Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

58 / Berman, Febles, and Gnivecki
in Cuba in 1998, included papers by archaeologists. The proceedings of this
conference were published in Portugal (Correia 2002) owing to the dif¤culty
of publishing in Cuba. 3
An additional means by which Cuban archaeologists have sought to engage
with colleagues from other countries has been to offer their services to archaeologists
outside the island. Archaeologists have recognized the unique expertise
of several Cuban investigators and incorporated them into their projects:
Dacal Moure (Rostain and Dacal Moure 1997) has worked on the study of
shell tool production at the Tanki Flip site on Aruba and Jorge Febles on stone
tool production and edge wear analyses on sites in Puerto Rico. A few Cuban
archaeologists have also contributed to recent international publications. For
example, José M. Guarch’s chapter (2003) titled “Paleoindians in Cuba and
the Circum-Caribbean” appears in Jalil Sued-Badillo’s book (2003), UNESCO
General History of the Caribbean, Volume 1, Autochthonous Societies. In addition
to his work in Cuba, Jorge Ulloa (see Chapter 6) has participated in
archaeological research in the Dominican Republic and has published in Dominican
journals. 4 In 1995, Febles completed a CD-ROM titled Taíno, Arqueología
de Cuba. His efforts to distribute it internationally to secure funds
to support the work of the Centro de Antropología did not yield the muchneeded
and desired ¤nancial results. In 1999, Febles applied for and received
a John Simon Guggenheim award to complete the database he had established
with the CD-ROM.
In order to disseminate their work outside the country, Cuban avocational
and professional archaeologists are beginning to publish their ¤ndings on the
Internet. A recent paper by Racso Fernández Ortega and José B. González
Tendero (2001b) from el Grupo-arqueológico Don Fernando Ortiz is an excellent
example. Jorge Ulloa published an article in a special 2002 issue of the
electronic journal K ACIKE: Journal of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology.
While reducing publication costs, such papers provide outlets to
the international community. This example is not typical, however, because
few Cuban archaeologists own personal computers, but it is our hope that we
will see more Cuban archaeologists publishing their work in this manner.
Time will tell if the Internet proves to be an effective means of dissemination
of information.
With the shortage of fuel and high costs that make travel prohibitive, many
archaeologists are redirecting their efforts from ¤eldwork to the reexamination
of collections housed in museums and repositories. Some are applying insights
gained from their Soviet and Eastern Bloc experiences, as well as new inter-