La ley islámica y el matrimonio mixto entre parte musulmana y parte católica

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, VoL 3, No. 3, 1996

Revolutionary Archaeology in Cuba
Dave D. Davis 1

The Revolution of 1959 brought forth changes in the mission, theoretical orientation, and organization of archaeology in Cuba and created a role for, and constraints on, the profession that are unique in the Western Hemisphere. This paper draws upon examples from substantivefield and laboratory research to examine the methods and theoretical perspectives of Cuban archaeology since the Revolution, focusing on the period from 1962 until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Archaeological practice during the Revolutionary period in Cuba has reflected the aims of the Revolutionary government, the influence of Soviet archaeology, the legacy of pre-Revolutionary approaches inNorth American archaeology, and the Cuban sense of patria.
KEY WORDS: history of archaeology; Caribbean archaeology; West Indian archaeology; Cuban archaeology.

INTRODUCTION With a land area of almost 111,000 km 2, Cuba is easily the largest island in the West Indies, with diverse natural habitats that include extensive mountainous regions, grasslands, coastal plains, and swamps. Thisgeographic diversity is complemented by a rich and varied pre-Columbian archaeological record spanning some 6000 years. In the present day, the Cuban Academy of Sciences maintains records on almost 1000 indigenous sites, ranging from small camps and large settlements to ceremonial caves, cemeteries, workshops, ballcourts, and petroglyphs. Cuba's archaeological resources thus comprise a significantreservoir of information about indige1Department of Geography-Anthropology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04103. 159 1072-5369/96/0900-0159509.50/9 1996PlenumPublishing o Corporation

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nous adaptations and cultural change in the Western Hemisphere's only tropical oceanic archipelago. At the time of the Revolution in 1959, archaeologists had begun to document the broadchronological outlines of the island's pre-Columbian heritage. Large segments of that prehistory remained to be illuminated, and very little was known about the details of technology, settlement patterns, and economy during most of the pre-Columbian era. During the years following the Revolution, a growing cadre of Cuban archaeologists, assisted in some part by Soviet and eastern European scholars,has significantly expanded and archaeological research on the island. However, very little of that research has found outlets that are readily accessible to archaeologists from the United States. During the same period, basic principles of dialectical materialism became explicit paradigmatic benchmarks for archaeological interpretation in Cuba. Cuban archaeologists became both theoretically andpolitically isolated from their counterparts in North America and, to a lesser degree, from those in western Europe and some parts of Latin America. As a result, the role of Cuba in the broad sweep of American prehistory remains largely unappreciated in the United States and even among North American specialists in Caribbean prehistory, Cuba remains, if not a blank, then only a dimly colored piece, inthe picture of pre-Columbian cultures and cultural change in the West Indies. At present, Cuba's archaeologists, mirroring Cuban society more broadly, are hesitantly but persistently soliciting greater cooperation with North America. An appreciation of the road they have traveled is an important prelude to collaboration and exchange of information. Americanists and others interested in therelationships among politics, social theory, and archaeological practice may find some value in an overview of the directions and research orientations that have emerged among prehistorians in Cuba during the ensuing years. In this paper, I offer such an overview, with two primary aims. First, I describe the development of post-Revolutionary Cuban archaeology in relation to Revolutionary political and...