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

Ramos, Reniel Rodríguez; López, Miguel Rodríguez; Pestle, William J.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0282052

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Connections of differing kinds and intensity with pre-existing early peoples could help explain the emergence of the pronounced cultural variability seen in Puerto Rico from the middle Ceramic Age (ca. AD 500) onwards [ 116 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both uncalibrated and calibrated radiocarbon dates for B1, B2, B3, and B4 are presented in Table 5, with calibrated ranges illustrated in Fig 4 . Based on these results, the Ortiz burials are, at present, the oldest directly dated human burials from the island of Puerto Rico. Reniel Rodrı ´guez Ramos' exhaustive database of radiocarbon assays from both published sources and unpublished CRM reports includes some 243 other human bone dates from sites across the island [116]. Of these, only three have uncalibrated radiocarbon dates older than 1600 rcybp.…”

Section: Radiocarbon Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconsidering the lives of the earliest Puerto Ricans: Mortuary Archaeology and bioarchaeology of the Ortiz site

Pestle

Perez

Karell³

2023

PLoS ONE

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We possess rather little detailed information on the lives of the first inhabitants of Puerto Rico—the so-called “Archaic” or “Pre-Arawak” people—despite more than a century of archeological research. This is particularly true bioarchaeologically, as fewer than twenty burials of the several millennia of the Archaic Age have been recovered, let alone analyzed in any detail. Here, we present the results of archeological, osteological, radiometric, and isotopic analysis of five individuals from the Ortiz site in Cabo Rojo, southwestern Puerto Rico. Study of these previously unpublished remains, which represent a 20–25% increase in the sample size of remains attributed to the period, provides many critical insights into earliest Puerto Rican lifeways, including aspects of mortuary practice, paleodiet, and possibly even social organization. A review of their burial treatment finds a mostly standardized set of mortuary practices, a noteworthy finding given the site’s potential millennium-long use as a mortuary space and the possibly distinct place(s) of origin of the individuals interred there. Although osteological analysis was limited by poor preservation, we were able to reconstruct aspects of the demography that indicate the presence of both male and female adults. Stable isotope analysis revealed dietary differences from later Ceramic Age individuals, while dental pathology indicated heavy masticatory wear attributable to diet and/or non-masticatory function. Perhaps most crucially, direct AMS dating of the remains confirms these as the oldest burials yet recovered from the island, providing us both with a glimpse into the lives of some of the island’s first inhabitants, and with tantalizing clues to the existence of a different degree of cultural “complexity” than is often ascribed to these earliest peoples. The existence of what radiocarbon dates suggest may be a persistent formal cemetery space at the Ortiz site has potentially significant implications concerning the territoriality, mobility, and social organization of the earliest peoples of southwestern Puerto Rico.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Radiocarbon Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%