Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Buzzard head metate |
Object ID |
1996/0456 |
Collection |
PORT ROYAL |
Object Name |
Metate |
Year Range from |
1400 |
Year Range to |
1600 |
Material |
Granite |
Description |
The indigenous population of Jamaica now referred to as the Taíno, did not settle the Palisadoes as the sand bar is called where Fort Charles was established in 1656. Nonetheless, this buzzard headed metate (grindstone) excavated offshore near here, was with a mano (pestle), likely to have been used by the Taíno to prepare their food when they came seasonally to harvest the turtle and turtle-eggs that used the site to nest. The origin of the Metate may, furthermore, reaffirm ongoing contact and trade between the people of the Caribbean islands and the mainland before the European conquest began, given that the granite material from which it was made is not found in Jamaica. It may have been brought to Jamaica from Central America and be of Maya or related origin where the buzzard remains a significant symbol and regarded as a life force, that is, the consumer of death and in fact symbolic of cleansing and renewal. Another theory suggests the metate's arrival in the island taking place during the Spanish settlement of Jamaica. Like the Taíno, the Spanish never developed a permanent settlement on the Palisadoes and used it only occasionally, as a site to careen or repair their ships. A further idea suggests that it was a prize, taken during the many raids launched from Port Royal on the Spanish Main in the 17th century. Unearthed among other cooking utensils in 1990, in what appeared to have been the kitchen of a Port Royal tavern or cookhouse on Lime Street, it may have been still used for food preparation at the time of the earthquake in 1692. |
Credit line |
Courtesy Institute of Jamaica |
Legal Status |
This photograph can be reproduced and used for research and educational purposes without restrictions. For a higher resolution image which may attract a fee, please contact, keeperofcollections@museums-ioj.org.jm |
Provenance |
Transferred from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust in 1996. |
Place of Origin |
Central America |
Web Rights |
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |