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Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Museo Arquelogico Chorro de Maita, near Guardalavaca, has 70 skeletons exhibited



In the region of Guardalavaca are many traces of the Taíno`s culture found

The Taíno Indians were people who lived in areas around the Caribbean Sea, on the the islands Hispaniola, Bahama`s, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico etc. and were related to the Arawaks

The Taíno are known because they were the first Indians that Christopher Columbus encountered in 1492

Estimates of the number of Taíno who lived in 1492 range from several hundred thousand to eight million

The Taíno were at the end of the 16th century as a separate people died from diseases that the settlers from Europe brought with them

In Chorro de Maita, on 285m altitude in the Cerro de Yaguajay, the remains were found in 1986 of a large pre- Columbian cemetery


This is the largest cemetery in the entire Caribbean

At the site of the excavations, now the Museo Arquelogico Chorro de Maita, exhibited 70 skeletons (of 108)


They date from the period 1080-1600 AD

All the people are very young, but naturally deceased

The Taíno`s tied a plate on the forehead of the baby `s so that the forehead was flattened


With one skull that hasn`t happened, that of a twenty year old Spaniard

In the display cases you see pottery vases, tools, idols of shells and rings in honor of the gods


From Guardalavaca you should take the road to Banes

Follow this road for about 6 km until you see the statue on the picture below on the right side of the road

Turn here right and after about 2 km you will see the museum on your left hand





















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