History & archaeology

Spotlight on Amerindians at Magens:

Did you know... Pre-Columbian artifacts have been found at Magens Bay indicating a Taino settlement around 1200-1500 AD, as well as earlier preceramic settlements possibly dating back to 1050 BC.

The unique ceremonial "swallow stick" pictured was discovered at Magens by Captain Theodore De Booy in 1917. Carved from the rib of a manatee and decorated with shells, it is believed to have been made by the Taino sometime between 1200 and the mid-1400s. It was used as part of a ritual in which a shaman would purge (vomit) before ingesting hallucinogenic cohoba to communicate with Taino deities and ancestors.

Other artifacts & remains excavated at Magens include numerous clay bowls and pieces of bowls in several different shapes and decorative styles (largely similar to those found in Puerto Rico), stone & shell tools, stone beads & shell ornaments, fragments of clay griddles used to prepare cassava, spindle whorls used for spinning yard,  a bone flute, trigonolitos (three pointed stone zemis), spatulas that were likely used in the cohoba rituals, charcoal, discarded shells, animal bones, and human skeletons.

Learn more about the Amerindians at Magens:

• Rare Swallow Stick Found at Magens Bay | ValerieSims.com

• Analyze Petroglyphs and an Amerindian Swallow Stick | Teach VI History

• Swallow Stick, Magens Bay | National Museum of Denmark [English translation, All cataloged artifacts from Magens]

• Excerpts of DeBooy & Faris' 1918 The Virgin Islands, Our New Possessions, and the British Islands (PDF) [Full text]

• Hatt's 1924 "Archaeology of the Virgin Islands" (PDF)

• Excerpts of Rainey's 1940 Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands (PDF)

• Morales Patiño & Royo Guardia's 1951 "Cuban Scientific Expedition to the Virgin Islands", trans. Figueredo 1976 (PDF)

• Bullen's 1962 "Ceramic Periods of St. Thomas and St. John Islands, Virgin Islands"

• Figueredo & Bradstreet's 1973 "St. Thomas Archaeological Site Register",  Figueredo's 1974 “The Archaic Period of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands: New Evidence and Interpretations”, and Figueredo's 1974 "History of Virgin Islands Archaeology" (PDF)

• Tilden's 1975 "Excavations at the Arboretum Site" (PDF) and 1976 "The Arboretum Complex: A Preceramic Culture of the Virgin Islands" (PDF)

• Rouse's 1992 The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greet Columbus (PDF)

• Wilson's 1997 The Indigenous People of the Caribbean

• Righter's 2002 The Tutu Archaeological Village Site

• Caron's "The Amerindians & their Legacy in the Virgin Islands" (not available online)

• Excerpts of  Curet & Galban's 2019 "Theodoor de Booy: Caribbean Expeditions and Collections at the National Museum of the American Indian" (PDF)

• Archaeolology & Heritage Program | Friends of VINP

• St. Croix Archaeological Society