DIET AND RANK IN A CARIBBEAN MARITIME SOCIETY.

The investigation of social inequality in the Caribbean mainly has focused on the larger islands of the Greater Antilles where ethnohistoric records and monumental architecture form the basis for analysis of precolumbian complex societies. This paper presents evidence for status differentiation in the Lesser Antilles on the small island of Anguilla within a deposit at the Sandy Hill site and evaluates associated archaeofauna for evidence of rank-based differences in food consumption. It hen compared with three other sites, the higher density of status-related artifacts and higher densities of food remains at the Sandy Hill site arc interpreted as the result of feasting. No evidence for inequality is observed in patterns of food consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]