An Iron Petaloid Axe from Cuba
At first glance, Angus isn’t very impressed by an iron axe that Alice says looks like a muddy potato. However first impressions can be deceiving and it quickly becomes clear there is more to this axe than meets the eye. Want to know what? Listen to a whole new episode of “A History of the Caribbean in 100 Objects”!
While you are listening you can have a look at these figures:
The axe from El Yayal with its dimensions.
Map with places mentioned in this episode
Indo-Hispanic pottery at El Yayal (Valcárcel 2012: Figure 5)
A table with the quantities of European materials at the Amerindian site of El Yayal (based on Dominguez 1984: p. 89)
Further information:
- Roberto Valcárcel’s PhD thesis (in Spanish) at Leiden University’s Digital Repository.
- Roberto Valcárcel’s new book: Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba
- The book on El Yayal by Lourdes Domínguez at Google Books (in Spanish)
Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @theshoresoftime if you agree with us that, even if it doesn’t look that pretty, this axe hides a pretty interesting story. Do you have any examples of objects that are “diamonds in the rough”? If so, we’d love to know. We’d also love to know how we can improve the way we share the stories of the Caribbean and its objects, so don’t hesitate to give us advice and tips!
We’ll speak to you next time, and remember: In this great future you can’t forget your past!
Acknowledgements: This podcast was made possible thanks to financial support by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Alice is employed by University of Leicester’s School of Ancient History and Archaeology and Angus works at Stanford University’s Archaeology Center. We would like to thank Roberto Valcárcel Rojas for his images and information on the axe.
