ARCHAEOLOGY OF TRANTS, MONTSERRAT .3. CHRONOLOGICAL AND SETTLEMENT DATA

Ongoing analyses of the prehistoric Amerindian Trants site in Montserr at include chronological and settlement data obtained from several epi sodes of field work. Artifact distributions suggest that Trants is lar ger than most other Saladoid period sites in the West Indies. The radi ocarbon dates, artifacts, and stratigraphic associations further sugge st that Trants was occupied earlier than many other Saladoid sites and over a long span, ca. 500 B.C.-A.D. 410, or later. Phosphate fraction ation and other sediment data confirm the intensity and duration of oc cupation, and with artifact distributions discussed elsewhere suggest that the prehistoric settlement had a stable circular ring and plaza c onfiguration. The implications of these data for research on the begin ning and development of the Saladoid period in the West Indies and Low land South America are discussed.