Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

56 / Berman, Febles, and Gnivecki
data were incorporated into the compilation of archaeological censuses (e.g.,
Febles 1995). Many avocational archaeologists are members of the country’s
speleological societies that have played key roles in the discovery and description
of rock art sites (Linville, Chapter 5). There is a speleological society
in every province, and each has an archaeology section (Fernández Leiva
1992:38). The Escuela Nacional de Espeleología offers courses in archaeology.
Archaeology during the Special Period and Onward
The withdrawal of the USSR in the early 1990s signi¤cantly impacted the
infrastructure of Cuban life, including academic research and the dissemination
of scholarly ¤ndings. Opportunities to study in the Eastern Bloc evaporated,
and archaeologists have not gone there to study since the onset of what
Cubans call the “special period,” nor has any Eastern Bloc archaeologist
undertaken any scholarly work in Cuba. Attempts to maintain contact with
Russian and Eastern Bloc colleagues have met with little or no success. The
shortage of supplies such as paper and ink and the loss of parts for printing
presses account for a reduction in the frequency of newspaper and magazine
publications, a decrease in the number of pages per publication, and the delayed
printing of new books and journals (Johnson 1988; Pérez 1995:386).
Thus, reports and articles written during the height of Soviet in®uence may
never see their way to publication in Cuba, while some editors have sought
and attained publication through European presses. For archaeologists, the
shortage of other critical materials, such as fuel, has been particularly frustrating,
because it has reduced mobility and access to ¤eld sites, museum collections,
and libraries and archives outside of one’s home institution.
The Cuban scienti¤c and intellectual community, including archaeologists,
has responded pragmatically and innovatively to these obstacles, however.
Much of their response is directed to connecting in various ways to the
West, particularly North America. First, scienti¤c collaborations between the
Center for Anthropology and North American institutions have been actively
sought and encouraged. Since 1997, the Royal Ontario Museum has
collaborated with the Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, y Medio Ambiente
(CITMA) in Ciego de Avila on the excavation of Los Buchillones, a submerged
site that has yielded a wealth of wooden and other organic objects
(Collazo 1998; Harrington 1999; http://www.rom.on.ca/digs/belize/cuba.html;
Pendergast et al. 2001). At the end of the 1999 ¤eld season, the project’s base
of operation moved to the Institute of Archaeology (IOA), University Col-