Canejas Cave Site Excavations, Fort Buchanan Military Reservation San Juan, Puerto Rico (original) (raw)
Indigenous cave use, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico
This paper reports on indigenous cave use on Mona island, Puerto Rico. It includes additions to the IACA paper presentation to inform readers of subsequent fieldwork carried out in June 2014. Fieldwork confirmed extractive activities, ritual practices and artistic representations deep inside caves in more than twenty-five cave systems across the island. The evidence for indigenous activities, building on the work of predecessors such as Dr Pedro Santana and Dr Ovidio Dávila, not only dramatically expands the repertoire of pre-Columbian iconography, but has the potential to transform understandings of past cave use, as well as traditional definitions of rock art in the Caribbean. Fieldwork in June 2014 focussed on cave survey; visual documentation; sampling for dating and compositional analysis; and small-scale excavation for retrieval of samples. The cultural heritage of the caves on Mona is highly vulnerable to visitor impact. Collaborative work and research with the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe to analyse and date the archaeology of the caves and document and protect this unique Caribbean heritage is underway.
Cavescapes in the pre-Columbian Caribbean
Over the last ten years radical developments in the understanding of pre- Columbian island interaction in the Caribbean have taken place. New scientific techniques have revealed the intensity and complexity of human movement, social interaction and ethnic diversity throughout the 6000 years of human occupation in the insular Caribbean (Hofman & van Duijvenbode 2011). Within this context, a new project has been developed focusing on pathways to social complexity in the Greater Antilles, articulated upon the paradigms of past human ecodynamics and creolisation. This project builds on the authors' longstanding research projects in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico, with a recent focus on Isla Saona and Isla de Mona. During recent work in the uninhabited Isla de Mona, some of the most complex, comprehensive and diverse assemblages of pre-Columbian iconography and cave use— including unique evidence for large-scale mining activities—have been studied.
EXCAVATIONS AT MARUCA, A PRECERAMIC SITE IN SOUTHERN PUERTO RICO
A recent set of radiocarbon dated shows that the Maruca site, a preceramic site located in the southern coastal plains of Puerto Rico, was inhabited between 5,000 and 3,000 B.P. bearing the earliest dates for human habitation in Puerto Rico. Also the discovery in the site of possible postmolds, lithic and shell workshop areas and at least eleven human burials strongly indicate the possibility of a permanent habitation site. RESUME Recientes fechados indican una antigüedad entre 5,000 a 3000 años antes de del presente para Maruca, una comunidad Arcaica en la costa sur de Puerto Rico. Estos son al momento los fechados más antiguos para la vida humana en Puerto Rico. El descubrimiento de socos, de posible talleres líticos, de áreas procesamiento de moluscos y por lo menos once (11) enterramientos humanos sugieren la posibilidad de que Maruca sea un lugar habitation con cierta permanence.
Proceeding of the XXII Congress of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology (IACA
Spot Valley cave was located by Mr David Fletcher and was mapped by Dr James Lee in 1970. He reported that fragments of human bones and teeth were found in crevices against the walls and in the floor associated with numerous potsherds of White Marl (Meillacan) type. The collection now kept at the University of the West Indies consists of 693 potsherds and 1 reconstructed vessel as well as a small chert component. The study of the human remains has shown that there were a minimum number of 8 individuals here, 4 adults and 4 juveniles, some of them showing pathological lesions. Dr Lee reported that there were about a dozen poorly preserved pictographs applied to the cave wall in black pigment, in the same style as those at Mountain River cave. He illustrated some of these pictographs in the form of drawings which he presented to the 11 th IACA Congress in 1985. A new survey of the interior of the cave has now been carried out, and a photographic record of the pictographs made, thanks to the kind cooperation of the present owner of the property, Mr David Lee.
Prehistoric settlements in the Caribbean
Archaeology International, 1997
Mesoamerican arch aeology has fo cused mainly on th e ancient civilizations of the mainland, but kn owledge of early settlement, society and economy in th e Caribbean islands is essential for our understanding of th e prehistory of the region as a wh ole. In stitute staff and students are curren tly working in th ree islands: Puerto Rico, Tortola and Barbados.
Theodoor De Booy in Puerto Rico: An Untold Story in the History of Caribbean Archaeology
Caribbean Studies, 2018
Like many other regions throughout the world the colonial experience in the Caribbean included the arrival of foreign archaeologists conducting research and taking collections to their countries of origin. These were mostly composed of North American and European scholars representing different institutions such as museums, universities, or scientific academies. One of these expeditions poorly known by Caribbean, but more specifically by Puerto Rican archaeologists is the 1916 expedition of the Museum of the American Indian led by Theodoor de Booy. This paper describes and discusses this expedition within its institutional and historical context and how it relates to the early to the history of museums and archaeology.
Archaeology of marronage in the Caribbean Antilles
Revista do Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, 2020
The archaeological study of maroons in the Caribbean Antilles presents both opportunities and challenges. On small islands, runaways had few places where they could seek refuge from slavery and elude capture for long periods of time. Consequently, such sites were occupied briefly and have been difficult to locate and identify. The Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) had both short-term refuge sites and long-term settlements comparable to quilombos. Archaeologists have been most successful in their investigations maroons in Cuba and Jamaica. In Hispaniola, where I am working at the present, only a few cave sites and one presumed maniel (the local term for a long-term maroon settlements) have been studied. In this paper, I provide an overview of the archaeological study of maroons on the Caribbean Islands and my preliminary research to locate El Maniel de Ocoa, a major settlement of slave runaways for over a hundred years during 1500s-1660s.
Beyond the Blockade. New Currents in Cuban Archaeology, edited by Susan Kepecs, L.A. Curet y G. La Rosa, pp. 89-105. The University of Alabama Press. Tuscaloosa., 2010
We summarize here some of the results of recent collaborative archaeological research at and around the site of Los Buchillones in northern Cuba. The excavation of wooden structural posts at the site reveals aspects of house size and structural design. A coastal survey indicates the potential size of this coastal site. A survey and excavation of islands in the Jardines del Rey archipelago provides extensive evidence of indigenous marine resource and subsistence exploitation on these off-shore islands. Assemblages from island sites are compared with those from Los Buchillones. Radiocarbon dates provide evidence for the chronology of human activity at these different sites. Aquí presentamos los resultados de unas investigacións recientes en el sitio de Los Buchillones, en la costa norte de Cuba. La excavación de viviendas nos proporciona nueva informacion sobre el tamaño y el diseño de estas estructuras. Un recorrido a lo largo del litoral indica el tamaño arqueológico del sitio. Recorridos y excavaciones en las islas del archipiélago Jardines del Rey proporcionan evidencias nuevas sobre la utilización de recursos marinosen estas islas.
Revista de Arqueología Americana, 2023
Intensive archaeological investigations of the Jácana site yielded results that suggest although the site saw limited occupation in the late period, A.D. 1300-1500, there was evidence of intensive use of the site as a ceremonial destination, as an element of a broader landscape of cultural importance. The various lines of evidence from the multi-disciplinary study of Jácana are presented in this paper, as well as a discussion of the site’s place in the extensive network of sites and landscapes.
Archaeological data recovery operations conducted at La Iglesia de Maragiiez (PO-39) from 1989 to 1991 revealed a relatively small site with a major component that dated to the eleventh century A.D. The site consisted of a batey, or ball court, with petroglyphs, a buried midden deposit on a slope below the batey, and a single structure on a ridge nose to the south of the buried midden. PO-39 apparently was used only as a local ceremonial center, and there was no evidence it had ever been used as a domestic site. This paper discusses the results of the PO-39 excavation, and presents the data that support the interpretation of the site as a local ceremonial center.
Recent Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence from Belle Air Cave, Jamaica
2011
Abstract: Belle Air cave, in the vicinity of Runaway Bay, was located in 1986 by Bishop Geoffrey Johnson and his brother Grasford Johnson. The discovery was reported to Dr James Lee, who identified it as a Pre-Columbian burial site (AC4 in his notation). Four complete bowls were recovered from the cave, together with other potsherds, and some human skull and jaw fragments. From the analysis of the material now kept at the University of the West Indies, it seems that a minimum number of six individuals was present. In ...
Archaeological Investigation of Caves and Rock Shelters on Guam and Tinian
Archaeological investigations in the Micronesian archipelago of the Mariana Islands have generally focused on habitation sites occupied from the Pre-Latte through Latte Period, with more recent attention to palaeoenvironmental studies such as wetland sediment cores, residue analysis of ceramics and tools, agricultural soil analyses, and climate change modeling. One site type recognized as having an early and repeated record of human use over the 3500 year history of the islands is the cave and/or rock shelter. This paper examines their use through time on Guam and Tinian, not as an ancillary feature to habitation sites, but as an independent measure of social and ecological processes in the Western Pacific.
Introduction: A History of Mesoamerican Cave Interpretation by J. E. Brady & K. M. Prufer
In the Maw of the Earth Monster: Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use, edited by James E. Brady and Keith M. Prufer, pp. 1-17. University of Texas Press, Austin. (2005)
This volume attempts to bring together a selection of the most recent field research on ritual caves and the latest interpretations of their meaning and significance for modern and Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples. To appreciate the significance of this volume, one has to recognize that the interpretation of cave use within a framework of religion and ritual is a relatively recent development. That is not to say that archaeologists and anthropologists have only recently begun to investigate caves. The history of cave investigation can be traced back more than 150 years, beginning with memorable descriptions by Stephens and Catherwood of such caves as Bolonchen and the Gruta de Chac (Brady 1989:Chap. 2). At the end of the nineteenth century, a number of archaeological studies of surprisingly good quality had been carried out in the Maya area, including Henry C. Mercer's (1975) The Hill-Caves of Yucatan, Edward H.
PLOS ONE
We possess rather little detailed information on the lives of the first inhabitants of Puerto Rico—the so-called “Archaic” or “Pre-Arawak” people—despite more than a century of archeological research. This is particularly true bioarchaeologically, as fewer than twenty burials of the several millennia of the Archaic Age have been recovered, let alone analyzed in any detail. Here, we present the results of archeological, osteological, radiometric, and isotopic analysis of five individuals from the Ortiz site in Cabo Rojo, southwestern Puerto Rico. Study of these previously unpublished remains, which represent a 20–25% increase in the sample size of remains attributed to the period, provides many critical insights into earliest Puerto Rican lifeways, including aspects of mortuary practice, paleodiet, and possibly even social organization. A review of their burial treatment finds a mostly standardized set of mortuary practices, a noteworthy finding given the site’s potential millennium-...
Prehistoric evidence from submerged caves and sinkholes (cenotes) on the Yucatan peninsula provides strong evidence for the existence of an early preceramic human settlement in southern Mexico. During our ongoing paleoanthropological research we have already documented three well-preserved human skeletons as old as 13,000 and 9000 years from these sites in Quintana Roo (Gonzalez et al. 2008a, Gonzalez et al. 2008b. The findings were associated with hearths and a diverse megafaunal assemblage of late-Pleistocene age. A fourth human skeleton was discovered in 2009, two more in 2010, and two others in 2011. Here we provide a first register of these additional five skeletons, bringing the total assemblage to eight. A ninth skeleton was informally reported from the same area by INAH researchers. These findings thus constitute one of the largest databases on bones of early humans in Mexico.