Jamaica / Special Interests / Archaeology

Jamaica’s first inhabitants, the Tainos, came to the island around 1,500 years ago and had various settlements where they led peaceful lives building boats and fishing in the rivers and the sea. They lived in caneyes, wooden, thatch-roofed cottages; slept in hammocks woven from cotton; and made pottery. They wore few clothes but painted their bodies. Perhaps the most striking thing about them was that they deformed their skulls, binding them so that they formed a point, and made the bone extremely hard – tough enough to sometimes break the swords of the Spanish invaders. It is thought there were around 100,000 Tainos living on the island at the time that the Europeans arrived. Within 100 years they were wiped out. They died in hordes from European diseases such as smallpox, even the common cold, to which they had no resistance. (They did manage to pass back syphilis and tobacco, so they had some revenge.) Also, the Spaniards used them brutally in their search for gold and then put them to work on plantations.

Farquhar’s Beach is the site of ancient caves used by the Tainos as a holy site and their paintings can still be seen on the walls while traces of pottery from this era can still be seen on the floor. The Rio Nuevo Taino site in the parish of St Mary is the site of a number of former Taino settlements though part of the area has been destroyed by development.

Seville Great House and Heritage Park, St Ann’s Bay - Set on Jamaica’s north coast, the town of Seville sits on the site of Maima, the largest settlement established by the Tainos Amerindians who were the first inhabitants of Jamaica. The Arawak-speaking tribespeople discovered the island, which they called Xaymaca, around 1,500 years ago. Artefacts from this period on display help to give an insight into the daily lives of the tribes.

Coyaba River Garden and Museum, Ocho Rios - The beautiful gardens, fed by natural springs and and streams that flow through the grounds, are one of the main attractions of this property which sits on the hills overlooking Ocho Rios. But for those with an interest in Jamaica’s past, there is a museum that focuses on the Taino and Arawak tribes that lived here.

Contributors - Sara Macefield (update and edit)