Accessibility and Exchange in Boriquén: Compositional Study of Ceramics in Pre-colonial Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was populated by ceramic producing horticulturalist groups from South America somewhere around 600–400 BC, known as the beginning of the Ceramic Age in the Caribbean. The island served as a hub between the Lesser and the Greater Antilles and has one of the longest and most complex cultural histories of any island in the Caribbean with a variety of ceramic traditions, regionally significant sites, and strong connections with neighboring islands. To better understand the articulation of communities and their varied levels of exchange, we studied ceramics recovered from 12 sites across Puerto Rico. Using a newly introduced calibration set for portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), more than 300 ceramic sherds were analyzed from the Yale Peabody Museum. Potential interaction networks were evaluated on Puerto Rico and its nearby islands, and compositional groupings associated with shared clay sources or shared geological environments were identified. Also documented was compositional variability in ceramic series and styles traditionally identified within Caribbean cultural history that correlates with significant demographic shifts during the later Ceramic Age, also indicating shifts in resource accessibility. Results indicate intense levels of exchange and mobility between communities on the island for hundreds of years.