Examining Power and Climate Responses in the Pre-Columbian Coastal Landscapes of Northern Puerto Rico

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Approaches to Submerged and Coastal Landscapes", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Throughout Caribbean prehistory, the construction of public architecture in ceremonial contexts is linked to expressions of status and power over local communities and resources. The appearance of these features such as mounds and ballcourts (bateyes) are largely associated with the Early to Late Ceramic Period – broadly defined by large-scale migration events and continuing impacts from Late Holocene climate change. The arrival of new cultural traditions and practices during this period alongside the physical impacts of atmospheric changes—wetter conditions, more intense storms, and rising sea-levels—likely posed a greater threat to existing resourcing strategies and settlement organizational patterns in coastal areas. Through its examination of Tierras Nuevas, a ceremonial complex site located directly on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, this paper provides a glimpse into how social institutions solidify their power on the coast through the construction or transformation of public spaces amidst periods of changing social and physical conditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Approaches to Submerged and Coastal Landscapes

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow