
- Suited to island and coastal ecologies
- Resistant to extreme weather events
- Resilient
Thanks to colleagues whose
data contributed to this
comparative research
P. Allsworth-Jones
Alistair Bright
Betsy Carlson
R.S. Carr, L. Collins & T. Doering
Jago Cooper & M. Peros
Kate Crawford
L. Antonio Curet
Kathleen Deagan
R. C. Goodwin
Odlanyer Hernndez de Lara &
B. E. Rodrguez Tpanes
Corinne L. Hofman
Menno L. P. Hoogland
J. Jardines & J. Calvera
William Keegan
V. J. Knight Jr.
Joost Morsink
Harold Olsen
Jos Oliver
Elizabeth Righter
D. Pendergast & E. Graham
Virginia Rivera & S. A. Perez
Miguel Rodrguez
L. S. Robinson, E. R. Lunberg &
J. B. Walker
Peter Siegel
Roberto Valcrcel Rojas
R. J. Wheeler & R. S. Carr
Marcio Veloz Maggiolo
Leiden University. The university to discover.
IACA attendance & El Cabo research funded by Houses for the Living
and the Dead project, Netherlands Foundation for Scientific
Research, grant 360-62-030, PI Menno Hoogland
Thanks to the support of the Caribbean Research Group, Leiden
University
Download dissertation El Cabo: http://leiden.academia.edu/
AliceSamson/Papers/