http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/st ... _1226.html
... archaeologists have stumbled onto a major discovery that may help reconstruct the rhythms of life of those early Caribbean inhabitants.
An Atlanta-area archaeology firm working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has uncovered the outlines of a very large Taino ball court and ceremonial site, complete with human graves, trash mounds, building imprints and a few carved petroglyphs that are among the most intricate and detailed ever discovered in the region.
"Suddenly it went from a very good site to an extraordinary site," said Chris Espenshade, who led a team of local archaeologists and workers from New South Associates of Stone Mountain, Ga. at the dig this past summer and fall. "Part of what makes it extraordinary is that we have everything here, the midden (refuse) mound, the batey (ceremonial site), the house patterns, the burials and the rock art."
Puerto Rican archaeologists are excited by the find, which will be turned over to the island's government for preservation and future research ...
... Archaeologists first found a few artifacts in the 1970s, but the size and importance of the site wasn't known until this fall, when the flood control project finally near construction. Espenshade's team worked through the summer, but only in the past few months unearthed enough to determine the major scope of the site.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime find," said David McCullough, a Corps archaeologist from the agency's Jacksonville office, who said preliminary estimates show the site dates to around 600 A.D. "The petroglyph carvings are outstanding, with various human-looking faces and bodies. Another remarkable thing is the site is so well preserved. It was covered by the river's flooding and wasn't looted or cleared for farming."
'Extraordinary' pre Columbus site in Puerto Rica
Moderators: MichelleH, Minimalist, JPeters
The size of this place would seem to mean this was not just a trading outpost.
Ponce is on the Caribbean side of P R. Nice harbor.
Very dry, like LA or SD. Catus along side the roads.
Nothing like the wet North side. The high mountians shield it very well.
Good breeze but not as strong a wind, or as big of waves, as on the North side of the island where you are exposed to the Atlantic.
(I still kick myself for not buying 5 acres of Caribbean Sea front!)
If I was coming by boat from SA, working my way up the Lesser Antilles, I would stop here for sure.
It is the smallest of the Greater Antilles, but the first island you come to that is big enough for rivers. game, etc.
A good place for a base station for more exploring and later trade.
It would be an easy trip tp make. You can see the next island in the chain from the beach of the one you are on.
Ponce is on the Caribbean side of P R. Nice harbor.
Very dry, like LA or SD. Catus along side the roads.
Nothing like the wet North side. The high mountians shield it very well.
Good breeze but not as strong a wind, or as big of waves, as on the North side of the island where you are exposed to the Atlantic.
(I still kick myself for not buying 5 acres of Caribbean Sea front!)
If I was coming by boat from SA, working my way up the Lesser Antilles, I would stop here for sure.
It is the smallest of the Greater Antilles, but the first island you come to that is big enough for rivers. game, etc.
A good place for a base station for more exploring and later trade.
It would be an easy trip tp make. You can see the next island in the chain from the beach of the one you are on.