Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

El Chorro de Maíta / 127
evidence for centralization in the south-central part of the island (Domínguez
1991), and the concentrations of sites already mentioned to suggest the formation
of possible chiefdoms and a more extended process of disintegration of
communal, egalitarian relationships.
The information from Los Buchillones is important because, among other
reasons, it allows us to overcome the existing idea of simplicity and provides
evidence from wooden objects rarely found on Cuban sites. The quality of the
craftsmanship and especially the abundance of sumptuary and symbolic objects
(idols, duhos or ceremonial stools, trays, vessels, etc.) indicate a certain
level of specialization and the existence of social demand. This pattern could
be true for other parts of Cuba. If we correlate the general characteristics of
this settlement with those of other large sites and clusters of sites in eastern
Cuba, we could expect a much more complex view than the one that has
generally prevailed.
One of these sites, El Chorro de Maíta, has produced burials with a signi¤cant
number of body ornaments. Their distribution was restricted, and they
were produced of materials of limited circulation. It has been suggested that
these artifacts express the high social position of their users in a well-de¤ned
hierarchy (Rodríguez 1989:5; Valcárcel 1999:92). El Chorro de Maíta is a large
settlement surrounded by smaller sites. It possesses the largest number of
ceremonial objects and corporal ornaments reported for its zone, as well as the
only cemetery dating to Cuba’s prehistoric agricultural stage. This evidence
suggests that the site may have had a preeminent position in its relationship
with nearby sites, being the residential settlement of high-ranking individuals
who themselves may have been linked to a well-differentiated hierarchy (Valcárcel
1999:93).
For the time being, it is dif¤cult to evaluate how widespread this situation
was or how it ¤ts with the political organization described in historical accounts.
Even so, the information from El Chorro de Maíta presented in this
chapter opens the door to a better understanding of the processes related to
the development of social complexity and perhaps to an emerging revision of
Cuban archaeology itself.
SOCIAL INEQUALITY,
INHERITANCE, AND ANCESTORS
Social inequality is de¤ned as an asymmetric or unequal relationship of power
between members or groups of a society (Siegel 1999:210). The transition from