Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

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ISABEL C. RIVERA-COLLAZO
the analysis of exploited species in the past can
shed light on these changes, indicating which type
of habitats were available in landscapes contemporary
to ancient human occupation.
Puerto Rico is the easternmost and smallest of
the Greater Antilles (Figure 1). The archaeological
site under study is located on, and named after,
Punta Candelero: a coastal foreland on the eastsoutheast
coast of Puerto Rico (Figure 2). It lies
approximately 3km south of the modern mouth of
Humacao River, the largest in the area, on the
shore of the Candelero River valley. The Candelero
River was canalized in the 1940s, and currently
flows into the sea about 800m north of the foreland
(Ramos-Vélez pers. comm. 2007). Two rocky headlands,
Punta Morrillos and Punta Guayanés, are
located about 2km north and south of Punta
Candelero respectively.
1.2. Punta Candelero
The archaeological site on the foreland (Figure
3) was first reported in the 1980s by archaeologist
Miguel Rodríguez. In general terms, the site consists
of two occupational periods: an earlier Hueca
deposit identified on the discrete accumulations in
linear disposition and a later Cuevas (Late
Saladoid) occupation arranged in concentric ring
or horse-shoe shape some of which is superimposed
on the Hueca deposits (Pagán-Jiménez 2007,
Ramos-Vélez et al. 2007, Rodríguez-Lopez 1988,
1991). According to previous research, the site
has discrete houses (identified by postholes), activity
areas (including possible ‘shell middens’) and
a cemetery (Ramoz-Vélez et al. 2007, Rodríguez-
López 1991). The shell discussed here were
collected from an archaeological mitigation project
developed by Marlene Ramos Velez during 2006 –
Figure 1. Location of the Caribbean Region and Puerto Rico.
Figure 2. Puerto Rico, showing Punta Candelero location. Humacao River flows north of Morrillo de Humacao, its mouth can be seen just north of the headland.
(Topographical map modified from USGS Punta Guayanés Quadrangle, 1982)
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián