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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Exotic Stone Relics Shed Light on Pre-Hispanic Cuba


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Thousands of artifacts have been uncovered by archeologists in Cuba, including ceremonial idol figurines manufactured from exotic imported stone for elite Arawakan Indians (above, right).

The relics were recovered from the site of a 16th-century Cuban village over the last two years by U.S. and Cuban researchers who announced their finds this week.

Combined with new translations of Spanish colony "newspapers," the artifacts help paint a picture of the Indian populations that Christopher Columbus encountered during his first voyage to the New World in 1492.

Photo by Brooke Persons