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Abstract Afro-Caribbean ware is Caribbean-made pottery manufactured both at the craft and industrial scale by enslaved and free potters of African descent. Previous sourcing studies have shown historic variation in centers of production and market distribution of these wares across the Caribbean. We used Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) on a clay sample and 13 low-fired coarse earthenware sherds excavated from the historic-period Jackson Wall Manor site on Grand Cayman. We found that the Grand Cayman clay was compositionally inconsistent with any previously analysed ceramic sherds in the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) NAA Caribbean database, and that the ceramic samples excavated on Grand Cayman showed high statistical correlation with Jamaican ceramic groups. These findings suggest that coarse earthenware on Grand Cayman was transported from Jamaica, a nearby colony with established potteries and markets, rather than being produced locally. Jamaican yabbas, which combined African and European manufacturing technique and forms, were imported into Grand Cayman to fit local needs. 

Abstract Chemical analysis of glass from African archaeological sites has become a standard research tool over the past decades. Despite the multiplication of studies, the continent still exhibits vast unexplored regions. One of these is the surroundings of Lake Chad. This paper discusses the results of LA‐ICP‐MS analysis of recently excavated glass beads from the late medieval Chadian site of Tié. We demonstrate that the composition of those glass beads largely matches assemblages from along the East African coast. This indicates that most of the beads examined entered the region via a hitherto undocumented east–west Sudanic route linking Northeast Africa with Lake Chad. 

Abstract We report on a multi‐method sourcing study of 35 mineral pigment artefacts from the Middle Stone Age site of Pinnacle Point 5–6 North (PP5–6 N), dating from about 90–50 ka. The artefacts were analysed and compared with geological samples from seven sources using neutron activation analysis (NAA), and supplemented by data from X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our preliminary results suggest that the occupants of PP5–6 N likely used at least two local and one currently unidentified and possibly non‐local Fe oxide mineral pigment sources. The mineral pigment artefacts derived from the latter source(s) exhibited manganese (Mn) enrichment with concentrations well above those observed in all sampled source deposits in the study area, suggesting a distinctive formation process. The proportions of the Mn‐enriched mineral pigment artefacts within the PP5–6 N assemblage vary over time, but tend to occur at higher rates in the glacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 deposits, which holds potential implications for changes in the use of sources over time, increased mobility or increased exchange during this period.