Reassessing the 1898 U.S. assault on Asomante through battlefield archeology

Summary

Military confrontations during the first half of August of 1898, between Coamo and Aibonito, Puerto Rico, were the last known developments of the Spanish-American War. Historically, this area has been listed as the last battlefield of Spain in America. There are several factors about these military events, such as scarcity of historical resources, political conflicts of interest, and the unseemly lack of archeological research, that have kept them from being defined in the academic literature. Even so, the confrontation between U.S. and Spanish troops, and Puertorican civilians, has been reported from different vantage points and  generated debates and concerns about the historicity of what took place within this particular sector of the Cordillera Central.  This presentation is aimed at recognizing military key points through battlefield archaeology, in order to delimit the archaeological site. Research includes the consultation of historical documents, collection of oral history, as well as geographic information methods. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016   •
• Current Multidisciplinary Research Approaches in Historical Archaeology

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 895