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Our archaeology talks are free and open to the public, and co-sponsored by the Alliance for Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education.
Tracing the Roots of Cultural Kinship: The Journey of Jaguar and Puma Tooth Pendants from Terra Firma to a Caribbean Island
Dr. Diane Wallman, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of South Florida
Big cats hold symbolic significance across cultures, especially in the Americas, where felids such as jaguars and pumas are revered and respected. In South American cultures, these cats are associated with traits such as strength, aggression, status, and supernatural protection. Their representations appear in various material forms. This paper traces the journey of modified canine teeth of three large felids – two jaguars (Panthera onca) and one puma (Puma concolor) - from Venezuela to the Caribbean island of Dominica between the 15th and 18th centuries. The tooth pendants were recovered from LaSoye, a 17th-18th-century Indigenous trading settlement on Dominica’s windward coast. The stories of these teeth are presented both archaeologically and through the words of Kalinago descendants of the bearers of the pendants. These objects symbolize the enduring ancestral connections between the Caribbean islands and South America, as well as the important relationship between humans and big cats.
Diane Wallman is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, and is the director of the USF Historical Archaeology and Zooarchaeology Laboratories. She is a historical archaeologist with a multi-regional research program focusing on the archaeology of European colonialism and Atlantic Slavery. Her scholarship includes many articles, book chapters, and an edited volume with the University Press of Florida. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a National Geographic Explorer, and the recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation, Florida Humanities, and more.
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