Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1981

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Kennedy, William J.

Abstract

Due to eustatic changes of sea level, tectonic activity, isostatic and compactional depression, and erosion, a considerable number of archaeological land sites are now underwater. East of San Juan, Puerto Rico, underwater archaeological excavation at Isla Verde site revealed a coastal settlement inhabited circa A.D. 800 by Arawak Neo-Indians. Classified in the Ostiones phase by its ceramic ware, the site preceded the Talno chiefdoms encountered by European explorers at the close of the fifteenth century. Built near the ocean, in a once secluded area surrounded by two lagoons and a mangrove belt, Isla Verde site was characterized by coastal and maritime adaptations such as shellfish collecting and the hunting of manatees and turtles. Cultivation of root crops was also part of the subsistence pattern. The site was submerged as a result of erosion produced by wave patterns diffracted by offshore reef patches. The archaeological potential and limitations of the site were evaluated, in conjunction with the recent geologic history of the area.

Extent

116 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1981.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14084

Format

pdf

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