Memorias de la costa: los cronotopos del litoral puertorriqueño.

The coast, an ill-understood and often despised landscape, is a vital space where important identities are constructed. In this article I explore and apply the concept of chronotope, developed by Mijail Bajtin and appropriated by geographers, anthropologists and literary critics, to understand the social and cultural complexity of the coast. Using ethnographic and historical research, I explore the coast through the processes of founding places, and the naming of places (toponymy) and the people who inhabit them. The coastal areas of Puerto Real in Cabo Rojo, Barrio Puntas in the municipality of Rincón, the mangrove forest of Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, and the Guánica Dry Forest are the coastal chronotopes examined here through the lenses of anthropology, history and literature.El paisaje costero, malentendido y menospreciado, es un espacio vital donde se forjan importantes identidades. En éste artículo exploro y aplico el concepto de cronotopo, ideado por Mijail Bajtin y apropiado por geógrafos, antropólogos y literatos para entender la riqueza social y cultural de la costa. Por medio de la investigación etnográfica e histórica exploro la costa como cronotopo, mirándola desde el acto de fundar los espacios, de nombrarlos (la toponimia) y de marcar a los otros (y a nosotros) como habitantes del paisaje fundado y nombrado (el gentilicio). La costa de Puerto Real de Cabo Rojo, el Barrio Puntas de Rincón, los manglares de Puerta de Tierra en San Juan y el Bosque Seco de Guánica sirven de escenario a ésta reflexión que combina la antropología, la historia y la literatura como fuentes fundamentales

Sobre arqueologías de liberación en una “colonia postcolonial” (Puerto Rico).

This paper analyzes some historical and recent issues of the archaeological practices that are taking place in Puerto Rico and other eccentric contexts in order to expose the multiple vectors of colonialism that are embedded today in the structure and praxis of the discipline. Some of the recent manifestations of postcolonial thought (and its respective critiques) are used to contextualize the atypical socio-political situation of Puerto Rico, which has been recently characterized as a “postcolonial colony.” We suggest that the socio political context in which the archaeology of Puerto Rico was created and developed influenced enormously the structure of the discipline in the island, which has led to a colonized production of knowledge, narratives, and representations of our ancient history. We propose, as an alternative against the naturalization of colonialism in the practice of archaeology in the island and other eccentric territories, the articulation of a new moral and ethical order within the discipline that we have named “archaeologies of liberation”.Este artículo analiza algunos elementos históricos y recientes de la práctica arqueológica mundial y de Puerto Rico, con la finalidad de exponer los múltiples vectores de colonialismo existentes en la praxis y narrativa de la disciplina, tanto a nivel local como global. El eje central del presente análisis se fundamenta en algunas de las recientes manifestaciones del pensamiento postcolonial mundial (y las críticas hechas a éste) para situar a Puerto Rico en el atípico escenario sociopolítico en el que se encuentra. Se plantea que el contexto sociopolítico en el cual se creó y desarrolló la arqueología de Puerto Rico influyó enormemente en la estructura de esta disciplina, provocando que la producción de conocimientos sobre nuestra historia antigua haya estado (y siga estando) condicionada a prácticas, narrativas y representaciones culturales de carácter colonial. Proponemos, como alternativa en contra de la naturalización del colonialismo en la arqueología de la Isla y de otros territorios excéntricos, el surgimiento y desarrollo de un nuevo orden moral y ético al interior de la disciplina, el cual hemos denominado “arqueologías de liberación”

The Function of the Edge-Ground Cobble Put to the Test: An Initial Assesment

Edge-ground cobbles constitute one of the most common artifact types found in pre-Arawak sites of the Antilles. Even though the importance of these artifacts as cultural markers has been widely recognized, the probable use(s) that they served have not been systematically addressed thus far in the Caribbean. As a result, an experiment was conducted in order to replicate the type of wear expressions that are commonly observed in this type of artifact, based primarily on the results of the starch grain analyses that have been conducted on similar tools recovered from Panama and Colombia, which have shown the presence of cultigens such as sweet potato, manioc, and maize, among others, in their faceted margins. After using cobbles with similar properties as those found archaeologically for processing each of these foodstuffs into an edible paste, I reached the conclusion that this type of activity could indeed result in the production of the marginal facet that characterizes edge-ground cobbles. This opened the door to argue for the possibility that some of these cultigens could have been introduced by the earliest immigrants to the islands prior to the Saladoid expansion, and thus to advocate for further studies on this regard

Isotopic challenges and categorical stumbling blocks in Caribbean archaeology A cautionary tale from Puerto Rico

While stable isotope analysis of preserved human tissues holds considerable promise for the characterization of ancient human subsistence, certain questions remain difficult to resolve in a conclusive manner. A variety of local factors, including poor preservation and the complexity of available foodwebs, can combine to make even relatively coarse dietary determinations (e.g. foraging versus fishing versus farming) difficult. Such is the case for prehistoric Puerto Rico, where taphonomic hostility and an incredibly variegated isoscape make the characterization of the subsistence modes of the island’s prehistoric peoples, and in particular its earliest inhabitants, a frustratingly contingent exercise. These difficulties are illustrated here through a consideration of isotopic data gleaned from over 200 individuals representing almost the entire sweep of the prehistoric human occupation of the island. The Caribbean climate and isoscape present at least two decided challenges to isotopic estimations of paleodiet. While stable isotope analysis of preserved human tissues holds considerable promise for the characterization of ancient human subsistence, certain questions remain difficult to resolve in a conclusive manner. A variety of factors inherent to the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico in particular, can combine to make even relatively coarse determinations of subsistence economy difficult to ascertain using stable isotope analysis alone. The characterization of human paleodiet through isotope analysis is predicated on known variation in the carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures of broad classes of plant and animal foodstuffs. While most modern, and indeed many ancient, human societies fall neatly into either the category of food foragers or food producers, the mid-ground between the two extremes was populated by a myriad of people whose subsistence was based on a combination of both

Revision of the cultural chronology of precolonial Puerto Rico: A Bayesian approach.

Puerto Rico has played a pivotal role in the building of cultural chronology for the insular Caribbean, and yet little systematic work has been conducted in recent decades to assess the validity of the system(s) produced. To resolve this issue, we assembled a radiocarbon inventory comprised of more than a thousand assays, drawn from both published sources and grey literature, which was used to assess and revise (as necessary) the received cultural chronology of Puerto Rico. The application of chronological hygiene protocols and Bayesian modeling of the dates yields an initial arrival of humans to the island more than a millennium earlier than previously established, making Puerto Rico the earliest inhabited island of the Antilles, following Trinidad. The chronology of the different cultural manifestations that have been identified for the island, as grouped by Rousean styles, also is updated, and in some cases heavily modified, as a result of this process. While admittedly limited by several mitigating factors, the image that emerges from this chronological revision suggests a much more complex, dynamic, and plural cultural scenario than has been traditionally assumed, as a result of the myriad of interactions that took place between the different peoples that coexisted in the island through time

Revision of the cultural chronology of precolonial Puerto Rico: A Bayesian approach

Puerto Rico has played a pivotal role in the building of cultural chronology for the insular Caribbean, and yet little systematic work has been conducted in recent decades to assess the validity of the system(s) produced. To resolve this issue, we assembled a radiocarbon inventory comprised of more than a thousand assays, drawn from both published sources and grey literature, which was used to assess and revise (as necessary) the received cultural chronology of Puerto Rico. The application of chronological hygiene protocols and Bayesian modeling of the dates yields an initial arrival of humans to the island more than a millennium earlier than previously established, making Puerto Rico the earliest inhabited island of the Antilles, following Trinidad. The chronology of the different cultural manifestations that have been identified for the island, as grouped by Rousean styles, also is updated, and in some cases heavily modified, as a result of this process. While admittedly limited by several mitigating factors, the image that emerges from this chronological revision suggests a much more complex, dynamic, and plural cultural scenario than has been traditionally assumed, as a result of the myriad of interactions that took place between the different peoples that coexisted in the island through time

New Questions and Old Paradigms: Reexamining Caribbean Culture History

One of the central goals of archaeology is the definition of regional cultural succession. Since at least the 1960s, archaeology has purported to have moved beyond the strictures of Culture History, and yet the constructs of that paradigm (styles, periods, cultures) continue to be used routinely. This work aims to show that by doing so, one is still implicitly subscribing to that theoretical perspective"s assumptions and biases. In the end, this article is intended to be a self-critical assessment of the shortcomings of Caribbean archaeology vis-à-vis issues inherent in that region"s dominant culture-history framework. Moreover, it aims to provide an example for Caribbeanists, and archaeologists working in other regions, of the value of moving beyond the products of, and not just beyond the term, Culture History

Stable Isotope Analysis of Paleodiet in the Caribbean

This article presents an overview of the history of Caribbean archaeological carbon and nitrogen stable isotope studies, a history that is paradoxically notable both for the precociousness of its first appearance and the subsequent dearth of large and meaningful studies. It provides a synopsis of the methodological underpinnings of paleodietary reconstruction by stable isotope analysis and discusses some of the unique challenges encountered in the use of this technique in Caribbean contexts. After reviewing some of the more meaningful studies of Caribbean archaeological materials, the article concludes with some thoughts on future prospects for the use of C and N stable isotope analysis for paleodietary reconstruction in archaeological research in the Caribbean Basin

Ship Graffiti on the Islands of the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico:A Comparative Analysis

Across the Caribbean and adjacent regions, systematic inventories of historical ship graffiti remain markedly incomplete. Previous studies had identified several islands in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos associated with ship graffiti primarily within colonial period structures. We expanded the range of these preliminary inventories, recording a diverse array of ship graffiti specific to plantation era structures across seven islands in the Bahamian Archipelago, as well as the sole cave site known to harbor such imagery. Examples were also associated with Spanish colonial era fortifications in Old San Juan and found within a set of nine of the numerous caves found on Isla de Mona and two caves on the Puerto Rican mainland. Many of the nautical images encountered were previously unrecorded as they have only recently been revealed through systematic exploration and detailed site surveys, demonstrating that the phenomenon is regionally more widespread and complex than previously known. In this interregional study of ship graffiti in the Puerto Rican and Bahamian Archipelagos, we examine image distribution patterns, techniques, preservation status and historical context unique to each area, contrasting the respective Euro-colonial cultural arcs reflected in these distinctive nautical iconographies. Although each act of mark-making is historically and contextually unique, we consider what this imagery has in common, namely that the majority were produced under conditions of slavery, confinement, and/or hard labor