CHRONOLOGY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF PLAYA DEL MANGO, RIO CAUTO, GRANMA, CUBA. Issue 5 (13th October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chinique de Armas, Yadira; González Herrera, Ulises M; Buhay, William M; Yero Masdeu, José M; Viera Sanfiel, Luis M; Burchell, Meghan; Crann, Carley; Grau González-Quevedo, Esteban R; Roksandic, Mirjana
• Is Part Of: Radiocarbon. Volume 62:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 1221
• Page End: 1236
• Publication Date: 2020-10-13
• Subjects: AMS radiocarbon dating, -- Archaic Age, -- Banwaroid-Ortoiroid tradition, -- Caribbean archaeology, -- Ciboney Cayo Redondo, -- Preagroalfareros, -- burial archaeology; Radiocarbon dating -- Periodicals; 930.1028505
• DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2020.52
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-8222

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Fewer than 200 radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates with secure contextual information are available for Cuba, making it challenging to reconstruct Caribbean indigenous population dynamics, their identities and interactions. In this paper, we discussed 21 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dates from two mounds (M1 and M2) at the Playa del Mango site (Granma province, Cuba), traditionally associated with the Banwaroid stone tool tradition. The ΔR calculated for the site was –132.0 ± 176 and –164.0 ± 68. The chronology of burials from the peripheral area of M2 suggested that the cemetery was continuously used from at least cal BC 116–AD 241 (2 σ). The domestic area of M2 was used at minimum between cal BC 55–AD 435 (2 σ), which encompasses the use of the funerary areas. An isolated human tooth from M1 [cal AD 125–435 (2 σ)] suggested that this funerary area is later than the one at the periphery of M2, and possibly contemporaneous with the later formation of the M2 shell midden. The archaeological assemblage of the "Banwaroid tradition" is widely distributed in Cuba, and mixed with other archaeological traditions, supporting that a complex web of human interactions took place in the Caribbean in precolonial times.