Precolonial Saba
However, archaeological surveys and excavations, mainly by Leiden University between 1987 and 2006, have presented Saba as an integral part of the pre-Columbian island network in the Northeastern Caribbean.
Archaeological finds from Saba include objects that were traded throughout the Caribbean, such as flint from Antigua, greenstone from St. Martin and pottery from the Greater Antilles.
During this time the inhabitants of Saba were full horticulturalists living from the cultivation of root crops and the exploitation of the marine environment.
They produced pottery vessels, made tools and sculptured objects from stone, shell, animal, bone, and coral.
The first is the inland location at an altitude between 140 and 400 m. Most of the sites that fall under this category are situated on a saddle between the lower slope of Mount Scenery and a volcanic dome.
This site location offers strategic advantages, such as a good overview of the sea and natural protection against hostile groups.
However, the lower part of a ravine offers a restricted surface area and it is thus assumed that sites of this type were not used for living purposes but had other functions.
The possibility for beaching boats is very limited on Saba, which means that ravines in close proximity to the sea will likely have been used for canoe landing places.
Plum Piece overlooks the cliffs at Mary's Point and thus provides a good view of Well's Bay and the ocean.
An initial survey by Corinne Hofman and Menno Hoogland of Leiden University in 2001 confirmed the presence of occupation in the form of numerous pieces of flint and stone and shell tools that were recovered from the site's surface.
The evidence from Plum Piece suggests that the site was used for specific activities like woodworking or the building of canoes in the spring season between February and July.
It is likely that Plum Piece was visited in alternation with comparable campsites on nearby islands in a yearly mobility cycle determined by the availability of resources.
Within the deposits (or middens) that were uncovered during the excavations at Spring Bay 1, numerous discarded artefacts and food remains were found.
The artefacts include pottery and stone, shell, coral and bone tools, ornaments such as beads and amulets and ceremonial paraphernalia in the form of three-pointed-objects, referred to as zemis.
The site of Spring Bay 2 is located in close proximity of Well's Gut, an area exposed to severe marine erosion.
Other finds from the site included stone tools, flint and flaked artefacts, faunal remains and one zemi made of coral.
Furthermore, occupants of the site were in close proximity to the rainforest on the higher slopes, providing access to various plants, birds and small mammals.
Finds from the site include Chican Osotionoid pottery, spindle whorls, stone implements, flint and flake tools, shell and coral artefacts, beads and pendants, zemis made of coral and a snuff inhaler made of manatee bone.
[14] Based on archaeological evidence Amerindian groups started settling smaller islands in the Lesser Antilles by around 2900 BCE.
[16] The excavation at Plum Piece has yielded pre-worked flint cores and flakes from Antigua, further supporting the notion of large-scale connectivity between the Caribbean Islands in the Lesser Antilles.
[17] The availability of high quality wood to build canoes could be another reason why people visited the island during certain parts of the year.
It was also discovered that apart from being a highly connected point of departure, Saba is also located on the majority of the shortest paths across the archipelago.
Its assemblage shows that a small community in a relatively marginal environment was effected by and had at least some influence on networks stretching across the Northeastern Caribbean.
The fourteenth-century Northern Lesser Antilles was comparable to a frontier zone, in which autonomous communities participated freely in interregional exchange networks of goods and services.
