Description
Traditional studies of the cultures of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean have centered on ceramic studies, based on the archaeological model developed by Irving Rouse which has guided Caribbean archaeology for decades. Rodriguez Ramos departs from this methodology by implementing lithics as the primary unit for tracing the origins and developments of the indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico. Analyzing the technological styles involved in the production of stone artifacts in the island through time, as well as the evaluation of an inventory of more than 500 radiocarbon dates recovered since Rouse's model emerged, the author presents a truly innovative study revealing alternative perspectives on Puerto Rico's pre-Columbian culture-historical sequence. By applying a multiscalar design, he not only not only provides an analysis of the plural ways in which the precolonial peoples of the island interacted and negotiated their identities but also shows how the cultural landscapes of Puerto Rico, the Antilles, and the Greater Caribbean shaped and were shaped by mutually constituting processes through time.
About the Author
Reniel Rodriguez Ramos, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Puerto Rico, Utuado and Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Leiden.
Book Information
ISBN 9780817356095
Author Reniel Ramos
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint The University of Alabama Press
Publisher The University of Alabama Press
Weight(grams) 493g