Regional Settlement Demography in Archaeology

Abstract

faced by art history terminology. In terms of possible shortcomings of this book, I find it difficult to judge what is missing in terms of art history. However, as a Caribbeanist, I am troubled by the exclusion of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, and other islands off the northwestern coast of Venezuela from the text. Waldron argues that these islands were excluded due to having different artistic traditions, based on migration from the Middle, rather than Lower Orinoco region. Given that recent DNA studies throughout the Caribbean have seriously questioned existing migration theories, this exclusion may not be justifiable in the future. Fortunately, Waldron openly acknowledges this book as a preliminary effort, leaving the door open for future revisions. Waldron has managed to produce a sorely needed overview of current Pre-Columbian Caribbean archaeology in easily readable English, even if it is officially an art history text. The fact that this was achieved by someone from outside our field should act as a wake-up call, and perhaps motivate a change in scholarship production within the Pre-Columbian archaeology field, particularly with regards to moving on from discussions about Irving Rouse’s classification scheme, and controversies such as the Huecoid problem. Instead, more time should be spent filling in the increasingly obvious lacunae being unearthed by the closer scrutiny of archaeological data by our fellow Caribbeanists.