PETROLOGY OF PRECOLUMBIAN POTTERY FROM THE CADET AND DESMARREAU SITES, HAITI

Pottery from the Desmarreau (A.D. 800 – 1500) and Cadet (A.D. 1200 – 1400) archeological sites in Haiti forms the basis for assessing inter and intra island patterns of human movement and settlement within, and between, Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica in the 500 years prior to European arrival. Different decorative styles on the pottery, combined with the distributional ranges of the pottery indicates that two distinct, and partially contemporaneous, ethnic populations are represented. Prior archaeological investigations focused on several large prehistoric villages which recovered several hundred sherds representing in excess of 200 decorated vessels. The pottery from the two sites is similar. The pottery is texturally and compositionally similar to poorly sorted matrix-rich sandstones or sandy shales. Sand grains are typically angular to subangular, with a distinctly bimodal sand size population. One size population of sand grains is within the medium- to coarse– grain sand ranges, and the second is within the very fine - grain sand range. The sand grains are matrix supported. These “pseudo-sandstones” may be classified as lithic or feldspathic wackes. Single and composite quartz and quartz or quartz – mica tectonite grains are uncommon. Single and composite feldspar grains are variously altered plagioclase. The majority of the lithic sand grains are volcanically derived. These lithics exhibit a range of preserved primary volcanic textures which include, in decreasing order of abundance: microfelsitic, porphyritic aphanitic, trachytic or basaltic and variously altered glassy grains. From a provenance point of view the sand grains were derived from an active to dissected volcanic arc. Mineralogy of the sherds is relatively simple, whereby the sand size portion of the sherds consists of various proportions of quartz and albitic plagioclase, +/- minor accessories. X-ray diffraction studies do not indicate any clay minerals as matrix components. Rather the matrix consists of cryptocrystalline quartz and albitic plagioclase, +/- calcite, +/- 2M1 mica.