EB d 
meena at ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 189 
correspondence, 1956). There is a possibility that this identification 
is incorrect, or that the sherds represent an earlier occupation not as- 
sociated with the historic community. In any case, the derivation of 
the Abary Phase from this direction is the most logical conclusion on 
the basis of the distributional evidence as it is at present known. 
Assuming for the moment that this identification of the origin of 
the Abary Phase is correct, it is of interest to try to connect its emigra- 
tion from Trinidad with historical events there. In late prehistoric 
times, the most important event in the Antilles was the invasion of the 
Carib from the mainland. Unfortunately, their arrival is poorly 
dated, partly because of the difficulty of correlating archeological re- 
mains with linguistic differences, and partly because little work has 
been done in the Lesser Antilles, where Carib settlement was most 
concentrated. On the basis of Carib traditions that place their arrival 
in the West Indies as recent, Rouse has tentatively dated their occupa- 
tion of the Lesser Antilles during his Period IV, between A.D. 1200 
and 1500 (Rouse, Cruxent, and Goggin, 1958, figs. 1 and 3; Rouse, 
personal correspondence, 1959). Whether or not they passed through 
Trinidad is not archeologically demonstrable at present. However, 
the fact that the estimated date for the departure of the Abary Phase 
corresponds rather closely to that estimated for the arrival of the Carib 
in the Lesser Antilles makes it seem possible that the two movements 
are related. The coincidence that Carib tradition gives as the motiva- 
tion for their invasion the conquest of the Arawak (Rouse, 1948, p. 
564), and the suggestion that the Abary Phase may be identified with 
Arawakan speakers (see below) also fits such an inference. The dif- 
ficulties inherent in finding archeological evidence on Trinidad are 
such, however, that this interpretation may never be capable of more 
direct proof. 
The duration of the Abary Phase cannot be fixed by absolute dates, 
but estimates can be made from two different kinds of evidence. One 
is by correlation with the Mabaruma Phase in the Northwest Dis- 
trict. Contact between the two Phases took place shortly after the 
middle of the Mabaruma Phase seriated sequence, which is estimated 
to date between A.D. 1000 and 1300 (see pp. 147-148 for details). A 
second estimate is derived from rate of refuse accumulation computed 
on the basis of the density of sherds in the deposit. This gives the 
Phase a duration of between 298 and 417 years on the Abary River 
(see pp. 181-182). If it is assumed that B-3 was abandoned around 
A.D. 1600, or shortly before European contact in the area, this would 
place the arrival of the Abary Phase at between A.D. 1200 and 1300. 
European settlement of the Berbice River, adjacent to the Abary 
on the east, began around the middle of the 17th century. Two 
Arawak villages near the headwaters of the Abary were visited in 
