Abstract
While Lucayan exploitation of their marine environment is relatively well understand, less is known about terrestrial resource utilization, particularly of the floristic environment. Lucayans are the earliest permanent Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahama archipelago, which has suffered significant terrestrial habitat changes through time due to natural and anthropogenic factors. In this study we examined 878 wood charcoal specimens (21 taxa; 19 at the genus and two at the family level) from two Early Lucayan (ca. ad 700–1100) sites: the Three Dog and Pigeon Creek Dune 2 sites from San Salvador Island (Guanahaní), and two Late Lucayan (ca. ad 1100–1530) sites: the Pigeon Creek Dune 1 site from San Salvador and the Deadman’s Reef site from Grand Bahama (Bahama) for temporal and inter-island variability in fuelwood selection patterns and for insight into the composition of the islands’ flora during aboriginal occupation. Although the islands are both part of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, they are in two different bioclimatic zones. We found that the Lucayans practiced a combination of least-effort and intentional fuelwood collection strategies, even though the sites lie in dissimilar bioclimatic zones encompassing multiple plant communities. Considered “globally rare”, “highly endangered”, and “the most threatened tropical forests”, the vulnerability of Bahamian forests is increasing with climate change and development. The Lucayan wood collection economy can provide a model for contemporary conservation management and sustainability.