J E Laffoon
Biographic Data
| ID | 19311 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J E Laffoon |
| GIVEN NAMES | J E |
| FAMILY NAME | Laffoon |
| SIGNATURE | LAFFOON J E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leiden University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8821-805X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 188 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Investigating the relationship between periods of vitamin D deficiency and sequential dentine carbon and nitrogen values
Shedding light onto early Amerindian objects of the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden through the use of archaeometric analyses
Archaeometric methods provide new information for provenance research of ethnographic museum collections. • Radiocarbon dating sheds light on object histories in historical museum collections. • Strontium isotopes shows distinct provenance areas for poorly documented artefacts. Given the recent attention to questions of ownership and restitution, museums are strongly investing in researching the provenance of their collections, using historical s…
Reconstructing past lifeways of Indigenous individuals in pre-colonial Bonaire, through multi-isotope analysis
Archaeological research in the Caribbean has been extensive and has revealed that, since its first settlement, the region has been characterized by continuous interaction between its inhabitants. However, there are certain areas, like the islands of the southern Caribbean (islands off the Venezuelan coast), that are understudied, despite being a source of information regarding connections with the South American mainland. The aim of this research…
Multiproxy paleodietary reconstruction using stable isotopes and starch analysis
Paleoethnobotanical and stable isotope studies have demonstrated that the indigenous groups that populated the Antilles, traditionally understood as dependent exclusively on wild resources, cultivated and consumed both C3 and C4 plants even before the arrival of the ceramic-bearing Arawak groups. However, the relative importance of cultigens and the differential use of plants, especially maize, between populations and individuals remains unknown.…
Global Patterns in Island Colonization during the Holocene
Analysis of the spatial and temporal structure of global island colonization allows us to frame the extent of insular human cultural diversity, model the impact of common environmental factors cross-culturally, and understand the contribution of island maritime societies to big historical processes. No such analysis has, however, been undertaken since the 1980s. In this paper we review and update global patterns in island colonization, synthesizi…
Paleodietary reconstruction of endemic rodents from the precolumbian Dominican Republic
In the Greater Antilles, certain animal taxa that have long been theorized to have been managed by indigenous peoples prior to AD1492, the main candidates being a group of endemic caviomorph rodents known as hutias (Capromyinae). This isotopic study investigates the paleodiets of several species of endemic rodents from three late precolonial sites in the northern Dominican Republic: El Flaco (cal. ad 990-1452), El Carril (cal. ad 1030-1262), and …
Human and hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis) interactions in pre-Columbian Hispaniola
There are certain animal candidates for which researchers have long speculated as having been managed, or possibly domesticated, by indigenous peoples in the pre-Columbian Caribbean, the primary candidate being some members of a group of caviomorph rodents known as hutia (Capromyinae). This study comprises an isotopic and morphological investigation of the potential management of an extinct species endemic to Hispaniola, the Puerto Rican hutia (I…
Unforgotten
A dietary assessment of colonial Cape Town's enslaved population
There is a growing body of bioarchaeological research on eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial Cape Town, a significant node in the transportation networks of both the Indian and Atlantic oceanic slave trades, attempting to shed light on the lives of enslaved persons. Here, a preliminary archaeological isotopic dietary baseline for the colonial Cape is presented. It is apparent from the data that cattle tended to graze far inland from Cape T…
Understanding the post-Archaic population of Satricum, Italy
This paper contributes to the current debate regarding the ethno-cultural identity and origins of the post-Archaic (5th to 4th centuries BCE) population of the town of Satricum by introducing bioarchaeologial data including strontium isotope ratios, strontium concentrations, δ13C and δ18O values of tooth enamel, as well as dental morphological traits. Previous studies suggested a change in the original Latin population of ancient Satricum as a re…
Island networks
The Caribbean Sea was a conduit for human mobility and the exchange of goods and ideas during the whole of its pre-colonial history. The period cal. AD 1000-1800, covering the Late Ceramic Age and early colonial era, represents an archaeologically understudied time during which the Lesser Antilles came under increasing influence from the Greater Antilles and coastal South America and participated in the last phase of indigenous resistance to colo…
Isotopic evidence for anthropogenic lead exposure on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation
OBJECTIVES: To identify and characterize anthropogenic lead sources on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation and to test if lead isotope analyses can be used to identify the geographic origins of first-generation African captives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out lead (Pb) isotope analyses on dental enamel samples from 24 individuals from the Newton Plantation Cemetery in Barbados, which had previously been analyzed for strontium (Sr) and…
An Isotopic and Morphometric Examination of Island Dogs (Canis familiaris)
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies. In this study, isotopic and morphometric analyses provide biochemical and morphological correlations to assess this differential treatment. We examined collagen valu…
Delayed physical development in a first generation enslaved African woman from Pietermaai, Curaçao
There is still much to be learned about enslavement in Curaçao, where little archaeological investigation into the historical era has been carried out. This article contributes to our knowledge on this subject through the analysis of a female individual buried in Pietermaai, an 18th century suburb of Willemstad. Excavated in the 1980s by the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, the remains are only now attracting …
Diverse and Dynamic Dietary Patterns in Early Colonial Cuba
The European conquest and colonization of the Caribbean precipitated massive changes in indigenous cultures and societies of the region. One of the earliest changes was the introduction of new plant and animal foods and culinary traditions. This study presents the first archaeological reconstruction of indigenous diets and foodways in the Caribbean spanning the historical divide of 1492. We use multiple isotope datasets to reconstruct these diets…
Childhood mobility revealed by strontium isotope analysis
Slavery of Indigenous People in the Caribbean
Sr/86Sr data indicate human post-juvenile residence mobility decreases over time-elapsed since initial Holocene island colonization in the Pacific and Caribbean
A bioavailable strontium isoscape for Western Europe
Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) are gaining considerable interest as a geolocation tool and are now widely applied in archaeology, ecology, and forensic research. However, their application for provenance requires the development of baseline models predicting surficial 87Sr/86Sr variations ("isoscapes"). A variety of empirically-based and process-based models have been proposed to build terrestrial 87Sr/86Sr isoscapes but, in their current f…
Assessing dietary and subsistence transitions on prehistoric Aruba
For this study, we applied a combined bioarchaeological approach, utilizing dental anthropological and stable isotopic analyses to assess long-term changes in subsistence patterns on prehistoric Aruba. Based on the traditional understanding of food-ways during the Archaic and Ceramic Age occupations of the island, it was expected that the dental and isotopic analyses would reflect differences in dietary practices between the two groups. We compar…
Advancing the Study of Amerindian Ecodynamics in the Caribbean
Worldwide, archaeological research is increasingly demonstrating the antiquity and complexity of interactions between human groups and the environment. In the Caribbean, this complexity is undersco
Precolonial/early colonial human burials from the site of White Marl, Jamaica
The recent excavation of three human burials at White Marl, Jamaica ( AD 900–1500), presented an important opportunity to garner new insight into precolonial life and death on Jamaica. The study, undertaken as a part of a collaborative heritage mitigation programme in the wake of planned infrastructural development of parts of the site, focused on burial practices and ancient diet and mobility. The results reveal that the burial treatment of thes…
The Life History of an Enslaved African
Archaeological excavations of an enslaved African domestic area at the Spring Bay Flat plantation on the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean, uncovered a small concentration of artefacts (shell, metal nails, animal bones and five human teeth) overlaid with a lock hinge, interpreted as a lockbox and its contents. Dental anthropological and multi‐isotope (strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen) analyses of the teeth revealed that they belonged to a sin…
Sourcing nonnative mammal remains from Dos Mosquises Island, Venezuela
Quantitative paleodietary reconstruction with complex foodwebs
Spatial variation of biologically available strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in an archipelagic setting
Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Analysis of Human Dental Enamel From the Caribbean
This study explores the potential of carbon and oxygen isotope data from human enamel carbonate (n = 50) to contribute to mobility studies in the Caribbean. Most oxygen and carbon isotope results display limited variation, with substantial overlap between islands. However, a few individuals from El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba possess relatively low δ18O and high δ13C. Two of these individuals were previously identified as possible non-Antillean immigra…
The Life History of an Enslaved African
Archaeological excavations of an enslaved African domestic area at the Spring Bay Flat plantation on the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean, uncovered a small concentration of artefacts (shell, metal nails, animal bones and five human teeth) overlaid with a lock hinge, interpreted as a lockbox and its contents. Dental anthropological and multi‐isotope (strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen) analyses of the teeth revealed that they belonged to a sin…
The Movement and Exchange of Dogs in the Prehistoric Caribbean
This study explores the feasibility of using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analyses of enamel from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to investigate networks of exchange in the prehistoric Circum-Caribbean. Dog teeth were obtained from burial and domestic contexts from two prehistoric sites (Anse à la Gourde and Morel) on Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles). Strontium isotope results were compared with local biosphere 87Sr/86Sr data at the s…
Sourcing nonnative mammal remains from Dos Mosquises Island, Venezuela
A Multi-Isotope Investigation of Human and Dog Mobility and Diet in the Pre-Colonial Antilles
The complex relationships between humans and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have a very deep and unique history. Dogs have accompanied humans as they colonised much of the world, and were introduced via human agency into the insular Caribbean where they became widespread throughout the Ceramic Age. It is likely that the dynamic interactions between humans, dogs, and their environments in the Caribbean were spatially, chronologically, and socially …
Quantitative paleodietary reconstruction with complex foodwebs
Island networks
The Caribbean Sea was a conduit for human mobility and the exchange of goods and ideas during the whole of its pre-colonial history. The period cal. AD 1000-1800, covering the Late Ceramic Age and early colonial era, represents an archaeologically understudied time during which the Lesser Antilles came under increasing influence from the Greater Antilles and coastal South America and participated in the last phase of indigenous resistance to colo…
Global Patterns in Island Colonization during the Holocene
Analysis of the spatial and temporal structure of global island colonization allows us to frame the extent of insular human cultural diversity, model the impact of common environmental factors cross-culturally, and understand the contribution of island maritime societies to big historical processes. No such analysis has, however, been undertaken since the 1980s. In this paper we review and update global patterns in island colonization, synthesizi…
Diverse and Dynamic Dietary Patterns in Early Colonial Cuba
The European conquest and colonization of the Caribbean precipitated massive changes in indigenous cultures and societies of the region. One of the earliest changes was the introduction of new plant and animal foods and culinary traditions. This study presents the first archaeological reconstruction of indigenous diets and foodways in the Caribbean spanning the historical divide of 1492. We use multiple isotope datasets to reconstruct these diets…
Precolonial/early colonial human burials from the site of White Marl, Jamaica
The recent excavation of three human burials at White Marl, Jamaica ( AD 900–1500), presented an important opportunity to garner new insight into precolonial life and death on Jamaica. The study, undertaken as a part of a collaborative heritage mitigation programme in the wake of planned infrastructural development of parts of the site, focused on burial practices and ancient diet and mobility. The results reveal that the burial treatment of thes…
Human dietary assessment in the Pre-colonial Lesser Antilles
An Isotopic and Morphometric Examination of Island Dogs (Canis familiaris)
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies. In this study, isotopic and morphometric analyses provide biochemical and morphological correlations to assess this differential treatment. We examined collagen valu…
Slavery of Indigenous People in the Caribbean
Sr/86Sr data indicate human post-juvenile residence mobility decreases over time-elapsed since initial Holocene island colonization in the Pacific and Caribbean
Paleomobility Research in Caribbean Contexts
This title provides an overview of archaeological investigations in the insular Caribbean, understood here as the islands whose shores surround the Caribbean Sea and the islands of the Bahama Archipelago. The handbook brings together examples of the best research conducted by scholars from across the globe to address the complexity of the Caribbean past
Life and death at precolumbian Lavoutte, Saint Lucia, Lesser Antilles
n\tThe Caribbean archaeological record requires immediate attention and protection. Development and natural forces have impacted archaeological sites, destroying or severely damaging them. The precolumbian site of Lavoutte, located in northern Saint Lucia, has been known as a major Late Ceramic Age (A.D. 1000–1500) settlement since the 1960s, but it has been damaged over the past decades by both natural and human processes. Multidisciplinary fiel…
Delayed physical development in a first generation enslaved African woman from Pietermaai, Curaçao
There is still much to be learned about enslavement in Curaçao, where little archaeological investigation into the historical era has been carried out. This article contributes to our knowledge on this subject through the analysis of a female individual buried in Pietermaai, an 18th century suburb of Willemstad. Excavated in the 1980s by the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, the remains are only now attracting …
Human and hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis) interactions in pre-Columbian Hispaniola
There are certain animal candidates for which researchers have long speculated as having been managed, or possibly domesticated, by indigenous peoples in the pre-Columbian Caribbean, the primary candidate being some members of a group of caviomorph rodents known as hutia (Capromyinae). This study comprises an isotopic and morphological investigation of the potential management of an extinct species endemic to Hispaniola, the Puerto Rican hutia (I…
Unforgotten
Isotopic evidence for anthropogenic lead exposure on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation
OBJECTIVES: To identify and characterize anthropogenic lead sources on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation and to test if lead isotope analyses can be used to identify the geographic origins of first-generation African captives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out lead (Pb) isotope analyses on dental enamel samples from 24 individuals from the Newton Plantation Cemetery in Barbados, which had previously been analyzed for strontium (Sr) and…
Multiproxy paleodietary reconstruction using stable isotopes and starch analysis
Paleoethnobotanical and stable isotope studies have demonstrated that the indigenous groups that populated the Antilles, traditionally understood as dependent exclusively on wild resources, cultivated and consumed both C3 and C4 plants even before the arrival of the ceramic-bearing Arawak groups. However, the relative importance of cultigens and the differential use of plants, especially maize, between populations and individuals remains unknown.…
Paleodietary reconstruction of endemic rodents from the precolumbian Dominican Republic
In the Greater Antilles, certain animal taxa that have long been theorized to have been managed by indigenous peoples prior to AD1492, the main candidates being a group of endemic caviomorph rodents known as hutias (Capromyinae). This isotopic study investigates the paleodiets of several species of endemic rodents from three late precolonial sites in the northern Dominican Republic: El Flaco (cal. ad 990-1452), El Carril (cal. ad 1030-1262), and …
A dietary assessment of colonial Cape Town's enslaved population
There is a growing body of bioarchaeological research on eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial Cape Town, a significant node in the transportation networks of both the Indian and Atlantic oceanic slave trades, attempting to shed light on the lives of enslaved persons. Here, a preliminary archaeological isotopic dietary baseline for the colonial Cape is presented. It is apparent from the data that cattle tended to graze far inland from Cape T…
Understanding the post-Archaic population of Satricum, Italy
This paper contributes to the current debate regarding the ethno-cultural identity and origins of the post-Archaic (5th to 4th centuries BCE) population of the town of Satricum by introducing bioarchaeologial data including strontium isotope ratios, strontium concentrations, δ13C and δ18O values of tooth enamel, as well as dental morphological traits. Previous studies suggested a change in the original Latin population of ancient Satricum as a re…
Spatial variation of biologically available strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in an archipelagic setting
Life and death at precolumbian Lavoutte, Saint Lucia, Lesser Antilles
n\tThe Caribbean archaeological record requires immediate attention and protection. Development and natural forces have impacted archaeological sites, destroying or severely damaging them. The precolumbian site of Lavoutte, located in northern Saint Lucia, has been known as a major Late Ceramic Age (A.D. 1000–1500) settlement since the 1960s, but it has been damaged over the past decades by both natural and human processes. Multidisciplinary fiel…
Paleomobility Research in Caribbean Contexts
This title provides an overview of archaeological investigations in the insular Caribbean, understood here as the islands whose shores surround the Caribbean Sea and the islands of the Bahama Archipelago. The handbook brings together examples of the best research conducted by scholars from across the globe to address the complexity of the Caribbean past
Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Analysis of Human Dental Enamel From the Caribbean
This study explores the potential of carbon and oxygen isotope data from human enamel carbonate (n = 50) to contribute to mobility studies in the Caribbean. Most oxygen and carbon isotope results display limited variation, with substantial overlap between islands. However, a few individuals from El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba possess relatively low δ18O and high δ13C. Two of these individuals were previously identified as possible non-Antillean immigra…
Long-distance exchange in the precolonial Circum-Caribbean
Human dietary assessment in the Pre-colonial Lesser Antilles
The Movement and Exchange of Dogs in the Prehistoric Caribbean
This study explores the feasibility of using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analyses of enamel from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to investigate networks of exchange in the prehistoric Circum-Caribbean. Dog teeth were obtained from burial and domestic contexts from two prehistoric sites (Anse à la Gourde and Morel) on Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles). Strontium isotope results were compared with local biosphere 87Sr/86Sr data at the s…
Quantitative paleodietary reconstruction with complex foodwebs
A Multi-Isotope Investigation of Human and Dog Mobility and Diet in the Pre-Colonial Antilles
The complex relationships between humans and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have a very deep and unique history. Dogs have accompanied humans as they colonised much of the world, and were introduced via human agency into the insular Caribbean where they became widespread throughout the Ceramic Age. It is likely that the dynamic interactions between humans, dogs, and their environments in the Caribbean were spatially, chronologically, and socially …
A bioavailable strontium isoscape for Western Europe
Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) are gaining considerable interest as a geolocation tool and are now widely applied in archaeology, ecology, and forensic research. However, their application for provenance requires the development of baseline models predicting surficial 87Sr/86Sr variations ("isoscapes"). A variety of empirically-based and process-based models have been proposed to build terrestrial 87Sr/86Sr isoscapes but, in their current f…
Assessing dietary and subsistence transitions on prehistoric Aruba
For this study, we applied a combined bioarchaeological approach, utilizing dental anthropological and stable isotopic analyses to assess long-term changes in subsistence patterns on prehistoric Aruba. Based on the traditional understanding of food-ways during the Archaic and Ceramic Age occupations of the island, it was expected that the dental and isotopic analyses would reflect differences in dietary practices between the two groups. We compar…
Advancing the Study of Amerindian Ecodynamics in the Caribbean
Worldwide, archaeological research is increasingly demonstrating the antiquity and complexity of interactions between human groups and the environment. In the Caribbean, this complexity is undersco
Precolonial/early colonial human burials from the site of White Marl, Jamaica
The recent excavation of three human burials at White Marl, Jamaica ( AD 900–1500), presented an important opportunity to garner new insight into precolonial life and death on Jamaica. The study, undertaken as a part of a collaborative heritage mitigation programme in the wake of planned infrastructural development of parts of the site, focused on burial practices and ancient diet and mobility. The results reveal that the burial treatment of thes…
The Life History of an Enslaved African
Archaeological excavations of an enslaved African domestic area at the Spring Bay Flat plantation on the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean, uncovered a small concentration of artefacts (shell, metal nails, animal bones and five human teeth) overlaid with a lock hinge, interpreted as a lockbox and its contents. Dental anthropological and multi‐isotope (strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen) analyses of the teeth revealed that they belonged to a sin…
Sourcing nonnative mammal remains from Dos Mosquises Island, Venezuela
Childhood mobility revealed by strontium isotope analysis
Slavery of Indigenous People in the Caribbean
Sr/86Sr data indicate human post-juvenile residence mobility decreases over time-elapsed since initial Holocene island colonization in the Pacific and Caribbean
Understanding the post-Archaic population of Satricum, Italy
This paper contributes to the current debate regarding the ethno-cultural identity and origins of the post-Archaic (5th to 4th centuries BCE) population of the town of Satricum by introducing bioarchaeologial data including strontium isotope ratios, strontium concentrations, δ13C and δ18O values of tooth enamel, as well as dental morphological traits. Previous studies suggested a change in the original Latin population of ancient Satricum as a re…
Island networks
The Caribbean Sea was a conduit for human mobility and the exchange of goods and ideas during the whole of its pre-colonial history. The period cal. AD 1000-1800, covering the Late Ceramic Age and early colonial era, represents an archaeologically understudied time during which the Lesser Antilles came under increasing influence from the Greater Antilles and coastal South America and participated in the last phase of indigenous resistance to colo…
Isotopic evidence for anthropogenic lead exposure on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation
OBJECTIVES: To identify and characterize anthropogenic lead sources on a 17th/18th century Barbadian plantation and to test if lead isotope analyses can be used to identify the geographic origins of first-generation African captives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out lead (Pb) isotope analyses on dental enamel samples from 24 individuals from the Newton Plantation Cemetery in Barbados, which had previously been analyzed for strontium (Sr) and…
An Isotopic and Morphometric Examination of Island Dogs (Canis familiaris)
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies. In this study, isotopic and morphometric analyses provide biochemical and morphological correlations to assess this differential treatment. We examined collagen valu…
Delayed physical development in a first generation enslaved African woman from Pietermaai, Curaçao
There is still much to be learned about enslavement in Curaçao, where little archaeological investigation into the historical era has been carried out. This article contributes to our knowledge on this subject through the analysis of a female individual buried in Pietermaai, an 18th century suburb of Willemstad. Excavated in the 1980s by the Archaeological-Anthropological Institute of the Netherlands Antilles, the remains are only now attracting …
Diverse and Dynamic Dietary Patterns in Early Colonial Cuba
The European conquest and colonization of the Caribbean precipitated massive changes in indigenous cultures and societies of the region. One of the earliest changes was the introduction of new plant and animal foods and culinary traditions. This study presents the first archaeological reconstruction of indigenous diets and foodways in the Caribbean spanning the historical divide of 1492. We use multiple isotope datasets to reconstruct these diets…
Human and hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis) interactions in pre-Columbian Hispaniola
There are certain animal candidates for which researchers have long speculated as having been managed, or possibly domesticated, by indigenous peoples in the pre-Columbian Caribbean, the primary candidate being some members of a group of caviomorph rodents known as hutia (Capromyinae). This study comprises an isotopic and morphological investigation of the potential management of an extinct species endemic to Hispaniola, the Puerto Rican hutia (I…
Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (28 works) · Geography (27 works) · Archaeology (25 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (23 works) · Biology (20 works) · Ecology (20 works) · Isotope analysis (13 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (12 works) · History (10 works) · Population (9 works)