Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

Rock Art Research in Cuba / 77
cave “without religious biases” and that the Taíno later replaced them, painting
the images (but leaving no other remains) in the cave they used exclusively
as a temple (Herrera Fritot 1939:31–32). This conclusion was based in part on
perceived stylistic similarities between the images and Taíno ceramics studied
by de Booy (1915, 1919), as well as with petroglyphs studied by Harrington
in Cuba and by Huckerby (1914, 1921) in Grenada and Saint Vincent islands.
8 This interpretation was also clearly in®uenced by the preliminary
assessment provided by Ortiz. However, although Ortiz had indeed suggested
that the cave functioned as a “Precolumbian Temple,” his evaluation of surface
¤nds at the site led him to infer that the images were probably produced
by “Ciboney” peoples (Ortiz, May 24, 1922, recorded in Herrera Fritot 1939:
10). This sparked a cultural attribution debate among Cuban archaeologists,
one that extended beyond Punta del Este to question the association between
rock art and other cultural remains found in caves throughout Cuba. 9 It
would be more than 30 years before the accumulation of archaeological data
and development of archaeological thought in Cuba would settle the debate
and credit those who left other cultural remains in Cueva No. 1 with also
producing the images that embellish its walls (La Rosa Corzo 1994). 10
ANTONIO NÚÑEZ JIMÉNEZ AND
THE SOCIEDAD ESPELEOLÓGICA DE CUBA (SEC)
The “Petroglyphs and Pictographs” subheading in the Cuba section of the
bibliographic work Ancient Caribbean (Weeks and Ferbel 1994) is telling. Although
it by no means provides a comprehensive listing of the relevant published
works on the topic, the three works listed were all produced by the same
researcher. That person, who more than anyone else has contributed to the
study and dissemination of knowledge of rock art in Cuba, was Antonio
Núñez Jiménez. If, indeed, Ortiz is synonymous with the island of Cuba
(Pérez Firmat 1989), Núñez Jiménez is synonymous with the cave art of the
archipelago. The list of his extensive publications on rock art alone spans
nearly half a century, a long period of time during which he tirelessly spearheaded
the intense efforts of a diverse group of scientists to increase their
understanding of the geology, geography, speleology, prehistory, and, indeed,
all aspects of the Cuban landscape.
The long and distinguished career of Núñez Jiménez began on January 15,
1940, when, at just sixteen years of age, he founded the Sociedad Espeleológica
de Cuba (SEC), an organization dedicated to the fundamental goals of