Imprensa: "Major archaelogical find in Puerto Rico"

[Eduardo Ribeiro]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/puerto_rico_archaeological_find

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Major archaeological find in Puerto Rico

By LAURA N. PEREZ SANCHEZ, Associated Press Writer*Sun Oct 28, 4:23 PM ET*

U.S. and Puerto Rican archaeologists say they have found the best-preserved
pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean, which could shed light on virtually
every aspect of Indian life in the region, from sacred rituals to eating
habits.

The archaeologists believe the site in southern Puerto Rico may have
belonged to the Taino or pre-Taino people that inhabited the island before
European colonization, although other tribes are a possibility. It contains
stones etched with ancient petroglyphs that form a large plaza measuring
some 130 feet by 160 feet, which could have been used for ball games or
ceremonial rites, said Aida Belen Rivera, director of the Puerto Rican
Historic Conservation office.

The petroglyphs include the carving of a human figure with masculine
features and frog legs.

Archaeologists also uncovered several graves with bodies buried face-down
with the legs bent at the knees — a style never seen before in the region.

The plaza may contain other artifacts dating from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D.,
including piles of refuse from daily life, Rivera said.

"I have visited many sites and have never seen a plaza of that magnitude and
of those dimensions and with such elaborate petroglyphs," said Miguel
Rodriguez, member of the government's archaeological council and director of
a graduate school in Puerto Rico that specializes in history and humanities.
He is not involved in the excavation project.

Archeologists have known since 1985 that the area contained indigenous
artifacts. But their extent and significance only became clear this month
when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on removing them so the
land could be used for a dam project.

Experts called for a halt to the excavation, saying the use of heavy
machinery exposed the stones to the elements and may have destroyed
important artifacts. The Corps of Engineers has said the site will be
preserved.

The Tainos were a subgroup of the Arawak Indians, who migrated to the
Caribbean from Mexico's Yucatan centuries before European colonizers
arrived.

Jose Oliver, a Latin American archaeology lecturer at University College
London, said that archeologists make discoveries of this significance every
50 or 100 years — if they are lucky.

"I'm convinced that a competent investigation of that site will offer us a
rare perspective on our pre-Columbian and pre-colonial history," Oliver, who
has overseen several high-profile digs in Puerto Rico, said by e-mail.

But he warned that the contractor in charge of the excavation is not
equipped to handle such a massive and complex job.

The lead investigator for Georgia-based New South Associates, the
archaeological and historical consulting firm leading the excavation, said a
back hoe that scrapes inches at a time did break some centuries-old bones,
but that the same thing would have occurred during a manual excavation.

The company switched to slower and more detailed excavation methods after
the site's significance became clear, investigator Chris Espenshade said.
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