Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

160 / Rodríguez Suárez and Pagán Jiménez
Figure 12.1. Island of Cuba, location of the Macambo II and Laguna
de Limones sites.
Figure 12.2. Burén fragment, Macambo II site. a: work surface with visible whitish crust; b:
the opposite side of the same fragment.
sibility of the existence of starch grains in griddles started by noticing a whitish
crust preserved on the work surface of the Macambo II fragment (Figure 12.2),
followed by the evidence that it had not been exposed to heat. In the case of Laguna
de Limones, the analyzed fragments did present traces of heat, and we consider
the possibility that there still are starches preserved in some of their less affected
areas.
We were a bit skeptical, considering that the burén had been a traditional artifact
presumably used to cook the cassava bread (torta de casabe, pan de yuca, or
mandioca [Manihot esculenta Crantz]). It is commonly assumed that starches are
not preserved after heating. However, the obtained results point to another direction
as will be shown in the next sections of this chapter. A previous investigation
(Rodríguez Suárez et al. 2001; see also Rodríguez Suárez 2004), employing
gas chromatography, was able to determine the presence of animal and plant fatty
acids, such as Palmaceae and fish. At that time, this led to the conclusion that the
burén was a multipurpose artifact in which not only the cassava bread was pre-
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