Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

260 Pages·2005·1.7 MB·English

by  Dr. L. Antonio Curet

DIALOGUES IN CUBAN ARCHAEOLOGY

DIALOGUES IN
CUBAN ARCHAEOLOGY
Edited by
L. ANTONIO CURET, SHANNON LEE DAWDY,
AND GABINO LA ROSA CORZO
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2005
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: AGaramond
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dialogues in Cuban archaeology / edited by L. Antonio Curet, Shannon Lee Dawdy, and
Gabino La Rosa Corzo.
p. cm.
Originally presented at a symposium held at the 2002 Society for American Archaeology
67th Annual Meeting held in Denver, Colorado.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8173-1464-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8173-5187-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Indians of the West Indies—Cuba—Antiquities—Congresses. 2. Excavations
(Archaeology)—Cuba—Congresses. 3. Cuba—Antiquities—Congresses. I. Curet,
L. Antonio, 1960– II. Dawdy, Shannon Lee, 1967– III. La Rosa Corzo, Gabino. IV. Society
for American Archaeology. Meeting (67th : 2002 : Denver, Colo.)
F1769.D53 2005
972.91′00497′0729—dc22
2005000438
To the memory of three pillars of Cuban archaeology, Ramón Dacal Moure,
José M. Guarch Delmonte, and Manuel Rivero de la Calle.

Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
1. Introduction
Shannon Lee Dawdy, L. Antonio Curet, and Gabino La Rosa Corzo 1
PART I. HISTORY OF CUBAN ARCHAEOLOGY
2. Three Stages in the History of Cuban Archaeology
Ramón Dacal Moure and David R. Watters 29
3. The Organization of Cuban Archaeology: Context and Brief History
Mary Jane Berman, Jorge Febles, and Perry L. Gnivecki 41
4. Historical Archaeology in Cuba
Lourdes S. Domínguez 62
5. Cave Encounters: Rock Art Research in Cuba
Marlene S. Linville 72
PART II. SUBSTANTIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
6. Approaches to Early Ceramics in the Caribbean:
Between Diversity and Unilineality
Jorge Ulloa Hung 103
7. El Chorro de Maíta: Social Inequality and Mortuary Space
Roberto Valcárcel Rojas and César A. Rodríguez Arce 125
8. Mythical Expressions in the Ceramic Art of Agricultural Groups
in the Prehistoric Antilles
Pedro Godo 147
viii / Contents
9. Subsistence of Cimarrones: An Archaeological Study
Gabino La Rosa Corzo 163
10. An Archaeological Study of Slavery at a Cuban Coffee Plantation
Theresa A. Singleton 181
11. Afterword
Samuel M. Wilson 200
References Cited 203
Contributors 229
Index 235
Figures
1.1. Map of Cuba 23
2.1. Work group translating and editing the book titled The Art
and Archaeology of Pre-Columbian Cuba by Dacal Moure and
Rivero de la Calle 39
3.1. Welcome sign, a billboard in central Cuba 42
3.2. The Capitolio, Havana 49
3.3. Dra. Lourdes Domínguez with her husband and her mother 52
3.4. Entrance to the Montané Museum, Havana, Cuba 53
3.5. Entrance to Centro de Antropología, Havana, Cuba 55
4.1. Map of Old Havana showing the areas restored by the O¤cina del
Historiador de la Ciudad de la Habana. 63
5.1. Drawing of the “Motivo Central” of Cueva No. 1, Punta del Este,
Isla de Juventud, Museo Antropológico Montané de la Universidad
de La Habana. 76
5.2. Rolando T. Escardó and Antonio Núñez Jiménez studying pictographs
painted in red in the Cueva de Pichardo, Sierra de Cubitas 79
5.3. Manuel Rivero de la Calle delivering a speech to the Sociedad
Espeleológica de Cuba 80
5.4. Geopolitical map of Cuba indicating Rock Art zones 87
6.1. Map showing the location of many early ceramic sites in
eastern Cuba 104
6.2. Flaked stone tools from Canímar I 110