Archaeological investigations on St Martin (Lesser Antilles) (Archaeological Studies Leiden University, 4)

The Leeward islands constitute one of the last remaining gaps in our knowledge of the West Indies. This book describes archaeological research at three sites (the Norman Estate, Anse des Peres and the Hope Estate) which aimed to resolve some outstanding questions. After reporting on environmental and archaeological investigations at each of the sites, Jose Oliver turns to focus on the `La Hueca Problem', named after the site discovered in 1977 which totally overturned convential views of the colonization of the Antilles. In his controversial essay, Oliver discusses new perspectives on the dates and strategies of the earliest South American colonists.