Archaeological discoveries in Guyana – carbon dating results being awaited on possible 5,000 year old human settlement
Written by GINA
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 02:01
Source - Guyana Chronicle
GROUNDBREAKING archaeological discoveries have been made in Guyana in recent times.
Local and United States archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a whale, a giant porpoise and a rock fish, all of which could be about 10,000 years old. Another significant discovery is that of pottery, perhaps as old as 5,000 years, at Kabakaburi in the Pomeroon. There are also the shell mounds in Region One which are about 6,500 to 7,000 years old.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, told the Government Information Agency, in a recent interview, that his ministry has an ongoing collaboration with the Walter Roth Museum for specific things in archaeology.
Referring to the most recent discovery in August 2010, he said that this was quite a significant discovery for Guyana. “We have discovered a site in the Berbice River that we feel there was human existence there dating back to several thousand years,” he said. A team of archaeologists from the U.S. worked alongside their local counterparts to do the preliminary excavation at these sites.
“Those samples have gone out for carbon dating and we are very confident that this would show that we had a very, very early civilization dating back to couple thousand years,” the minister stated confidently.
“Once we have this preliminary scientific information,” he explained, “we’ll then continue to explore the sites, to be able to give more precise information on the kinds of people who used to live in these areas and learn more about that type of civilization.”
This work on scientific research will probably be ongoing for the next five to ten years, or even longer, because just possibly, “perhaps this might be a new civilization in the Americas that we are talking about. It’s a little bit early right now, we just have the very preliminary data and we are looking at that,” said Minister Anthony.
There have been a number of explorations in different parts of the country resulting in the mapping out of shell mounds around Guyana, mainly in Region 1. There are more than 20 of those, and the Ministry has been sending back teams to explore these sites, the Minister noted, adding that when the giant sloth, megatherium was discovered, it was on two occasions when teams had returned to previous locations to see whether or not there were any pre-historic animals that could be found.
Petroglyphs have also been discovered at a number of sites and part of the work of the Walter Roth Museum is to document and understand what they mean.
The team that made the discovery at the Berbice River community last year had been working there for a three-week period on the project, which is called the Berbice Archaeology Project.
The remains of animals were discovered at the Wyva Creek shell mound in Region One. A shell mound is a prehistoric refuse heap consisting chiefly of the shells of edible molluscs intermingled with evidence of human occupancy.
The first animal bones discovered were determined to be those of a whale, a giant porpoise and a rock fish. And based on the location where they were found, they could have been there since 10,000 years ago. It is the discovery of the rock fish that has drawn the interest of US archaeologists since it is an extremely rare species and there is no record of it being found in this part of the world.
Trying to explain how the species could have reached so far inland, archaeologists believe it could either be that the tides were responsible for the species being transported from the ocean to fresh water inland, or it could be that years ago this particular area of land was inundated.
The late Guyanese archaeologist, Dr Denis Williams, had done research to support the latter theory.
Pottery discovered at Kabakaburi in the Pomeroon is among the oldest ever artifacts found in the Americas. The vessels found were of vast variety and included bowls and globular objects, the majority of which were fired and glazed.
Data continue to be found which suggest that areas that are now rainforest in territories such as Guyana were once large savannahs.
Overseas archaeologists have been visiting Guyana for the past 25 years, intrigued by the archaeological discoveries that were made in South America. This interest has been intensified by the discoveries made, including the uncovering of ancient burial sites and various forms of rock art.
These discoveries have brought the country under the radar of paleontologists and other prehistoric research bodies, and augurs well for the goal of expanding the eco-tourism environment.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 December 2011 02:15 )
Written by GINA
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 02:01
Source - Guyana Chronicle
GROUNDBREAKING archaeological discoveries have been made in Guyana in recent times.
Local and United States archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a whale, a giant porpoise and a rock fish, all of which could be about 10,000 years old. Another significant discovery is that of pottery, perhaps as old as 5,000 years, at Kabakaburi in the Pomeroon. There are also the shell mounds in Region One which are about 6,500 to 7,000 years old.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, told the Government Information Agency, in a recent interview, that his ministry has an ongoing collaboration with the Walter Roth Museum for specific things in archaeology.
Referring to the most recent discovery in August 2010, he said that this was quite a significant discovery for Guyana. “We have discovered a site in the Berbice River that we feel there was human existence there dating back to several thousand years,” he said. A team of archaeologists from the U.S. worked alongside their local counterparts to do the preliminary excavation at these sites.
“Those samples have gone out for carbon dating and we are very confident that this would show that we had a very, very early civilization dating back to couple thousand years,” the minister stated confidently.
“Once we have this preliminary scientific information,” he explained, “we’ll then continue to explore the sites, to be able to give more precise information on the kinds of people who used to live in these areas and learn more about that type of civilization.”
This work on scientific research will probably be ongoing for the next five to ten years, or even longer, because just possibly, “perhaps this might be a new civilization in the Americas that we are talking about. It’s a little bit early right now, we just have the very preliminary data and we are looking at that,” said Minister Anthony.
There have been a number of explorations in different parts of the country resulting in the mapping out of shell mounds around Guyana, mainly in Region 1. There are more than 20 of those, and the Ministry has been sending back teams to explore these sites, the Minister noted, adding that when the giant sloth, megatherium was discovered, it was on two occasions when teams had returned to previous locations to see whether or not there were any pre-historic animals that could be found.
Petroglyphs have also been discovered at a number of sites and part of the work of the Walter Roth Museum is to document and understand what they mean.
The team that made the discovery at the Berbice River community last year had been working there for a three-week period on the project, which is called the Berbice Archaeology Project.
The remains of animals were discovered at the Wyva Creek shell mound in Region One. A shell mound is a prehistoric refuse heap consisting chiefly of the shells of edible molluscs intermingled with evidence of human occupancy.
The first animal bones discovered were determined to be those of a whale, a giant porpoise and a rock fish. And based on the location where they were found, they could have been there since 10,000 years ago. It is the discovery of the rock fish that has drawn the interest of US archaeologists since it is an extremely rare species and there is no record of it being found in this part of the world.
Trying to explain how the species could have reached so far inland, archaeologists believe it could either be that the tides were responsible for the species being transported from the ocean to fresh water inland, or it could be that years ago this particular area of land was inundated.
The late Guyanese archaeologist, Dr Denis Williams, had done research to support the latter theory.
Pottery discovered at Kabakaburi in the Pomeroon is among the oldest ever artifacts found in the Americas. The vessels found were of vast variety and included bowls and globular objects, the majority of which were fired and glazed.
Data continue to be found which suggest that areas that are now rainforest in territories such as Guyana were once large savannahs.
Overseas archaeologists have been visiting Guyana for the past 25 years, intrigued by the archaeological discoveries that were made in South America. This interest has been intensified by the discoveries made, including the uncovering of ancient burial sites and various forms of rock art.
These discoveries have brought the country under the radar of paleontologists and other prehistoric research bodies, and augurs well for the goal of expanding the eco-tourism environment.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 December 2011 02:15 )
