Communities and Clays: Exploration of Cultural Landscape in La Altagracia, Dominican Republic Through Archaeological Site Formation and Local Heritage Practices

Kirsten michelle Hawley

Doctoral dissertation, indiana university bloomington

defended may 7, 2025

abstract

Culture is learned, practiced, and transmitted on the physical landscape, making natural environment a key component of human social relations. My research investigates the cultural landscape of La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic by revealing archaeological site formation processes through compositional analysis of Late Ceramic Age (LCA) (1150-450 BP) pottery and identifying localized cultural practices in the past and present. Archaeological site formation processes in terrestrial and freshwater contexts were compared through examination of trace element and mineral content of LCA ceramics. Contrary to expectations, results indicated ceramic composition varied more between sites in different environments that were geographically close together than between sites that are in similar environments farther apart from one another. Ceramics from the underwater context had statistically significant trace element differences, dissimilar mineral compositions, and voids of mineral dissolution in comparison to artifacts from a nearby land site. To further compare ceramic composition between archaeological sites, I examined the lead (Pb) stable isotope compositions. Pb stable isotope ratios were compared across ceramics from two terrestrial and two submerged sites and unfired clay collected from neighboring rivers. Results demonstrate the long-term stability of Pb in ceramics and clays and indicate that ceramic production was largely localized during the LCA.

I continued my examination of localized cultural practices through exploration of relationships between contemporary communities and nearby archaeological sites. Community relationship building and thematic interview analysis called attention to local networks of cultural knowledge transmission and differences in relationships with Indigenous archaeological sites between communities. Together, these studies integrate “social” and “natural” sciences to study Indigenous heritage and archaeological site formation through a cultural landscape lens by examining ceramic and clay composition and developing culturally appropriate community research protocols. Results demonstrate the localization of heritage practices and provide structure for analyzing archaeological site formation processes at an elemental level.