HIGH-ENERGY METEOROLOGICAL EVENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE PRE-COLUMBIAN SOCIETY OF PUERTO RICO: THE CASE OF THE BATEYES DE VIVÍ

Evidence of impact from high-energy atmospheric events is present in the archaeological record across the Caribbean. This research evaluated the impact of high-energy atmospheric events on the natural landscape, prompting the modification of the cultural landscape by a pre-Columbian group. To conduct this evaluation, this researcher utilized geophysical, geotechnical, and traditional archaeological methods to provide the necessary information to answer the study’s questions with minimal site disturbance to the archaeological landscape. The study's results demonstrated a substantial modification of the original cultural landscape, various mitigation techniques not previously documented in the pre-Columbian Caribbean, and the first documented case of a ritual burial of a monument in the Caribbean. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) provided information on subsurface stratigraphy and an overview of the previous natural and cultural landscapes. The GPR data was used to identify potential man-made structures, natural geomorphological structures, and potential difficulties in reconstructing the present landscape. This allowed us to evaluate the effort to modify the landscape. The GPR data was analyzed using the Ekko Project Software developed by Sensors and Software. This software was used to process the rough data and produce two-dimensional cross-sections of the study area. Further, a second software (Voxler) was used to create tridimensional cubes of the study area. In addition to GPR, a magnetic susceptibility meter was used to collaborate the data from the GPR. The magnetic susceptibility survey matched the analysis of the GPR data. Using these techniques and others, we were able to reconstruct the original landscape and evaluate the effort to modify the landscape. The effort to modify the landscape provided us with information regarding the social organization of the pre-Columbian group. The effort analysis indicated that a relatively large group of people modified the landscape. The evaluation of the changes to the landscape indicates that the effort in modifying the landscape was completed by a more extended workforce, suggesting an interaction of more than one extended family’s group.