US and Puerto Rican archeologists say they have uncovered what they believe to be one of the most important pre-Columbian sites found in the Caribbean, containing stones etched with ancient petroglyphs and graves that reveal unusual burial methods.
The stones at the site in southern Puerto Rico form a large plaza measuring 40m by 50m that could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, Puerto Rican Historic Conservation Office Director Aida Belen Rivera said.
The petroglyphs include the carving of a human figure with masculine features and frog legs. Archeologists believe the site may have been created by the Taino and pre-Taino cultures that inhabited the island before European colonization.
PHOTO: AP
The plaza could contain other artifacts, dating from 600 to 1500, said Rivera, whose office is receiving general reports about the findings.
Archeologists also uncovered several graves where bodies were interred face-down with the legs bent backward at the knees -- a type of burial not previously recorded in the region.
The site was discovered while land was being cleared for construction of a dam to control flooding in the area.
Experts have called for a halt to the excavation.
Jose Oliver, a Latin American Archaeology lecturer at University College London, called the discovery one that archeologists come across every 50 or 100 years -- if they are lucky.
The lead investigator for US-based New South Associates, the archeological and historical consulting firm leading the excavation, said a backhoe that scrapes centimeters at a time had broken some bones at the site, but that the same would have occurred through manual excavation.
However, the company switched to slower and more detailed excavation methods about two weeks ago, after the site's significance became clear and the US Army Corps of Engineers announced it would preserve the site, investigator Chris Espenshade said.
Experts have suspected since 1985 that the area might yield indigenous artifacts because of its proximity to other archeological sites.
The Tainos were a subgroup of the Arawakan Indians, native to the Caribbean islands.
They migrated to the Caribbean from Mexico's Yucatan centuries before European colonizers arrived.
Four years after Columbus landed in Hispaniola in 1495, one-third of the 300,000 indigenous population was killed or forcibly exported.
Half a century later, the Tainos there became extinct.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
RSS