Word: taino
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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While it may take another century to fully understand the Taino culture, it should not take as long to eradicate the myth of Columbus as a hero. HALLEY ALLEN Holden, Mass...
...mistake to assume--as many scholars have until quite recently--that the absence of abundant artifacts meant the Taino were necessarily more primitive than the grander civilizations of Central and South America. They simply used less durable materials: the Taino relied on wood for building and most craftwork, and much of what they made has disintegrated over the centuries. However, thanks largely to two remarkable digs undertaken over the past two years, archaeologists are dramatically enriching their knowledge of the complex society of the Taino and the sophistication of their artifacts...
...first site, a Taino village on the northern coast of Cuba now known as Los Buchillones, has been protected from decay in a layer of clay at the bottom of a shallow lagoon. Last May a Canadian-Cuban team discovered the nearly intact remains of a Taino dwelling buried in the muck. It has since located the foundation of as many as 40 structures, most likely a combination of communal buildings, outbuildings and single-family houses. The site is so extensive, says David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, that "there's no doubt that a regional chief...
Meanwhile, deep in the forests of the Dominican Republic, at a site known as La Aleta, a U.S.-Dominican team has made what may be an even more important discovery: a 240-ft.-deep Taino cenote, or ceremonial well, where hundreds of objects thrown in as offerings have been preserved in the oxygen-poor water. Preliminary explorations of the surrounding forest suggest that the well was just one component of a ceremonial center that covered at least 10 acres...
Impressive as they are, these two sites are only a fraction of what archaeologists believe remains to be found. La Aleta, for example, was part of the chiefdom of Higuey, one of the Taino's richest, most populous and politically powerful territories. "What other sites were connected with it?" wonders Indiana University archaeologist Geoffrey Conrad. "What did the environment look like 500 years ago? I have a list of questions that I'll never live to see answered." Other scholars will come along to fill in the gaps, though. And even if it takes another century to understand the Taino...