Indigenous cave use, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico 2013 Actas del 25to Congreso Internacional de Arqueología del Caribe Proceeding of the 25th International Congress for Caribbean Archeology Comptes rendus des communications du 25 Congres Internationale d’e Archéologie de la Caraïbe i PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE Esferas de Interacción, migración y adaptación Interaction sheres, Migration and Adaptation Spheres d´interaction, la migration et l´adaptation. 379 STEPHEN GLAZIER Conduits, Barriers, and Interaction Sphères: Re-Thinking the Island of Trinidad in the Guiana Cultural Area. 395 JOHN CHERRY, KRYSTA RYZEWSKI, THOMAS LEPPARD Y EMANUELA BOCANEGRA Diachronic, Multi-scalar Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat: Opportunities and Challenges. 414 ALICE SAMSON, JAGO COOPER Y ANTONIO NIEVES xiii New Discoveries of Pre-Columbian Cave Use, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico. Nuevos Enfoques en Arqueología del Caribe New Approaches in Caribbean Archaeology Nouvelles Approches en Archéologie de la Caraïbe 446 MADELIZ GUTIÉRREZ Investigación documental del trabajo de Irving Rouse en el Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad de Yale. 459 CHRISTIAN STOUVENOT, JACQUES BEAUCHENE, DOMINIQUE BONNISSENT Y CHRISTINE OBELIN Datations radiocarbon et “effect vieux bois” dans larc antillais: étar de la question. 495 RENIEL RODRÍGUEZ, JOSHUA TORRES, WILLIAM PESTLE, JOSÉ OLIVER, LUIS A. CURET Y MIGUEL RODRÍGUEZ Hacia una periodización histórica para el Puerto Rico precolonial. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE INDIGENOUS CAVE USE, ISLA DE MONA, PUERTO RICO Alice V. M. Samson (1), Jago E. Cooper (2), Miguel A. Nieves (3), Lucy J. Wrapson (4), David Redhouse (1), Rolf-Martin Vieten (5), Osvaldo De Jesús Rullan (6), Tiana García López de Victoria (7), Alex Palermo Gómez (7), Victor Serrano Puigdoller (6), Delise Torres Ortiz (6), Ángel Vega de Jesús (6). McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge (1), British Museum, London (2) Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico (3), Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge (4), University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (5), Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y El Caribe (6), University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (7). 414 ABSTRACT This paper reports on indigenous cave use on Mona island, Puerto Rico. It includes additions to the IACA paper presentation to inform readers of subsequent fieldwork carried out in June 2014. Fieldwork confirmed extractive activities, ritual practices and artistic representations deep inside caves in more than twenty-five cave systems across the island. The evidence for indigenous activities, building on the work of predecessors such as Dr Pedro Santana and Dr Ovidio Dávila, not only dramatically expands the repertoire of pre-Columbian iconography, but has the potential to transform understandings of past cave use, as well as traditional definitions of rock art in the Caribbean. Fieldwork in June 2014 focussed on cave survey; visual documentation; sampling for dating and compositional analysis; and small-scale excavation for retrieval of samples. The cultural heritage of the caves on Mona is highly vulnerable to visitor impact. Collaborative work and research with the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe to analyse and date the archaeology of the caves and document and protect this unique Caribbean heritage is underway. Keywords: Isla de Mona, cave use, indigenous archaeology RÉSUMÉ Cet article est un rapport sur l’utilisation des grottes par les amérindiens sur l’île de Mona, Puerto Rico. Il s’agit d’une extension de la présentation de la AIAC pour informer les lecteurs des travaux archéologiques effectués en Juin 2014. Ce travail a PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA confirmé les activités extractives, les pratiques rituelles et les représentations artistiques dans les parties plus profondes de plus de vingt-cinq systèmes de grottes de Mona. L’évidence pour les activités amérindiens, s’appuyant sur les travaux de prédécesseurs comme le Dr Pedro Santana et le Dr Ovidio Dávila, élargit non seulement considérablement le répertoire de l’iconographie précolombienne, mais il a le potentiel de transformer la compréhension de l’utilisation des grottes dans le passé, ainsi que les définitions traditionnelles de l’art rupestre dans les Antilles. L’accent des investigations archéologiques en Juin 2014 a été sur une prospection des grottes; documentation visuelle; un programme d’échantillonnage pour établir la chronologie y la composition des matériaux; y des fouilles à petite échelle pour la récupération des échantillons. Le patrimoine culturel des grottes de Mona est très vulnérable à l’impact des visiteurs. Le travail collaboratif y la recherche est en cours avec le DRNA, ICP et CEAPRC pour analyser et dater l’archéologie des grottes, et de protéger ce patrimoine unique dans les Antilles. Mots-clés: l’île de Mona, les activités dans les grottes, la archéologie amérindienne RESUMEN Este artículo reporta el uso indígena de las cuevas en isla de Mona, Puerto Rico. Incluye nueva información de la ponencia presentada en la IACA para informar a los lectores de los subsecuentes trabajos llevados a cabo en Junio de 2014. El trabajo de campo confirmó actividades de extracción, prácticas rituales y representaciones artísticas en las profundidades de las cuevas en más de veinticinco sistemas de cuevas alrededor de toda la isla. La evidencia de actividades indígenas, construida sobre trabajos de predecesores como Dr. Pedro Santana y Dr. Ovidio Dávila, no sólo expande dramáticamente el repertorio de iconografía precolombina, sino que tiene el potencial de transformar el conocimiento del uso de las cuevas en el pasado, así como la definición tradicional de arte rupestre en el Caribe. 415 Los trabajos de campo en Junio 2014 se enfocaron en el reconocimiento de cuevas, documentación visual, recolección de muestras para determinar el fechado y análisis de composición y sondeos arqueológicos para la recuperación de muestras. El patrimonio cultural de las cuevas en Mona es altamente vulnerable al impacto de los visitantes. Investigaciones y trabajos colaborativas con el DRNA, el ICP y el CEAPRC de análisis y fechado arqueológico de las cuevas, su documentación y la protección de esta herencia única del Caribe esta en progreso. Palabras clave: Isla de Mona, uso de cuevas, arqueología indígena INTRODUCTION The paper presented in the IACA congress in San Juan in July 2013 concerned a reconnaissance of the subterranean archaeology of Isla de Mona by the authors. We have taken the liberty to update that presentation with the objectives and preliminary findings of the second stage of fieldwork in June 2014. MONA ISLAND Mona island is part of an archipelagic seascape which includes the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands such as Saona, PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA Catalinita, Desecheo and its sibling Monito (Figure 1). Mona is located in the middle of the fast-flowing, deep, and treacherous 120km wide Mona Passage. The narrow sea strait has been conceived by some as a natural extension of the Panama canal because of its geopolitical position linking the Atlantic to the American continent via the Caribbean Sea (Núñez Zuloaga 1879/1973). Tiny Mona island, directly in the middle of this sea passage, has played a strategic role throughout human history as a hub of interaction and overseas encounters. This was as much the case 5000 years ago when the island was first colonized, as it is today as a reception zone for unofficial migration and drugs trafficking. Throughout pre-Columbian, colonial and contemporary times this entire region forms a distinctive geocultural region. Mona is a small, flat-topped island, 10km from east to west, and 7km from north to south, roughly heart-shaped, described aptly as a “floating fortress” (Dávila Dávila 2003) due to steep cliffs rising up all the way around its perimeter up to 90m in height and descending to beaches in the south and west. The island has thin, patchy soils, with 90% of Mona and Monito currently devoid of soil cover (Junta de Calidad Ambiental 1973), a xerophytic vegetation, maritime climate, and no surface water sources. Nowadays Mona is a national park under the administration of Puerto Rico’s Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA/DNER). See figure 2. 416 THE CAVES OF MONA Like much of the Antilles, Mona’s carbonate geology, combined with dissolution by rain and sea water, forms a tropical karst landscape. This landscape is characterised by dissolved limestone formations creating negative spaces such as depressions, sinkholes, and caves, and positive features such as stalagmites and stalactites inside the caves (Lace and Mylroie eds. 2013). Mona’s great number of subterranean cave systems makes it arguably “one of the most cavernous localities on Earth” (Frank et al. 1998b:82). The carbonate tableland or meseta came into existence through a combination of sea-level change and tectonic uplift. Its rocks consist of two units forming a two-layered cake; a dolomite core, with a lirio limestone cap (Briggs 1974; Frank et al. 1998a; Kaye 1959). It is this limestone which contains the majority of the island’s estimated 200+ caves, the majority occurring at the contact zone between the two types of rock and line the perimeter of the island. These so-called flank margin caves formed around two million years ago through the erosive action at the freshwater lens and saltwater interface (Frank et al. 1998b:76; Kambesis 2011; Lace 2012). Rainwater percolating through the caves has festooned their interiors with impressive speleothem features such as stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones (Figure 3). The caves on Mona have been the object of study since the 19th century, motivated largely by their extensive reserves PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA of phosphorite, a mineral probably derived from fossil guano, mined for industrial and agricultural purposes (Cardona Bonet 1985; Frank 1998b; Wadsworth 1973). The consequences of this industrial period are significant for archaeology as they removed a large percentage of the cave floors and sediments and remodelled the interior of many of the caves with mining activities and dynamite. Some estimate that up to 80% of Mona’s phosphorite reserves were removed during this period, however others are more conservative (Briggs 1974; Cardona Bonet 1985; Kaye 1959). With respect to another of the caves’ mineral reserves, the walls and ceilings of many caves are coated in an off-white to dark brown soft crust. These crusts are formed by the precipitation of carbonates and other minerals onto the cave walls, influenced by the microclimate of the caves, as well as possibly by biological agents. The impressionable nature of this crust, yielding to the touch1, is a striking quality of Mona’s underground realm, recognised for over a century (Shepard 1882), described as a “dust coat” (Kaye 1959), and called “sudor de roca” by local fishermen due to its damp, water-retaining properties in some of the more humid cave spaces (Núñez Zuloaga 1879). These soft surfaces are very different from the hard, unyielding walls of most karstic caves in the Caribbean. How such corrosion residues formed, whether due to chemical, atmospheric or biological processes is currently unknown. Nevertheless, they can be manipulated and incised with the fingers or tools, a characteristic much exploited for communicative purposes by human visitors to the caves over millennia (Figure 4). This makes them a canvas for human expression and a subject for archaeological study, but also vulnerable to human impact and changes in cave conditions. 417 HUMAN HISTORY An understanding of Mona’s human history is important to understand the dynamics of cave use. Based on previous research Mona’s history can be divided into several periods: • Pre-Columbian Early occupation, 2800 - 1000 BC (based on recalibrated radiocarbon dates from Cueva de los Caracoles, Dávila 1998, 2003); • Pre-Columbian Early Ceramic occupation, AD 400 – 600. Based on Cuevas style ceramics recovered from El Corral (Crusoe and Deutschle 1974); • Pre-Columbian Late Ceramic occupation, AD 600 – 1000. Based on Ostionoid ceramics recovered from Cueva de Doña Geña by Crusoe and Deutschle (1974) and Dávila (2003); • Pre-Columbian terminal occupation, AD 1000-1492. Based on Capá and Boca Chica ceramics and radiocarbon dates from Playa Sardinera village site (Rouse 1952; Dávila 2003); PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA • Indo-Hispanic interaction period, AD 1492-1591; • Early Historic, AD 1591-1756; • Late Colonial period, AD 1756 – 1855; • Industrial era, AD 1855 – 1920; • Recent 1920 – 2014. With the exception of Dr Dávila’s research on Mona which provided several radiocarbon dates from different cultural contexts to establish an initial framework for indigenous habitation, long periods of the island’s precolonial history are either blank or reliant upon ceramic typochronology. Not only are the dynamics of these traditional frameworks being challenged, especially in Puerto Rico (Rodríguez Ramos et al. this volume), but future research has the potential to push human colonization back much further. Nevertheless, current knowledge suggests communities were exploiting and perhaps living on Mona at the same time as other locations on the Dominican Republic side of the Mona Passage such as Cueva de Berna (Veloz Maggiolo et al. 1977) and Maruca and Angostura in Puerto Rico. And moreover that Mona continued to be a magnet for indigenous communities into the 16th century, over 4000 years later, well beyond the breakdown of traditional social structures on the larger islands due to colonization and encomienda. It is very likely that one of the things which attracted and sustained these communities was the material and immaterial resources of the caves. 418 HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH Nineteenth century references to Mona’s ancient human past appear in the context of growing international interest in the island’s guano deposits and burgeoning antiquarian interest. In addition to geological specimens from the caves, indigenous artefacts were collected, most notably by mine director John G. Miller whose curiosity cabinet contained “Indian” tools and human bones found in the caves (Cardona Bonet 1985:69; Brusi y Font 1884/1997:18; Wadsworth 1973). It was during this period that numerous maps were produced of the island, mostly the products of naval cartography, surveyed from a boat looking inland. Hence the bathymetry and coastal information is thorough, and the interior detail of the island is scant, or wildly exaggerated through unverified iteration (for example contrast maps of Fernandez Paredes y Bryant y Galiano 1879, in Dávila 2003, and Kuhfal 1892, figure 5). In 1883 exploration of the island’s interior led to a description of the indigenous plaza at El Corral, although at the time not recognised as such (although see description of “Indian wall” on the map of Kuhfal 1892, in figure 5) but described as a rectangular property surrounded by stones which may PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA have been the site of a house (Vasconi y Vasconi, cit. Dávila 2003:198). German engineer, Theodore Hübener, explored caves on Mona, describing a soot-blackened chamber in Cueva Negra with scratched drawings of ships and gallows complete with a hanged corpse (1898:369), attributing the deigns to buccaneers. Kaye, visiting the same chamber 60 years later recounts “the ceilings and walls are scored by Indian finger designs made simply by running fingers over the dust-coated wall” (1959). A deposit of bird bones (Audobon Shearwater), he found associated with indigenous ceramics and historic material was later dated by radiocarbon to the 15th century (Frank 1998a; Kaye 1959). Both Dr Pedro Santana and Dr Ovidio Dávila subsequently documented extensive mark-making on the cave walls in Negra, and interpreted these an indigenous origin (Dávila 2003; Santana 1973). The first explicitly archaeological research was undertaken by Dr Irving Rouse as part of the Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands (1952). Rouse described a large settlement at Sardinera with midden mounds extending over 2km² and up to 70cm deep (1952:366). Two small units (4m²) excavated near the entrance of Cueva Negra (referred to as Cueva del Muerto) confirmed the late date of the pre-Columbian settlement, its persistence into the colonial era, and identity as the historical village. Curiously enough Rouse did not remark upon the modifications to the cave walls, despite excavating adjacent to them, nor was he able to locate the plaza at El Corral. This may be due to the brevity of his sojourn on the island. Mona was subject to a series of archaeological visits, some reported, others not, by various researchers throughout the early 1970’s, some within the context of plans to turn Mona into a super port for the storage for petroleum products, and others academic visits (Crusoe and Deutschle 1974; Santana 1973; Dávila 2003: chapter 1). It was Dr Pedro Santana, a geographer from the University of Puerto Rico whose interest in the archaeology of Mona led not only to the discovery a second ceremonial plaza on the island, Los Cerezos, but also rock art in two caves near Sardinera and Pajaro, as well as corroboration of finger designs in the soft deposits of the walls of Cueva Negra. Santana, like Kaye, attributed these “grabados digitales” a pre-Columbian origin (Santana 1973). Santana judged these to be the most significant pre-Columbian legacy on the island, likening the technique to finger fluting in Paleolithic contexts in Europe (1973:2-3).2 The most long-term and dedicated archaeological investigation of Mona to date has been by Dr Ovidio Dávila whose doctoral dissertation reported in detail the results of 9 months fieldwork over a period of 10 years between 1981 and 1991 (1998; 2003). Dr Dávila carried out documentation in seven of Mona’s caves, two of which were previously unreported and four containing rock art. He posited the existence of a third plaza, and excavated at three locations, including the earliest dated context on the island (Cueva de los Caracoles), the Sardinera settle- 419 PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA ment, and a cave with evidence for pre-Columbian occupation (Cueva de Geña). Dr Dávila’s work established a 5000 year human occupation history on Mona, confirming this small island as a key location in the first concerted phase of human expansion in the Antilles, but also one with the longest record of indigenous continuity in the Greater Antilles, lasting a century after European colonization. Colonial documents describe the economic and strategic importance of Mona’s population of Indios and mestizos (Arana-Soto 1969; Oviedo 1851, lib. XVI, cap. I). The excavation of a possible mestizo burial in Sardinera suggest this site has archaeological potential despite claims of its destruction since the 1930s (Dávila and Cashion 2004). Researchers in cave sciences have also contributed to knowledge of the human history of Mona. Since the early 1990s, speleological explorations from University of West Kentucky, led firstly by Dr Mylroie, and later by Dr Mike Lace and Dr Patricia Kambesis and Puerto Rican speleological societies, have been regularly visiting the island to map the cave systems. Interest in the relationship between cave morphology and the cultural use of space has led to several publications about the anthropogenic use of Mona’s cave systems (Lace 2012; Lace and Mylroie 2013). Vital for archaeological research, systematic cave exploration has produced a series of detailed maps illustrating the plans, features and three-dimensional aspects of the underground spaces. 420 EL CORAZÓN DEL CARIBE PROJECT The El Corazon del Caribe research project was established in 2013 in collaboration between McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, the British Museum, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and the Centro de Estudios Avanzados del Caribe. The project investigates two primary research aims: 1) how past human activity on Isla de Mona reflects changing patterns of human movement and cultural interaction in the Caribbean through time 2) how the study of past human-climate-environment relationships on the island provides lessons for current Caribbean populations facing the impacts of climate variability and environmental change. After an initial survey in 2013 by three of the current authors (Samson et al. 2013), the first full fieldwork season was conducted on Isla de Mona in June 2014 with students from the Centro de Estudios Avanzados and the University of Puerto Rico, and colleagues from the participating institutions. Several research questions guided the fieldwork, first and foremost questions of dating and temporality: PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 1) To when does Mona Island cave use date? This includes both the mark-making3 and the extractive activities. What is the temporal patterning of the activities? 2) What is the substance removed from the cave walls, to what purpose, and how does it relate to the mark-making? 3) How do the cultural uses of Mona’s caves correlate with the geomorphology of cave structures? 4) How has the physical and biotic environment of Mona Island changed over the island’s 4500 year human occupation? 5) What do the activities in the caves reveal about the role of Mona Island within the region and within the Caribbean more widely? FIELDWORK 2014 Fieldwork objectives were formulated to respond to these questions focussing on: additional exploration of Mona’s caves for potential discovery of indigenous archaeology. In this we were much aided by collaboration with speleologists Dr Patricia Kambesis and Dr Mike Lace. A second objective was systematic documentation and recording of cave iconography using photography, 3D photogrammetry and laser-scanning techniques. A third objective was retrieval of carbon and calcite samples for dating by radiocarbon and Uranium-Thorium methods, and compositional analysis. And lastly, we planned small-scale excavations in areas of intact stratigraphic deposits inside caves for the retrieval of material for dating analysis.4 421 CAVE SURVEY Of the 40 to 50 caves, rock shelters and sinkholes visited by the archaeological team during June 2014, most contained evidence for past human activity from pre-Columbian to late historic times. Context forms were completed for each site or cave visited for standardisation of recording. The speleological survey team provided us with a number of detailed cave maps which considerably aided cave exploration. The focus of fieldwork was the indigenous archaeology of Mona and over 20 caves were interpreted as being of indigenous significance (Figure 6). Future work will undoubtedly reveal many more. It should be clarified that where “indigenous” is referred to in this report, it is an interpretation of the authors, the validity of which will be scrutinized as results from the dating and sampling programmes become available. Almost all caves visited during the course of survey had abundant historical archaeology, from portable artefacts such as bottles and metal tools, to industrial PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA machinery and iron rails, miners marks and date-name inscriptions, and most impressively drystone roads and walkways inside and outside the caves. These historical resources, the object of multiple surveys by historian Walter Cardona (Cardona Bonet 1997), were not surveyed systematically as part of the 2014 fieldwork unless they occurred near areas of indigenous activities, and especially when they offered information on sequences of activity. Historical modifications to the cave walls which were documented throughout numerous caves included: •฀ Inscriptions฀from฀the฀16th to early 20th centuries. • 10 historic ships. • 17th-19th century inscriptions, names and drawings related to the island’s buccaneering history and furnishing information on the island’s “three centuries of abandon” (Wadsworth 1973). • Industrial inscriptions: Miner’s marks and mining-related modification to cave interiors. • Personal inscriptions: drawings and inscriptions from the 19th century guano mining era, including the technique of incising drawings and writing into soot patches on the cave walls. 422 However, it was the evidence for indigenous mark-making which was the main focus of research. Reconnaissance in 2013 and fieldwork in 2014 confirmed the widespread alteration of cave walls and ceilings throughout multiple cave systems on Mona. Firstly through extractive mark-making in the form of geometric, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs executed by incising and dragging fingers and/or tools through the soft corrosion deposits on cave surfaces. This leaves trails up to several millimetres in depth, but typically less than 1mm deep. Marks contrast in colour with the darker crust, being whiter and often exhibiting a surprising freshness (something also noted in Cueva Negra by Kaye 1959). Designs are complex and often elaborate. Individual designs range from a few centimetres to over 10 metres of continuous finger-fluted, meandering lines made with one to four fingers, to tens of square metres of space-filling motifs, curvilinear swirls and narrative sequences (Figure 7a-c). Often in close spatial proximity to such figurative designs, another activity occurs which can best be described as systematic extraction, or mining of cave wall deposits. This involves the removal of the crust on the cave walls, again using fingers or tools of finger dimensions. These are not indiscriminate movements, but discrete areas of usually directed (vertical or horizontal), parallel scraping, sometimes occurring in discrete patches, often around the terminations of ceiling protuberances, and sometimes involving the large-scale removal of deposits over PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA large areas of cave wall and ceiling (Figure 8a-c). Although some designs are clearly figurative, and others are the result of purely extractive purposes, one could argue that creative and functional activities are indistinguishable, seeing as designs inevitably remove material, and extractive scraping creates densely spaced lines, and the same tools are used for both. The figurative and mining activities are both extractive techniques which have parallels in Cuba and the Dominican Republic (DuVall 2010; Gutiérrez Clavache et al 2013), but are to date most abundant on Mona due to the peculiar properties of the cave surfaces. This contrasts with the more familiar petroglyphs pecked into the hard speleothems at the entrance of Mona’s Cueva de las Caritas (Dávila 2003). This is a small cave influenced by external atmospheric conditions and hence without corrosion deposits. A second technique seen in Mona’s caves is additive mark-making, involving the application of pigments to cave walls, or pictography. Although Mona’s pictography has been more comprehensively documented than the extractive activities (Dávila 2003), it is less common. It includes charcoal drawings, as well as the use of wet paints applied with tools, hands and fingers (Figure 9a, b). Although there is some stylistic similarity in both media, the affordances of the different materials and techniques means there is also a lot of divergence. The temporal relationship between the techniques is a matter of ongoing research, although some caves show palimpsests of both, superimposed, and sometimes within the same design, whereas in other caves there is a clear separation (Figure 9c). As a general observation open to further scrutiny, pictography is more common in larger, spacious chambers, often closer to the outside than extractive practices. The latter, although also present in large chambers, is very common on the low ceilings of ramiform chambers and smaller passageways, deep inside caves, in areas of no natural light. Both types of modification are closely related to water sources in the caves, whether seasonal drip pools, or underwater lakes (see Lace 2012). 423 DOCUMENTATION The principal recording method was digital photography. The aim was a comprehensive visual inventory of all indigenous modifications to cave interiors. This meant that although the location of documentation was determined by the presence of presumed indigenous archaeology, all features of archaeological interest from pre-Columbian motifs to industrial machinery and guano marks were photographed regardless of period. Although the photography aimed to be comprehensive, it should be noted that due to the size and complexity of many of the caves, there are areas which were not recorded, or recorded exhaustively. In addition, sequences of photos were made to enable 3D reconstruction of mark-making within the spatial context of the cave. For this we used Agisoft Photo Scan PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA Professional. A preliminary attempt at reconstruction at medium resolution can be seen, and manipulated, in figure 10. It shows details of finger fluting (spirals and other motifs), extraction (visible on the lighter portions of the cave surfaces) and sooting of unknown antiquity, in a section of roof of Cave 35. A Leica C10 landscape laser scanner was used in selected cave contexts for the generation of high resolution 3D point-clouds of cave spaces and surfaces. Technical expert, Mr David Redhouse, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, directed and conducted the laser scanning (Figure 11a, b). This was to contribute to the objective of correlating human activity and cave geomorphology. A secondary aim was to compare laser scanning as a recording technique with 3D imaging from 2D photography using Agisoft Photo Scan. The former technique is considerably more expensive, necessitates specialist knowledge to operate the device and requires a large amount of processing time. Nevertheless, this data will provide an archive for conservation monitoring. SAMPLING 424 A range of samples were collected from survey and excavation contexts on Mona, including 15 caves. Samples were collected for analysis to answer the research questions on the temporality of cave use, the characterisation of pigments, the purpose of indigenous mining, and past environmental changes. A guiding principle of the sampling was to have minimal impact on the cave environment and archaeology. Each sample was collected for a specific reason and all samples collected are currently being analysed, or are pending analysis. The majority of samples collected are sub-gram. Wherever possible, in situ testing was preferred over removal of samples. In situ testing was done with a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer (model Bruker Tracer III-SD) to provide a basic characterisation of the elemental composition of soils, pigments, and cave features (Figure 12). All sampling of pigments was conducted by specialist, conservator Dr Lucy Wrapson in accordance with sampling protocols to cause minimal impact. Cave environment monitoring was conducted in most caves visited, by Rolf Vieten, a doctoral student at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, who collected data on pCO2 levels, relative humidity, water quality, temperature, and speleothem formation. The data shows the natural cave atmosphere and alterations due to visitors. It can be used to optimize archaeological site conservation. Additionally, cave monitoring aids interpretation of speleothem climate archives. Two temperature data loggers were placed in two cave systems to observe the diurnal and annual temperature changes and understand how the cave atmosphere is connected to the outside. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA EXCAVATION A total of four units (<1m²) were excavated in Cave 3 in which a considerable density of indigenous wall modification was documented in various discrete areas of this extensive cave system (Figure 13). In accordance with the fieldwork objectives, these units were primarily for the purpose of collecting samples for dating and information on cave use. Although the floors of many caves have been heavily impacted by guano mining, there are nevertheless areas and chambers in most caves which are intact and un-mined, possibly due to the shallowness of the phosphorite deposits, or inaccessibility. In general, as expected, the excavated units were very shallow above bedrock and produced very few artefacts (Figure 14). However, they provided some dating samples as well as information on the character and spatiality of cave activities. Unit 1 for example, produced ceramic sherds, two with Capá decoration (Figure 15). This does not necessarily date the adjacent finger fluting, however it does show cave use in this late indigenous period. 425 DATA MANAGEMENT AND ARCHIVING All fieldwork data was entered into a Microsoft Access database, tailor-made for the project to allow for expansion in future years. Database information is linked to a Geographic Information System platform in ArcGIS which can incorporate data from other specialists and be shared for research purposes. All finds collected from the 2014 fieldwork were documented on paper forms, entered into the database, and washed in the laboratory in Mona, bagged and labelled. All finds were transported back to Puerto Rico and are currently stored in the Consejo de Arqueología Terrestre deposits in Casa Blanca, San Juan. DISCUSSION At this early stage in the project we are not ready to answer all questions, however, we would like to offer some immediate post-fieldwork discussion. •฀Chronology, dating and temporality What are the arguments for an indigenous origin of the observed cave activities and mark-making? We believe that even without direct dating evidence (which is pending at the time of writing), there are a number of arguments which support the hypothesis that the majority of modifications to the cave surfaces are the result of indigenous practices. Firstly, sequence analysis, or the unpicking of overlap on the cave walls, can establish dating parameters for many panels. In all cases where PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA dateable historical markings occurred in conjunction with finger-fluting and extractive activities, the former are on top of the latter.6 For example miners marks made with red lead paint (verified with use of portable XRF analyzer) repeatedly occur on top of extraction and finger fluting. This establishes a clear terminus ante quem for the underlying designs, indicating they pre-date the late 19th century. Pushing back the dates further, finger fluting activity can be observed to predate 1758 in a chamber of Cave 13. There, the names of T. Rogers, E. Bass and Johnny Hubbs with the date 1758 is written multiple times on top of finger-fluting (Figure 16). The interaction between 16th century inscriptions and indigenous marks pushes these dates yet further back. In terms of spatial patterning, as already mentioned, the mark-making is often found deep inside the dark zones, and associated with water. This contrasts with the majority of recent graffiti found near cave entrances. On an island-wide scale, activities are not limited to the more accessible caves around the beaches in the west and south around Sardinera, Uvero and Pajaro, where most impact is seen from recent and historic times. It also occurs in the hard to access extremes of the island where sheer cliffs plummet into the sea and cave entrances are invisible from land. In other words, caves require effort and familiarity to enter, and were part of purposeful expeditions. On the basis of iconography, there is huge stylistic and design diversity in both the pictography and extractive techniques, and many of these are variations on indigenous themes; an abundance of faces, crying, rayed and segmented, many reptilian and ornithomorphic creatures, paired figures, geometric shapes displaying cross-media isomorphism (Roe 2009) such as spirals, H-forms, triangles and circles familiar from ceramics in Chicoid, Saladoid and Huecoid cultural contexts. Other figurative designs show affiliation with archaeological cultures further afield and more remote in time such in Punta del Este, Cuba. Although a full iconographic survey is beyond the scope of this paper, initial observation suggests Mona was a location of cultural negotiation over millennia. Social evolutionary perspectives erroneously tend to ascribe complex cultural manifestations a later date, however it should be noted that the earliest context on the island, Cueva de los Caracoles, has evidence for mark-making (pers. comm. Dávila August 2014). The iconographic repertoire suggests cave use in diverse periods, and there is currently no reason to suppose all the activities belong to the Late Ceramic periods. Moreover, it is the complexity and the ubiquity of these activities which is striking. There is continuity in the techniques, styles and iconography between caves across the island. Clearly the programme of activities in Mona’s caves is the result of strong motivations, not casual boy scout/ guano miner/ lighthouse keeper/ reckless student doodles. Indeed, it is the very nature of the complexity and ubiquity of the mark-making which throws up some of the most interesting ques- 426 PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA tions regarding the temporality and dynamics of the activities. By this we mean whether there were influxes of large numbers of people in a certain period(s), or a constant flow of individuals over a long time, i.e. whether the activities were intensive or extensive, group or individual. Arguments can be made supporting both these positions, or a combination over time and in different caves. For example, one constraint on the extractive activity is that the cave crust can only be removed once, and therefore once used up, the miner has to move on to the next patch. The extent of some modifications, covering whole chambers, may therefore give an initial impression of coordinated activity on a large scale, however equally this may be the end result of a persistent individual exhausting available supplies. To some extent, stylistic analyses may shed further light on practices. It is not known how long these residues take to form, and how this differs between caves according to microclimate, although the freshness of some designs, and the furring up of others perhaps suggests there may be significant time lapses between episodes of extraction. Lastly, in many cases flowstone accretions have built up over the modified surfaces, covering the finger-fluting, extraction and pictography with a layer of calcite (Figure 17). Although rates of flowstone formation are locally variable and depend on the rate of water percolation through the cave system, this does give an indication of at least some antiquity. In addition, the calcite build-up provides an opportunity for Uranium-Thorium dating (results pending). 427 •฀Tangible and intangible resources In terms of cave use and cave space, archaeology reveals a complex fabric of human experience. Firstly, caves trap material substances not found elsewhere (Onac and Forti 2011). Some of the tangible resources open to indigenous exploitation were earth minerals such as clays, possibly for ceramic production7, colourful earths and ochres for use as pigments and dyes, phosphorite which may have been exploited pre-19th century to improve the fertility of indigenous conucos8, and of course the calcium carbonate rich crusts removed from the cave surfaces in such abundance. More research needs to be carried out to identify possible uses of this substance, whether for washing, body paint, medicinal purposes or other as yet unknown ends. In terms of activities within the caves, initial results of the elemental characterisation of cave deposits using the pXRF suggest that the materials used for additive mark-making do not appear to have been imported into the caves, but were found in situ. This is the case despite the fact that there are, for example, abundant high quality sources of red ochre to be found on the island. Materials used for mark-making include yellow and brown ochres, soots or charcoal blacks and possibly phosphorite browns. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA Another very important physical resource found in the caves is water. In fact caves were and are the only source of fresh water on Mona. Seasonal pools and dripping stalactites were features around which people gathered, raising interesting questions about seasonality and permanency of habitation. The hydrology of the caves also raises questions about the taphonomy of archaeological deposits. Water marks can be seen on some cave walls, and in the rainy season water reportedly seeps through the cave walls. More dramatically, fishermen have reported water literally gushing in torrents from the mouth of Cueva Lirio after storms (Dávila pers. comm. August 2014). Caves are also locations of immaterial resources. Caves afford psycho-sensorial experiences created by darkness, and silence only broken by dripping water. These conditions can induce experiences of sensory deprivation which in turn produce disorientation and loss of a sense of time, which like intoxication and madness can destabilize personal identity (DeLanda 2006). These experiences may also provide opportunities for innovative action and create affective fields which are a powerful political resource to be drawn upon (Harris and Sorensen 2010). It is no wonder then that caves feature prominently in many indigenous cosmologies, from Plato’s allegory of the cave, to Hispaniolan origin narratives (Pané 1999). Of course these experiences are to a large extent context dependent. However Mona’s caves are enormous and complex underground realms, and activities occurred deep inside, sometimes in areas only accessible to very few or single individuals. Certain chambers were used as communicative spaces by groups, whether resident or overseas, throughout various periods in time. These people would, through the marks and traces around them, have felt themselves to be in the presence of others, human and non-human, removed in space and time. These are just a couple of the themes brought up by our fieldwork experiences this summer in Mona. Ongoing and future research will reveal more about the indigenous and historic past of this archaeologically rich island, how the caves connect to other sites in the landscape, the dynamics of human settlement, and the island’s role within the wider region. 428 RECOMMENDATIONS Finally, despite the incredible density of archaeological sites on Mona, only a small percentage of Mona’s pre-Columbian and historic resources are officially listed in the 1993 National Register of Historic Places (Barnes 2000). The inaccessibility and logistical challenges of conducting fieldwork on Isla de Mona have greatly restricted work on the island. This situation has meant that much of the archaeology remains understudied. However, the expansion of camping facilities in the beach areas, as well as the upgrading of research facilities, albeit extremely welcome, will occasion an upsurge in visitors to the caves. Some of the island’s more PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA inaccessible caves have not been visited in modern times, perhaps since the late 19th century, and are time capsules of past eras, wonderfully preserved. Critically, as discussed in this paper, the soft walls of the caverns means they are extremely vulnerable to human interference, intentional or unintentional. Protecting these sites, even on a small and difficult to visit island like Mona, is a significant challenge. The DRNA currently caps the number of visitors to the island. As has been observed by rock art specialists “one fundamental factor in the preservation of rock art is to record it as fully and objectively as possible” (Bahn 2010: 189). This is our task as archaeologists. However, crucially, it is incumbent on all Mona enthusiasts, from hunters to boy scouts and academics, to be aware of and make fellow Mona visitors aware of the fragility and importance of these environments. Suggestions and recommendations for the protection of Mona’s vulnerable cultural heritage have been made before (Santana 1973; Crusoe and Deutschle 1974). Balancing the need for scientific research, public access and heritage protection is a complex task. We have made a number of recommendations to the DRNA (report 2014) concerning cave access, public information, and training. We will continue to assist the DRNA to help ensure Mona’s caves are be a source of research and delight for centuries to come. 429 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the Mona fieldteam for all their hard work. Thank you to all the DRNA personnel on Mona for their excellent hospitality and for looking after us so well. Also to the Centro de Estudios Avanzados, for support of the Mona project and for hosting visiting team members, especially to Dr Paola Schiappacasse and Dr Miguel Rodríguez. Thank you to the Consejo de Arqueología Terrestre and to Laura Del Olmo for support of the project. We express a debt of gratitude to Dr Mike Lace and Dr Patricia Kambesis and their 2014 project team for their deep knowledge of Mona and her caves and for sharing this with us. We are grateful to Dr. Ovidio Dávila and historian Walter Cardona Bonet for conversations about Mona. Thank you to Mr Daniel Shelley for logistical support, and to Mr Herb Allen III for assisting student participation. Research on Mona was made possible by the financial support of the following institutions: British Museum Research Board McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge British Cave Research Association Institute of Latin American Studies PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA REFERENCES Arana-Soto, Salvador. 1969. Nuestra Isla Mona. San Juan de Puerto Rico. Bahn, Paul G. 2010. Prehistoric Rock Art: Polemics and Progress. New York: Cambridge University Press. Brusi Y Font, D. Juan. 1884. Viaje a La Isla de La Mona. Edited by Jalil Sued-Badillo. San Juan de Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. Cardona Bonet, Walter A. 1985. Islotes de Borinquen: Notas Para Su Historia. Auspicia. San Juan: Oficina Estatal de Preservatión Histórica. ———. 1997. Informe final del reconocimiento de los recursos historicos y arqueologicos de la Isla de Mona temporada numero 2 (año 1996). Crusoe, Donald L., and Deutschle, Stephen A. 1974. Mona Island, an Archaeological Reconnaissance. Draft report Acc. 184 Vol. 2. Tallahassee, Florida: Southeast Archaeological Center, National Park Service. 430 Dávila Dávila, Ovidio. 1998. “El Desarrollo Historico-Cultural Del Poblamiento Prehispanico de La Isla de La Mona.” PhD dissertation, Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid. Dávila Dávila, Ovidio. 2003. Arqueología de La Isla de La Mona. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. Dávila Dávila, Ovidio, and Cashion Lugo, María. 2004. Informe Preliminar Sobre La Osamenta Humana Descubierta En Isla de Mona. San Juan de Puerto Rico: Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales. DeLanda, Manuel. 2006. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. London and New York: Continuum. DuVall, Daniel. 2010. “Finger Fluting and Other Cave Art in Cumayasa, Dominican Republic.” Rock Art Research 27 (2): 1–10. Fernández de Oviedo y Valdéz, Gonzalo. 1851. Historia General Y Natural de Las Indias, Islas Y Tierra-Firme Del Mar Océano. Vol. 1. 5 vols. Madrid: La Reál Academia de la Historia. Frank, Edward F. 1998a. “A Radiocarbon Date of 380 ±60 BP for a Taino Site, Cueva Negra, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60 (2): 101–2. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA Frank, Edward F. 1998b. “History of the Guano Mining Industry, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60 (2): 121–25. Frank, Edward F., Wicks, Carol M., Mylroie, John, Troester, Joseph, Alexander, E. Calvin, and Carew, James. 1998a. “Geology of Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60 (2): 69–72. Frank, E. F., J. M. Mylroie, J. W. Troester, E. C. Alexander Jr., and J. L. Carew. 1998b. “Karst Development and Speleogenesis, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60 (2): 73–83. Gutiérrez Calvache, Divaldo A., Fernández Ortega, Racso, González Tendero, José B., Carmenate Rodríguez, Hilario, Chinique de Armas, Yadira, and Rodríguez Hernández, Dialvys. 2013. “El Arte Rupestre Del Parque Nacional Viñales, Pinar Del Río, Cuba.” Rupestreweb. http://www.rupestreweb.info/vinales. html. Harris, Oliver J.T., and Tim Flohr Sørensen. 2010. “Rethinking Emotion and Material Culture.” Archaeological Dialogues 17: 145–63. 431 Hübener, Theodore. 1898. “Die Inseln Mona Und Monito.” Globus: Illustrierte Zeitschrift Für Länder- Und Völkerkunde LXXIV (23): 368–72. Junta de Calidad Ambiental. 1973. Las Islas de Mona y Monito: Una Evaluación de Sus Recursos Naturales E Históricos. Vol. 1&2. 2 vols. San Juan: Talleres Gráficos de la Junta de Calidad Ambiental. Kambesis, Patricia N. 2011. “Documenting the Caves of Isla de Mona.” Espeleorevista Puerto Rico 4: 4–7. Kaye, Clifford A., and Altschuler, Zalman S. 1959. Geology of Isla Mona Puerto Rico, and Notes on Age of Mona Passage. Geological Survey Professional Paper 317-C. Washington: USGS. Kuhfal, O. 1892. “Mona-Insel, Westindien (Nach Berichten von Kapt. O. Kuhfal).” Annalen Der Hydrographie Und Maritimen Meteorologie, no. September: 303–5. Lace, Michael J. 2012. “Anthropogenic Use, Modification and Preservation of Coastal Caves in Puerto Rico.” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, no. 7: 378–403. Lace, Michael J., and Mylroie, John E., eds. 2013. Coastal Karst Landforms. Springer. Lace, M. J., and Mylroie, J.E. 2013. “The Biological and Archaeological Significance of Coastal Caves and Karst Features.” In Coastal Karst Landforms, edited by Lace, M.J. and Mylroie, J.E., 111-26. Dordrecht: Springer Publishing. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA Núñez Zuloaga, Indalecio. 1879. “Memoria Descriptiva de La Isla de La Mona: En El Freu Que Media Entre Puerto-Rico Y Santo Domingo.” Revista Del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena 59 (April-June 1973): 47–49. Pané, Ramón. 1999. An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians: A New Edition with an Introductory Study, Notes and Appendixes by José Juan Arrom. Translated by Susan C. Griswold. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Rouse, Irving B. 1952. Porto Rican Prehistory: Introduction; Excavations in the West and North. Vol. XVIII. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. New York: New York Academy of Sciences. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ UF00091487/00017/341x. Samson, Alice V. M., and Cooper, Jago E. 2014. Field Report on Archaeological Investigation, Isla de Mona, June 2014. San Juan de Puerto Rico: University of Cambridge/British Museum. Archived in the ICP, DRNA and CEAPRC. Samson, Alice V. M., Cooper, Jago E., Nieves, Miguel A., Rodríguez Ramos, Reniel, Kambesis, Patricia N., and Lace, Michael J. 2013. “Cavescapes in the PreColumbian Caribbean.” Antiquity 87 (338). http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/ samson338/. 432 Santana, Pedro M. 1973. La Isla de Mona En Los Tiempos Precolombinos. Las Islas de Mona Y Monito : Una Evaluación de Sus Recursos Naturales E Históricos – Mona and Monito Islands: An Assessment of Their Natural and Historical resources,2 Volumes. San Juan, P.R.: Junta de Calidad Ambiental. Shepard, Charles Upham. 1882. “On Two New Minerals, Monetite and Monite, with a Notice of Pyroclasite.” American Journal of Science Series 3 Vol. 23 (137): 400–405. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-23.137.400. Veloz Maggiolo, Marcio, Elpidio Ortega, Joaquín Nadal, F. Luna Calderón, and Renato O. Rímoli. 1977. Arqueología de Cueva de Berna. Serie Científica V. San Pedro de Macorís: Universidad Central del Este. Wadsworth, Frank H. 1973. The Historical Resources of Mona Island. Las Islas de Mona Y Monito : Una Evaluación de Sus Recursos Naturales E Históricos – Mona and Monito Islands: An Assessment of Their Natural and Historical resources, 2 Volumes. San Juan, P.R.: Junta de Calidad Ambiental. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA NOTES 1 It should be noted the authors did not, wittingly, ever touch the cave walls, other than to sample, or by accident. 2 “lo que le da verdadera importancia a este descubrimiento es la técnica empleada por los indígenas al grabar la mayor parte de las figuras, y que la misma, hasta donde sabemos no tiene ningún antecedente en esta parte del mundo. En efecto, muchas de las figuras están grabadas con los dedos sobre la superficie blanda y saturada de humedad de los techos y paredes de la cueva. Vale la pena destacar que esta técnica es la misma utilizada en ciertos grabados rupestres localizados en unas cavernas de Francia y España, entre las que se encuenta la mundialmente famosa Cueva de Altamira.” (Santana 1973:2-3). 3 The authors prefer the more neutral terms term mark-making to “rock art”. 4 Details of fieldwork procedures can be found in Samson, Alice V. M., and Cooper, Jago E. 2014. Field Report on Archaeological Investigation, Isla de Mona, June 2014. San Juan de Puerto Rico: University of Cambridge/British Museum. Archived in ICP/ DRNA/CEAPRC. 5 A numbering system is used in publications instead of cave names to protect the archaeology. Please contact the authors for additional information. 6 This does not preclude the use of cave wall residues in historic times. It may well be possible that on an island with scarce water sources, miners and hunters may also have used the deposits whilst bathing in water pools. 7 Clay workability tests need to be performed to test this. 8 This has been suggested before by various authors such as Walter Cardona, and could account for the agricultural fertility of Mona’s cassava gardens in early colonial times, despite the thin soils. 433 PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 434 Figure 1. Isla de Mona and its location within the Mona Passage. Figure 2. View across the northern coa. stline. Note the caves in the clifs in the middleground. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 435 Figure 3. Example of cave speleothems. Figure 4. Corrosion residues on the cave walls. Note the inger raking through the soft deposits. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 436 Figure 5. Map of Mona by O. Kuhfal, 1892. Courtesy of Cambridge University library. Figure 6. Google Earth image of Mona with the location of Sardinera village site, two indigenous bateyes, and caves explored in 2013 and 2014 with evidence for indigenous mark-making. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 437 Figures 7a-c. Examples of inger-luted and tool incised designs from two diferent caves. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 438 Figures 8a-c. Examples of extractive activities from three diferent caves. Note the use of ingers, or a combed tool in all three examples. Figure 9a-c. Examples of additive mark-making, or pictography in two diferent caves. Note in 9a the pigment applied thickly with the hand,and in 9b the use of charcoal drawing. In 9c. note the palimpsest nature of the pictography superimposed on the extractive mark-making. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 439 Figure 10. 3D reconstruction of part of the cave wall of Cave 3. This was an experimental reconstruction made during fieldwork, hence lack of scale and high resolution. Use your mouse to manipulate the image and zoom in and out. Prepared by Victor Serrano. Persistent identifier: http://persistent-identifier.nl/?identifier=urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-xi4z-07 PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 440 Figure 11a. David Redhouse leads a tutorial on the use of a landscape laser scanner. Figure 11b. Scanning in action in a niche with an anthropozoomorphic inger-luted motif. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 441 Figure 12. Dr Lucy Wrapson giving a tutorial in use of the p-XRF and software on cave deposits and pigments. Figure 13. Map of cave 3 showing the location of excavation units 1-4. Units not to scale. Map adapted from Figure 5 of Frank et al., 1998. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 442 Figure 14. Excavation of Unit 4 in one of the entrances of Cave 3. Figure 15. Capá decorated sherd, Unit 1, drawing Delise Torres. Scalebar 2.5cm. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 443 Figure 16. Inscription T. Rogers (1758 not in view) on top of inger-luting. Figure 17. Calcite growth over extractive marks. Sampled for Uranium-Thorium dating. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE SAMSON | COOPER | NIEVES | WRAPSON | REDHOUSE | VIETEN | DE JESÚS | GARCÍA | PALERMO | SERRANO | TORRES | VEGA 444 Figure 18. An example of graiti in one of Mona’s caves from 2014. PUERTO RICO 2013 | 25 TO CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL CARIBE INDICE