Shake, rattle, and roll: Continuity of rattling ceramic vessels and adornos in the Caribbean

Abstract

Ceramic rattles and rattle vessel adornos have received little attention in current Caribbean archaeology literature and may be overlooked or misidentified in Caribbean ceramic collections due to their minimal audibility or “failure” during the construction process. Here, we evaluate existing reports of rattle ceramics and adornos in the Caribbean and report on the discovery of rattle adornos within collections at the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Yale Peabody Museum. A detailed analysis of adorno rattles, including microscopic analysis, measurement of sound intensity, and a replication experiment was conducted. This study answers questions regarding their technological construction, potential function, geospatial and temporal spread, and cultural implications to Indigenous groups in the Caribbean. Despite difficulty in their construction, adorno rattles and ceramic rattles appeared in the Greater and Lesser Antilles throughout the Ceramic Age and likely functioned in ceremonial spaces.