Takes a close look at the relationship between humans and other (non-human) beings that are imbued with cemí power, specifically within the Taíno inter-island cultural sphere encompassing Puerto Rico and Hispaniola Cemís are both portable artifacts and embodiments of persons or spirit, which the Taínos and other natives of the Greater Antilles (ca. AD 1000-1550) regarded as numinous beings with supernatural or magic powers. This volume takes a close look at the relationship between humans and other (non-human) beings that are imbued with cemí power, specifically within the Taíno inter-island cultural sphere encompassing Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. The relationships address the important questions of identity and personhood of the cemí icons and their human “owners” and the implications of cemí gift-giving and gift-taking that sustains a complex web of relationships between caciques (chiefs) of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Oliver provides a careful analysis of the four major forms of cemís—three-pointed stones, large stone heads, stone collars, and elbow stones—as well as face masks, which provide an interesting contrast to the stone heads. He finds evidence for his interpretation of human and cemí interactions from a critical review of 16th-century Spanish ethnohistoric documents, especially the Relación Acerca de las Antigüedades de los Indios written by Friar Ramón Pané in 1497–1498 under orders from Christopher Columbus. Buttressed by examples of native resistance and syncretism, the volume discusses the iconoclastic conflicts and the relationship between the icons and the human beings. Focusing on this and on the various contexts in which the relationships were enacted, Oliver reveals how the cemís were central to the exercise of native political power. Such cemís were considered a direct threat to the hegemony of the Spanish conquerors, as these potent objects were seen as allies in the native resistance to the onslaught of Christendom with its icons of saints and virgins.

This volume brings together examples of the best research to address the complexity of the Caribbean past.

A sweeping overview of the scholarly information available on archaeology in the Caribbean, tackling the usual questions of colonization, adaptation, and evolution while embracing such newer aspects as geoinformatics and archaeometry.

Keegan and Carlson, combined, have spent over 45 years conducting archaeological research in the Caribbean, directing projects in Trinidad, Grenada, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, the Turks & Caicos Islands, and throughout the Bahamas. Walking hundreds of miles of beaches, working without shade in the Caribbean sun, diving in refreshing and pristine waters, and studying the people and natural environment around them has given them insights into the lifeways of the people who lived in the Caribbean before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Sadly, harsh treatment extinguished the culture that we today call Taíno or Arawak. In an effort to repay their debt to the past and the present, the authors have focused on the relationship between the Taínos of the past (revealed through archaeological investigations) and the present natural history of the islands. Bringing the past to life and highlighting commonalities between past and present, they emphasize Taíno words and beliefs about their worldview and culture.

This volume demonstrates how humans adapt to new and challenging environments by building and adjusting their identities. By gathering a diverse set of case studies that draw on popular themes in contemporary historical archaeology and current trends in archaeological method and theory, it shows the many ways identity formation can be seen in the material world that humans create. The essays focus on situations across the globe where humans have experienced dissonance in the form of colonization, migration, conflict, marginalization, and other cultural encounters. Featuring a wide time span that reaches to the ancient past, examples include Roman soldiers in Britain, Vikings in Iceland and the Orkney Islands, sex workers in French colonial Algeria, Irish immigrants to the United States, an African American community in nineteenth-century New York City, and the Taino people of contemporary Puerto Rico. These studies draw on a variety of data, from excavated artifacts to landscape and architecture to archival materials. In their analyses, contributors explore multiple aspects of identity such as class, gender, race, and ethnicity, showing how these factors intersect for many of the individuals and groups studied. The questions of identity formation explored in this volume are critical to understanding the world today as humans continue to grapple with the legacies of colonialism and the realities of globalized and divided societies.

Accompanying Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1494 was a young Spanish friar named Ramón Pané. The friar’s assignment was to live among the “Indians” whom Columbus had “discovered” on the island of Hispaniola (today the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic), to learn their language, and to write a record of their lives and beliefs. While the culture of these indigenous people—who came to be known as the Taíno—is now extinct, the written record completed by Pané around 1498 has survived. This volume makes Pané’s landmark Account—the first book written in a European language on American soil—available in an annotated English edition. Edited by the noted Hispanist José Juan Arrom, Pané’s report is the only surviving direct source of information about the myths, ceremonies, and lives of the New World inhabitants whom Columbus first encountered. The friar’s text contains many linguistic and cultural observations, including descriptions of the Taíno people’s healing rituals and their beliefs about their souls after death. Pané provides the first known description of the use of the hallucinogen cohoba, and he recounts the use of idols in ritual ceremonies. The names, functions, and attributes of native gods; the mythological origin of the aboriginal people’s attitudes toward sex and gender; and their rich stories of creation are described as well.

Basic And Applied Soil Mechanics Is Intended For Use As An Up-To-Date Text For The Two-Course Sequence Of Soil Mechanics And Foundation Engineering Offered To Undergraduate Civil Engineering Students. It Provides A Modern Coverage Of The Engineering Properties Of Soils And Makes Extensive Reference To The Indian Standard Codes Of Practice While Discussing Practices In Foundation Engineering. Some Topics Of Special Interest, Like The Schmertmann Procedure For Extrapolation Of Field Compressibility, Determination Of Secondary Compression, Lambes Stress - Path Concept, Pressure Meter Testing And Foundation Practices On Expansive Soils Including Certain Widespread Myths, Find A Place In The Text.The Book Includes Over 160 Fully Solved Examples, Which Are Designed To Illustrate The Application Of The Principles Of Soil Mechanics In Practical Situations. Extensive Use Of Si Units, Side By Side With Other Mixed Units, Makes It Easy For The Students As Well As Professionals Who Are Less Conversant With The Si Units, Gain Familiarity With This System Of International Usage. Inclusion Of About 160 Short-Answer Questions And Over 400 Objective Questions In The Question Bank Makes The Book Useful For Engineering Students As Well As For Those Preparing For Gate, Upsc And Other Qualifying Examinations.In Addition To Serving The Needs Of The Civil Engineering Students, The Book Will Serve As A Handy Reference For The Practising Engineers As Well.

Cuentos de los dioses taínos: como se creó el Mar Caribe es una divertida fantasía profusamente ilustrada basada en el misterioso mundo mitológico de los indios taínos de Puerto Rico y las Antillas Mayores. La trama está inspirada en la obra de Fray Ramón Pané Relación Acerca de las Antigüedades de los indios (1494-98), que formó parte del diario de Cristobal Colón. Las ilustraciones del cuento, por el fenecido joven pintor puertorriqueño Juan Negrón, fueron elaboradas mediante un guión visual del autor. Incluye además el autor un educativo glosario ilustrado. Tales of the Taíno Gods: How The Caribbean Sea Was Born, is an entertaining fantasy, based on the mysterious mythological world of the Taíno Indians of Puerto Rico and the Greater Antilles. The plot is inspired by the writings of Friar Ramón Pané’s An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians (1494-98), which was part of Christopher Columbus’ diary. The illustrations of the tale were painted using a visual script by the author, who directed the skillful brush of the late young puertorrican painter Juan Negrón. The author also includes an illustrated educational glossary.