Islands of salt : historical archaeology of seafarers and things in the Venezuelan Caribbean 1624-1880 / Konrad A. Antczak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Antczak, Konrad A., author.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Series:

Taboui ; no. 6.

Taboui ; no. 6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Seafaring life.

History.

Salt industry and trade.

Tortuga Island (Venezuela)--Antiquities.

Tortuga Island (Venezuela).

Parque Nacional Archipiélago Los Roques (Venezuela)--Antiquities.

Parque Nacional Archipiélago Los Roques (Venezuela).

Salt industry and trade--Venezuela--History.

Seafaring life--Venezuela--History.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Venezuela.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Venezuela.

Physical Description:

426 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Sidestone Press, [2019]

Summary:

The early-modern Venezuelan Caribbean did not lure seafarers with the saccharine delights of cane sugar but with the preserving qualities of solar sea salt. In this book, the historical archaeological study of this salty commodity offers a unique entryway into the hitherto unknown maritime mobilities and daily lives of the seafarers who camped at the saltpans of Venezuelan islands from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, cultivating and harvesting the white crystal of the sea. 0For the first time, this study offers a comprehensive documentary history of the saltpans of La Tortuga Island and Cayo Sal in the Los Roques Archipelago, uncovering the surprising importance of their salt. Long-term archaeological excavations at the campsites by these saltpans have brought to light the plethora of material remains left behind by seafarers during their seasonal and temporary salt forays. The exhaustive analysis of the thousands of recovered things - pipes, punch bowls, plates, teapots, buttons, bones - contrasted with documentary evidence, not only enables us to understand where these things came from but also by whom they were used. By engaging the evidence through my theoretical framework of assemblages of practice, I demonstrate how seafarers and things were vibrantly entangled in the everyday assemblages of practice of salt cultivation, dining and drinking. This multisited approach spanning 256 years, reveals that seafarers were fervent buyers of fashionable products, drinking hot tea from porcelain tea bowls, using colorful ceramic chamber pots for their hygienic needs and imbibing exotic rum punch by the scorching saltpans of the uninhabited Venezuelan islands.

The early-modern Venezuelan Caribbean did not lure seafarers with the saccharine delights of cane sugar but with the preserving qualities of solar sea salt. In this book, the historical archaeological study of this salty commodity offers a unique entryway into the hitherto unknown maritime mobilities and daily lives of the seafarers who camped at the saltpans of Venezuelan islands from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, cultivating and harvesting the white crystal of the sea. 0For the first time, this study offers a comprehensive documentary history of the saltpans of La Tortuga Island and Cayo Sal in the Los Roques Archipelago, uncovering the surprising importance of their salt. Long-term archaeological excavations at the campsites by these saltpans have brought to light the plethora of material remains left behind by seafarers during their seasonal and temporary salt forays. The exhaustive analysis of the thousands of recovered things - pipes, punch bowls, plates, teapots, buttons, bones - contrasted with documentary evidence, not only enables us to understand where these things came from but also by whom they were used. By engaging the evidence through my theoretical framework of assemblages of practice, I demonstrate how seafarers and things were vibrantly entangled in the everyday assemblages of practice of salt cultivation, dining and drinking. 0This multisited approach spanning 256 years, reveals that seafarers were fervent buyers of fashionable products, drinking hot tea from porcelain tea bowls, using colorful ceramic chamber pots for their hygienic needs and imbibing exotic rum punch by the scorching saltpans of the uninhabited Venezuelan islands.

Contents:

1 Introduction. Islands of Salt p. 15

Spatiotemporal Framework p. 17

Space p. 17

Time p. 19

Situating the study within disciplinary currents p. 20

Venezuelan historical archaeology p. 20

Latin American maritime historical archaeology p. 24

Caribbean maritime historical archaeology p. 25

2 Assemblages of Practice. A New Conceptual Framework p. 31

Entanglements as the Point of Departure p. 31

Things, not objects p. 31

Entanglement p. 35

Scales of entanglement p. 38

Fleshing Out Entanglements p. 40

Itineraries of things p. 40

Assemblages of practice p. 43

3-I Itineraries of Sea Salt. La Tortuga within the Atlantic World p. 51

La Tortuga Island p. 51

The Dutch Quest for Salt p. 57

Dutch herring and Venezuelan salt (1595-1623) p. 57

The La Tortuga enterprise (1624-1638) p. 60

Anglo-American Thirst for Salt p. 67

Early ventures (1634-c. 1700) p. 67

The golden decades (c. 1700-1781) p. 74

3-II Itineraries of Sea Salt. Cayo Sal within the Venezuelan Caribbean p. 99

The Los Roques Archipelago and Cayo Sal p. 99

Cayo Sal: Island at the Crossroads p. 106

Salt and contraband (c. 1700-1800) p. 106

Neglected archipelago (c. 1800-1880) p. 111

4 Crusty Salts. The Seafarers at the Venezuelan Saltpans p. 129

Inhabiting the Seascape p. 129

The Dutch Zoutvaerders at Punta Salinas (1624-1638) p. 132

The Seafarers at Punta Salinas (1638-1781) p. 135

Rank, social status and small personal possessions p. 135

Enslaved seafarers p. 152

The Seafarers at Cayo Sal, Uespen de La Salina (c. 1700-1800) p. 158

A miscellany of anonymous seafarers p. 158

The Seafarers at Cayo Sal, Los Escombros (c. 1800-1880) p. 160

"Free coloreds" and a US American p. 160

5 Saltculture. Socio-Natural Assemblages of practice on the Saltpans p. 165

Introducing Socio-Natural Assemblages of Practice p. 165

The Physical Environment of the Venezuelan Islands p. 166

The Process of Solar Salt Cultivation p. 168

Socio-Natural Assemblages of Salt Cultivation p. 170

The Assemblages of Practice on the Venezuelan Saltpans p. 174

La Tortuga: the Dutch enterprise (1624-1638) p. 175

La Tortuga: the Anglo-American fleets (1638-1781) p. 181

Cayo Sal, Los Roques Archipelago: Uespen de la Salina (c. 1700-1800) p. 185

Cayo Sal, Los Roques Archipelago: Los Escombros (c. 1800-1880) p. 185

6-I The Lived Saltpan. Assemblages of Practice at the Campsites of La Tortuga p. 193

The Dutch at Punta Salinas (1624-1638) p. 193

Excavations and features p. 193

Resource procurement and food preparation p. 198

Food consumption, drinking and leisure activities p. 200

Anglo-American Everyday Life at Punta Salinas (1634-1781) p. 205

Excavations p. 205

Seafarer campsites p. 207

Shipboard victuals p. 210

Local resource procurement p. 218

Food preparation p. 224

Tableware for the serving and consumption of food p. 228

Dining at Punta Salinas p. 237

Beverages and beverage containers p. 245

Vessels for alcohol serving and consumption p. 253

Drinking at the tavern by the saltpan p. 263

Punch for the laboring crews p. 272

Genteel seafarers: tea, coffee and chocolate drinking p. 274

6-II The Lived Saltpan. Assemblages of Practice at the Campsites of Cayo Sal p. 281

Daily Life at Uespen de La Salina (c. 1700-1800) p. 281

Excavations and features p. 281

Provisioning p. 284

Local resource procurement p. 287

Food preparation p. 290

Dining at Uespen de la Salina p. 296

Drinking at Uespen de la Salina p. 301

Daily Life at Los Escombros (c. 1800-1880) p. 307

Excavations and features p. 307

Provisioning and local resource procurement p. 311

Food preparation p. 314

Dining at Los Escombros p. 317

Drinking at Los Escombros p. 325

7 Entanglements at the Salty Margins of Modernity p. 337

Seafaring Consumers: Anglo-American Captains p. 338

Consumerism p. 338

Interpreting ceramic absence at Punta Salinas p. 339

Captains as consumers p. 342

Confluence of Local and Global Entanglements: Cayo Sal p. 347

The Sea as Domain of Entanglement p. 350.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

908890815X

9789088908156

9088908168

9789088908163

OCLC:

1104659578

Publisher Number:

99984134780