The excavations of La Isabela, the first European city of the New World
01 Sep 1987-International Journal of Anthropology (Springer Science and Business Media LLC)-Vol. 2, Iss: 3, pp 199-210
TL;DR: The first settlement planned by Christopher Columbus in the New World during his second trip to America in the summer of 1493 is described in this paper, where the author presents history of the discovery and of the status of the excavation of the site La Isabela.
Abstract: In the present note the author presents history of the discovery and of the status of the excavation of the site La Isabela, the first settlement planned by Columbus in the New World during his second trip to America in the summer of 1493.
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TL;DR: Archaeological and historical data from two of the earliest sites of Spanish settlement in the Americas (La Isabela, Dominican Republic, 1493-1498; and Puerto Real, Haiti, 1503-1578) indicate that the transformation of Iberian social practice and identity to Iberia-American society and identity was well under way in the households of nonelite Spanish colonists by the early sixteenth century as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Archaeological and historical data from two of the earliest sites of Spanish settlement in the Americas (La Isabela, Dominican Republic, 1493-1498; and Puerto Real, Haiti, 1503-1578) indicate that the transformation of Iberian social practice and identity to Iberian-American society and identity was well under way in the households of nonelite Spanish colonists by the early sixteenth century. It is argued that this transformation was conditioned as much by new forms of domestic accommodation--most notably Spanish-Indian-African intermarriage and labor--as it was by European economic, technical, or political developments. Social adjustment to the Americas is strikingly revealed in the archaeological records of households in Spanish colonial towns, particularly when that record is organized and considered from a gendered perspective. Historical archaeology, with its unique multidisciplinary evidential base, has been the best source of information about the daily choices and adjustments made by the European,...
77 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the living conditions and specifically the possible etiologies of subperiosteal reactions among those seafarers who did not survive Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the Americas and died at La Isabela, the first permanent European settlement in the New World, which is located in the present-day Dominican Republic.
Abstract: This article explores the living conditions and specifically the possible etiologies of subperiosteal reactions among those seafarers who did not survive Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the Americas and died at La Isabela, the first permanent European settlement in the New World, which is located in the present-day Dominican Republic. The town was founded in 1494 by Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) and occupied for only 4 years. This study analyses the macroscopic and histological evidence of the skeletal series excavated from this contact cemetery, which is presently curated at the Museo del Hombre Dominicano. Twenty of the 27 systematically scored individuals reveal subperiosteal bone accretions, and in at least 15 individuals, these accretions appear bilaterally. The morphology, distribution and healing stages of the majority of these lesions provide new, direct evidence suggesting severe adult scurvy, a condition caused by sustained vitamin C deprivation, which was common among seafarers before the 18th century. The historical context surrounding the individuals' death at the European contact settlement and the conditions and duration of Christopher Columbus' second transatlantic voyage to the New World represent key elements in the interpretation of these lesions. In this case, the evidence also corroborates the known failure of Columbus' crew to exploit the locally available foods rich in vitamin C. Scurvy probably contributed significantly to the outbreak of sickness and collective death within the first months of La Isabela's settlement, an aspect that inflects the current discussion about the degree of virulence of New World infections that decimated the European newcomers, who we conclude to have been already debilitated and exhausted by scurvy and general malnutrition. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
11 citations
TL;DR: The authors focused on the origins and diet of the seafarers on the second voyage of Christopher's second voyage, individuals whose mortal remains were buried in the churchyard of the settlement of La Isabela.
Abstract: This study focuses on the origins and diet of the seafarers on Columbus’s second voyage, individuals whose mortal remains were buried in the churchyard of the settlement of La Isabela. This was the...
7 citations