Tibes: People, Power, and Ritual at the Center of the Cosmos (Caribbean Archaeology and Ethnohistory)

The first comprehensive analysis of a strategically located ceremonial center on the island of Puerto Rico. The prehistoric civic-ceremonial center of Tibes is located on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, just north of the modern coastal city of Ponce. Protected on two sides by a river, and on the other two sides by hills, this approximately 10.5-acre site remains as fertile and productive today as when first occupied over 2,000 years ago. Such a rich region would have been a choice location for native peoples because of the diversity in all resources, from land, air, and sea--and also symbolically crucial as a liminal space within the landscape. It may have been regarded as a space charged with numen or cosmic energy where different parts of the cosmos (natural vs. supernatural, or world of the living vs. world of the dead) overlap. Archaeological evidence reveals a long occupation, about 1,000 years, possibly followed by an extensive period of sporadic ceremonial use after the site itself was practically abandoned. In this volume, nineteen Caribbeanists, across a wide academic spectrum, examine the geophysical, paleoethnobotanical, faunal, lithics, base rock, osteology, bone chemistry and nutrition, social landscape, and ceremonial constructs employed at Tibes. These scholars provide a concise, well-presented, comprehensive analysis of the evidence for local level changes in household economy, internal organization, accessibility to economic, religious, and symbolic resources related to the development and internal operation of socially stratified societies in the Caribbean. Introduction / L. Antonio Curet And Lisa M. Stringer -- Tibes : History And First Archaeological Work / Pedro Alvarado Zayas And L. Antonio Curet -- The Archaeological Project Of The Ceremonial Center Of Tibes / L. Antonio Curet -- Geophysical Prospection At The Ceremonial Site Of Tibes, 1998-2001 / Daniel Welch -- Paleoethnobotanical Research At Tibes / Lee A. Newsom -- Animal Use At The Tibes Ceremonial Center / Susan D. Defrance ... [et Al.] -- Lithics From The Tibes Ceremonial Site : Analysis Of The Stone Artifacts From The 1996-1999 Field Seasons / Jeffery B. Walker -- Boulder Lithology Survey At The Tibes Ceremonial Site / Scott Rice-snow ... [et Al.] -- Ancient Bones Tell Stories : Osteobiography Of Human Remains From Tibes / Edwin F. Crespo-torres -- Bone Chemistry And Paleodiet At The Ceremonial Center Of Tibes / William J. Pestle -- Tibes And The Social Landscape : Integration, Interaction, And The Community / Joshua M. Torres -- Plazas, Bateys, And Ceremonial Centers : The Social And Cultural Context Of Tibes In The Ancient History Of Puerto Rico / L. Antonio Curet And Joshua M. Torres. Edited By L. Antonio Curet And Lisa M. Stringer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-322) And Index. Introduction / L. Antonio Curet and Lisa M. Stringer Tibes : history and first archaeological work / Pedro Alvarado Zayas and L. Antonio Curet The archaeological project of the Ceremonial Center of Tibes / L. Antonio Curet Geophysical prospection at the ceremonial site of Tibes, 1998-2001 / Daniel Welch Paleoethnobotanical research at Tibes / Lee A. Newsom Animal use at the Tibes Ceremonial Center / Susan D. deFrance, Carla S. Hadden, Michelle J. LeFebvre, and Geoffrey DuChemin Lithics from the Tibes ceremonial site : analysis of the stone artifacts from the 1996-1999 field seasons / Jeffery B. Walker Boulder lithology survey at the Tibes ceremonial site / Scott Rice-Snow, Melissa J. Castor, Andrew K. Castor, Jeffry D. Grigsby, Richard H. Fluegeman, and L. Antonio Curet Ancient bones tell stories : osteobiography of human remains from Tibes / Edwin F. Crespo-Torres Bone chemistry and paleodiet at the Ceremonial Center of Tibes / William J. Pestle Tibes and the social landscape : integration, interaction, and the community / Joshua M. Torres Plazas, bateys, and ceremonial centers : the social and cultural context of Tibes in the ancient history of Puerto Rico / L. Antonio Curet and Joshua M. Torres.