Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

132 / Valcárcel Rojas and Rodríguez Arce
The settling of agricultural groups in Banes seems to have begun in the
early a.d. 900s with occupation continuing until the 1400s or 1500s (Valcárcel
2002a:74). El Chorro de Maíta ¤ts within this scheme. Two of the radiocarbon
samples obtained from the cemetery set beginning and ending dates similar
to these: 870 ± 70 b.p. (Beta—148956; human bone; d 13c/12c = −19 percent)
and 360 ± 80 b.p. (Beta—148955; human bone; d 13c/12c = −19 percent)
(Valcárcel 2002a:142). The late date is also supported by the abundance of
European material mixed with indigenous objects in residential areas. A third
date of 730 ± 60 b.p. (Beta—148957; charred wood; d 13c/12c = −25 percent)
was obtained in a domestic context located next to the burial area (Valcárcel
2002a:142).
While dif¤cult to prove with the information at hand, use of the cemetery
could date to the beginning of residential settlement. In fact, this conclusion
is consistent with the chronological trends of the region. It suggests a logical
action by indigenous groups to assure the possession of a territory of exceptional
environmental quality. If this is the case, we are dealing with a space
utilized across ¤ve centuries. Although habitations may not have been continuously
occupied in the same location, they were within a very rich environment
that allowed the concentration of a large population for at least some of
the time, as suggested by the large size of the site.
A date of 670 ± 70 b.p. (Beta—148958; charred wood; d 13c/12c = −25 percent)
marks the beginning of occupation of the El Boniato site (Valcárcel
2002a:142), located 500 m from El Chorro de Maíta (see Figure 7.2). The
sigma of the date of 730 ± 60 b.p. of El Chorro de Maíta and its calibrated
dates (2 sigma calibration: Cal a.d. 1200 to 1320 [Cal 750 to 630 b.p.] and Cal
a.d. 1350 to 1390 [Cal b.p. 600 to 560]) indicate some degree of contemporaneity
and, given their proximity, some level of relationship between these
settlements. El Boniato is a small location with fewer human remains and
scarce objects associated with body ornamentation. Its presence affects the
areas of economic exploitation of El Chorro de Maíta and the limits of the
space where the work of the community should have been invested in crop
cultivation. It is improbable that the population of El Chorro de Maíta would
have allowed strange or unfriendly people to settle so close to the site. The
similarity of the material culture suggests the possibility that El Boniato represents
a community that either splintered from El Chorro de Maíta or was
linked to it through kinship nexuses or alliances.
In addition to El Boniato, three other village sites are located less than
2 km from El Chorro de Maíta, as well as a ceremonial cave site, a funerary