Customer Reviews

An Archaeology of Social Space: Analyzing Coffee Plantations in Jamaica's Blue Mountains (Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology)

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James Delle's book successfully explores the historical relationship between the Jamaican power structure and the physical characteristics of several coffee plantations. The book also goes beyond Jamaica, and demonstrates how the global economy is physically represented in the slave populated plantations. Delle provides a generous amount of historical background by tracing the rise and fall of the coffee industry in the 1800's. The text also includes sharp economic and social analysis. Overall, the book is packed with information that is both fascinating and comprehensive.

This book talks little about archaeology and when it does, the interpretation is poor at best. The author is very repetitive with the few sources he has. Despite the lack of a credible discussion of social space, the book is well written and easily read.

The book provides a good theoretical discussion of spatiality within the context of world systems theory. However, insufficient attention was paid to the dynamics of what was purported by Delle to be the major area of study - the Yallahs Coffee Plantations of Jamaica.