The first inhabitants of Barbuda were hunter gatherers who came by canoe from Yucatan in Mexico about 3000 to 4000 years ago . These people are called Ciboney, "the stone people" from the Arawak language, or "pre-Ceramic" as pottery is not associated with their sites.
Artefacts include blades fashioned from the large gastropods that the Ciboney harvested, while celts, picks, hoes, and water vessels were made from Queen Conch, King Helmet, and Trumpet shells and whelks. The best evidence for their presence is along the southwest coast of Barbuda from Coco Point to River and up to the southeast corner of the Lagoon. This is the Strombus Line, made of piles of Queen Conchs (Strombus gigas) that had been harvested for their nutritious meat and thousands of chert flakes from Flinty Bay, in Antigua. These hard sharp stones would have been used to cut meat for cooking or drying. Habitation sites are along the coast near Codrington, River, Sucking Hole, Factory, and Goat Pen. Human remains carbon-dated as 3100 years old were found at Boiling Rocks, near Spanish Point.
The Arawaks or sub-Tainos came from Venezuela and Guyana at about the time of Jesus Christ. The earliest human remains are at Seaview, near Two Foot Bay, and date from 1600 years ago. The Arawaks were excellent at horticulture. They cultivated sweet potatoes, corn, peanuts, cotton, tobacco, and numerous fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants. The bitter cassava plant provided the staple of the Arawak diet. They peeled, shredded, squeezed, and sifted the starchy tuber to remove the cyanide and then baked cassava as bread on griddles the size of pizza pans. Fish, turtles, manatees, and other seafood, birds and their eggs, iguanas, small mammals, and land crabs provided the protein in a very well balanced diet.
The Arawaks are characterised by their sophisticated ceramic pottery, known as Saladoid. The decoration was white-on-red and had zoned-incised-crosshatching. This pottery has been found at Sufferers in the Spanish Point area, but may exist at Indian Town, near Two Foot Bay. Later the pottery became simpler when red and brown or orange predominated.
The period 1500 to 800 years ago saw the heaviest population in Barbuda, which often was used only for seasonal provisioning. Six or more village sites are known including Sufferers, Indian Town, Highland Road, Franks, Guava, Welches, and Ghaut.
The “infamous” Caribs spent time on Barbuda; they had probably replaced the more docile Arawaks by the time of European contact. The Caribs did not live on the island year round, but came seasonally to harvest seafood and whatever crops and land animals they could find. They preferred the mountainous and well watered islands of St Kitts and Dominica. The Caribs were so fierce in their claim to Barbuda that they were a deterrent to European colonisation. In the early 1700s the British Royal Navy had to protect the inhabitants of Codrington from Carib attacks.
Only Barbudans were aware of a pre-European culture on the island until 1965 when D R Harris published a picture of a stone Dogs Head Ceremonial Inhaler. Harris indicated that this was the first evidence of Amerindians living on Barbuda and the only artefact of its kind known from south of Puerto Rico. The inhaler was found near Two Foot Bay and used as a door stop in a Barbudan home. It was bought by Fred Olsen in the 1970s and has been exhibited recently in the USA.
Archaeological work in Barbuda has been carried out by Desmond Nicholson and the Antigua Historical Society. Between 1979 and 1992 Dr David Watters from the Carnegie Museum published the most complete updates on the Amerindian presence in Barbuda. Dr Watters has conducted surveys and test excavations and continues to report on the island.
Dr Steven Hackenberger and Gregg Wilson from Central Washington University visited the island in 1999 with a group of students. They added to the survey work of Dr Watters and started to inventory collected items for further study and storage.
For additional information about Amerindians and Barbuda generally visit the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.
Barbuda has no museum at present. Visit our community page for more information about the need for a Museum of Barbuda.
The information above has been supplied by Gregg Wilson, who also contributed to our geography page. Gregg completed much archeological survey work when he lived in Barbuda and subsequently on annual trips back to the island. He has built up an extensive collection of Amerindian artefacts as well as material from the colonial period. Some of his finds have been displayed in the school library, but they need a permanent home.