Archeology in Holguín, years of history and work
- Written by Yenny Torres
- Published in Holguin
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The Eastern Central Department of Archeology (DCOA) in Holguín developed the online Forum "45 years of contributions to society", on August 18, regarding the four and a half decades of its creation.
Participants presented their personal work experiences, considerations on the transcendence and contributions, perspectives and projections of the DCOA.
Yosbani Rodríguez Bruzón, moderator of the Forum, explained that the Department will begin a project next year on the evaluation of the effects of climate change on aboriginal archaeological sites located on the coast of Holguín.
“We also have in perspective the implementation of a project to achieve the reinterpretation of the archaeological and historical values of the El Yayal site. We have a series of courses planned for the remainder of the year to update those of us who currently work here on various topics.
“We recently obtained funds for a joint project between the University of Winnipeg and CISAT/DCOA,” said Yadira Chinique de Armas, Cuban bioarchaeologist and professor at the University of Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada), who was invited to the event.
“It aims to assess the impact that the colonization process (encomienda, forced labor, changes in daily activities) had on the breastfeeding practices of individuals from Chorro de Maíta (with all its implications for the health of infants). We hope we can start working together soon. May this be the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration between our institutions”, she added.
M.Sc Lourdes Pérez Iglesias, Assistant Researcher and Head of the Department referred to the conditions that led to its creation on August 18, 1977.
“The Guarch family moved from Havana to Holguín, motivated by the archaeological potential of the territory, on the other hand, there was the interest of the Holguín authorities of the Party, at that time led by Miguel Cano Blanco and of the Academy of Sciences here. There was already a history of archaeological work in this area carried out by García Feria and García Castañeda, Orencio Miguel Alonso, among others, who had valuable information from the collections they possessed.
“North American researchers like Irvin Rouse, who wrote an important book on the archaeological sites of the region, 'Archaeology of Maniabon Hills', also made an incursion here.