Image made with finger markings.
Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Photo: static.independent.co.uk,
Public Domain.
On
September 17, 2016, I posted a column about Taino rock art discoveries on Mona
Island, Puerto Rico titled Caribbean Rock Art - Puerto Rico. Now, an article in Live Science
by Dan Robitzki on November 6, 2017, outlines discoveries of further rock art
on Mona Island. In his article "On
An Uninhabited Caribbean Island, A Trove Of Pre-Columbian Art", Robitzki wrote "to analyze the cave drawings, the archaeologists took x-rays and
used (radio) carbon dating. They were surprised to find that all of the artwork
discovered in about 70 winding caves predated Christopher Columbus arriving in
the Americas."(Robitzki 2017)
Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Photo: www.archaeology.org,
Public Domain.
The newly
discovered petroglyphs include a large percentage of anthropomorphs. "Many of the drawings on the cave
walls, some of which depict religious and ceremonial symbols - animals, faces
wearing headdresses, and various designs dotted the cave wall - were made using
simple techniques, such as rubbing or scraping into the rock walls. Because the
cave walls were coated with a softer surface, rubbing or scraping at the
surface revealed a different-colored mineral beneath." (Robitzki 2017)
"Other images in the caves were
made with advanced paints that varied based on the unique components of each
cave, according to the research. These paints contained varied levels of
charcoal, bat droppings, plant gums, different minerals like iron and plant
material from native trees like Bursera simaruba, also known as the turpentine
tree. The researchers concluded that the paintings were likely prepared in
advance, and then charcoal from torches were likely added to the artwork
afterward."
(Robitzki 2017) I fear that I draw a different conclusion here. It sounds to me
as if the ingredients are highly random and depended upon whatever the painter
could pick up in the location.
Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Photo: ancientorigins.net,
Public Domain.
""Most of the pre-colonial
pictographs are in very narrow spaces deep in the caves, some are very hard to
access, you have to crawl to get to them, they are very extensive and humidity
is very high but it is extremely rewarding," Victor Serrano, an
archaeology doctoral candidate from the University of Leicester who worked on
the research, said in a statement. "Because the indigenous people of Mona
Island were wiped out by European invaders, physical and cultural analysis of
the new cave paintings are one way people can learn about what they were like
and how they lived. Because the art found in the Mona caves are so well
preserved, researchers may glean new insight into the lifestyle of a lost culture."" (Robitzki 2017) In other words, the
people are long gone, but we might be able to understand a little of their
culture by studying the rock art.
Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Photo: static.independent.co.uk,
Public Domain.
Close-up,
Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Photo: www.archaeology.org,
Public Domain.
The Taino
people barely survived Spanish civilizing. "The
Taino became nearly extinct as a culture following settlement by Spanish colonists,
primarily due to infectious diseases. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in
Hispaniola was either in December 1518 or January 1519. This smallpox epidemic
killed almost 90% of the Native Americans who had not already perished. Warfare
and harsh enslavement by the colonists also caused many deaths. By 1548, the
Taino population had declined to fewer than 500. Starting in about 1840 there
have been attempts to create a quasi-indigenous Taino identity in rural areas of
Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. This trend accelerated among the
Puerto Rican community in the mainland United States in the 1960s. At the 2010
U.S. census, 1,098 people in Puerto Rico identified themselves as Puerto Rican
Indian, 1,410 identified as Spanish American Indian, and 9,399 identified as
Taino. In total, 35,856 Puerto Ricans considered themselves Native
American." (Wikipedia)
NOTE:
Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet in a search for public
domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public
domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner
will contact me with them. For further information on this report you should
read the original at the site listed below.
REFERENCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno
Robitzki,
Dan
2017 On An Uninhabited Caribbean Island, A Trove
Of Pre-Columbian Art, November 6, 2017, Live
Science, https://www.livescience.com/60850-photos-mona-island-cave-art.html
www.ancientorigins.net
www.archaeology.org
www.static.independent.co.uk
www.ancientorigins.net
www.archaeology.org
www.static.independent.co.uk
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