THE USE OF GENITAL SHEATHS BY INSULAR PREHISTORIC CULTURES a unique case of an Ampullaria genital sheath from Carriacou, Southern Grenadines Lesley Sutty INTRODUCTION Genital sheaths have not been described from precolombian settlements in the Caribbean, this is the first such artifact to be retrieved from an insular settlement. During salvage archaeology following torrential rains which had seriously eroded the Grand Bay cliffs on Carriacou, following Hurricane GUSTAV in July of 1990, a number of unique artifacts were recovered. The most important of these was the worked Ampullaria fresh water snail shell. The species measured 3 x 3 and was associated with unidentified ceramics. DISCUSSION Ampullaria snails are not indigenous to the fauna of the island; these are fresh water molluscks known to inhabit ponds and rivers of Northern South America. I had recently returned from the World Archaeological Congress II in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where the organisers had exhibited numerous shell and ceramic artifacts from the La Salle collection, the results of years of research by Hermano Esteban Basilio in the State of Lara (Cerámica de Camay - Parte III), based upon the earlier work of Don Salvador Tarasona in 1953. The cultures studied were from Quibor, Tocuyo and Camay lived in ancient settlements close to the Andean foothills. The Camay Indian ethnic cultures are linguistically linked to Arawakan-tupi groups and of the same time period, perhaps more ancient than those of Fond Brule and Diamant, Martinique, Pearls Grenada ethnies which signifies time period 100± BC. Camay ceramics were amongst the most sophisticated of any fabricated on the South American continent, these artisans were considered masters of the art; their work had an Estrucan quality and finish. The first funeral urn was discovered in 1952 attheCematario Aruaco de Camay (Fig. 1). Many other equally beautiful polychrome funeral urns were subsequently excavated. In all cases these were secondary burials, with the urns placed 3 metres in the ground. The grave goods were represented by ornate vessels, shell necklaces and shell genital sheaths, stone and lithic materials. The trade routes in the first instances for the marine shell material is thought to be north to Lake Karacaibo, to intermediary settlements. Ceramic distribution in Lara State may have been east-west, west-east between Lara and Valencia. COMPARATIVE MATERIAL The Grand Bay genital sheath, has no comparative material to date in the Antilles. The Salvador Tarasona collection from Lara is the most definite source of comparison. Camay Indians in his studies, used Ampullaria and Charonia variegata, a marine mollusck (Figs. 2,3,4). The Ampullaria were associated with child or subadult burials, the C. variegata with adult burials. 338
Transcript
THE USE OF GENITAL SHEATHS BY INSULAR PREHISTORIC CULTURES
a unique case of an Ampullaria genital sheath from Carriacou, Southern Grenadines
Lesley Sutty
INTRODUCTION
Genital sheaths have not been described from precolombian settlements in the Caribbean, this is the first such artifact to be retrieved from an insular settlement. During salvage archaeology following torrential rains which had seriously eroded the Grand Bay cliffs on Carriacou, following Hurricane GUSTAV in July of 1990, a number of unique artifacts were recovered. The most important of these was the worked Ampullaria fresh water snail shell. The species measured 3 x 3 and was associated with unidentified ceramics.
DISCUSSION
Ampullaria snails are not indigenous to the fauna of the island; these are fresh water molluscks known to inhabit ponds and rivers of Northern South America. I had recently returned from the World Archaeological Congress II in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where the organisers had exhibited numerous shell and ceramic artifacts from the La Salle collection, the results of years of research by Hermano Esteban Basilio in the State of Lara (Cerámica de Camay - Parte III), based upon the earlier work of Don Salvador Tarasona in 1953. The cultures studied were from Quibor, Tocuyo and Camay lived in ancient settlements close to the Andean foothills.
The Camay Indian ethnic cultures are linguistically linked to Arawakan-tupi groups and of the same time period, perhaps more ancient than those of Fond Brule and Diamant, Martinique, Pearls Grenada ethnies which signifies time period 100± BC. Camay ceramics were amongst the most sophisticated of any fabricated on the South American continent, these artisans were considered masters of the art; their work had an Estrucan quality and finish.
The first funeral urn was discovered in 1952 attheCematario Aruaco de Camay (Fig. 1). Many other equally beautiful polychrome funeral urns were subsequently excavated. In all cases these were secondary burials, with the urns placed 3 metres in the ground. The grave goods were represented by ornate vessels, shell necklaces and shell genital sheaths, stone and lithic materials. The trade routes in the first instances for the marine shell material is thought to be north to Lake Karacaibo, to intermediary settlements. Ceramic distribution in Lara State may have been east-west, west-east between Lara and Valencia.
COMPARATIVE MATERIAL
The Grand Bay genital sheath, has no comparative material to date in the Antilles. The Salvador Tarasona collection from Lara is the most definite source of comparison. Camay Indians in his studies, used Ampullaria and Charonia variegata, a marine mollusck (Figs. 2,3,4). The Ampullaria were associated with child or subadult burials, the C. variegata with adult burials.
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In 1981 at the 9th IACA Congress, Henriqueta Penalver Gomez, reported the use of "protectores genitales by precolombian of La Cuenca de Lago de Valencia in Venezuela". This is a very ancient site. Gomez pointed out that the use of genital sheaths was widespread in these regions in ancient times, and that the radio carbon dating had established a date of 4500 ± BP. It is possible that the future datings of Pearls may put this Antillean site into a far more ancient time era.
Gomez illustrates spires of the marine molluscs Strombus gigas and pugilis as genital sheaths; the inner whorls removed. She also figures a Pomacea urseuswfth aperture removal, known to most of us in Cassis tuberosa and other shells found in amerindian sites. The specimens she figures as Cassis madagascariensis have been erroneously identified; they are the apex portions of S. gigas. However, Cassis tuberosa is an extremely heavy shell and would not have been appropriate as a genital sheath, though not impossible. The quadriple and larger than usual circular perforations 2mm are a clear indication that a shell has been utilised as a genital sheath.
CONCLUSION
Gomez considered that genital sheaths of this order were usual throughout the entire Amazon basin and the Caribbean introduced by Arawak ethnic cultures. This in the case of the Caribbean could only be hypothetical as comparative material was unavailable. She also maintained that the use of genital sheaths was still customary and part of cultural code amongst many of the Amazonian ethnies, but does not state which ones, which would have been important for the present study. The Grand Bay genital sheath was associated with eroding human remains mentioned in earlier reports on salvaging here. Such an artifact once again points to the extent of cultural exchange and multiple trading from different latitudes, taking place in the Grenadines.
Carriacou is the largest island of the Grenadine Archipelago, and was the most densely populated by Amerindian cultures. There is no reason why Camay Indians should not have navigated from the Maracaibo coastal regions, or across land to either settle or trade in the southern Caribbean, a further display of cultural interaction.
Archaeologists should look carefully at shell artifacts in their collections, especially those described and illustrated, to establish to what extent this cultural trend existed in the Caribbean.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Esteban Basilio Hermano 1984 Cerámica de Camay Desconocido, Parte III, Editora Boscan Carrera 24 entre calles 10
y II, Barquisimeto, Est. Lara, VZ.
Gomez, Henriqueta Penalver Gomez 1981 Proceedings from IX Congress IACA, Santo Domingo, pps 291-299.
Fudeco, 1985 Análisis Ambiental de la Region Centro Occidental de Venezuela, Fudeco,
Barquisimeto.
Sanoja, M., Becu ,R.Z., Ogelsby, J.C.M. 1982 Historia General de America, Acadamia Nacional de la Historia de Venezuela, 1982
340 THE USE OF GENITAL SHEATHS
Fig 1 : Ampullaria 6 fresh water shell 6 life size (3M x 3" 0" ) from Grand Bay, Carriacou.
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Fig. 2: Original Funeral Urn containing bones, grave offerings, and genital sheaths
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SUTTY 343
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344 THE USE OF GENITAL SHEATHS
Fig.5: Strombus costatus, hollow and perforated (5 inches) Ile de Cailles
Genital sheaths from Basilio collection La Salle Venezuela.
