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Central Plaza Burials in Saladoid Puerto Rico: An Alternative Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William F. Keegan
William F. Keegan*
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 117800, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611 ([email protected])
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Abstract

Some Caribbean archaeologists have assumed that the individuals buried beneath the central plazas of Saladoid sites in Puerto Rico lived in those villages during their lives. They interpret these central place burials as providing immediate access to the ancestors during ceremonies performed in this public space. The central plaza is viewed as the axis mundi, and through ancestor veneration the dead were called upon to intercede with the gods on behalf of the living. However, cross-cultural studies indicate that burial practices often are determined by descent, and those clan members whose postmarital residence was in communities other than their clan villages often were returned to their clan village for burial. It is argued here that central place burials do not reflect ancestor veneration, but rather social solidarity among widely scattered villages.

Algunos de los arqueólogos que trabajan en el Caribe han asumido que los individuos enterrados en las plazas centrales de los sitios Saladoides de Puerto Rico habitaron estas comunidades durante su vida. Dicen que los enterramientos en los lugares centrales proveían un acceso inmediato a los ancestros durante las ceremonias realizadas en este espacio público. Esta plaza central es vista como el axis mundi en donde, a través del culto al ancestro, el difunto era llamado para interceder con los dioses por los vivos. No obstante, los estudios en diferentes culturas indican que las prácticas funerarias eran comúnmente determinadas por descendencia. Entonces, aquellos miembros del clan cuyo patrón residencial post-marital era en aldeas distintas a su aldea de origen comúnmente fueron retornados a la aldea de su clan natal para su entierro. En este trabajo se argumenta que estos enterramientos en los lugares centrales no reflejan un culto al ancestro, sino la solidaridad social que existía entre aldeas dispersas.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 375 - 385
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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