1951 Cuban Scientific Expedition to the Virgin Islands documented in archaeological reports

10 The Virgin Islands Daily News The Cuban Scientific Expedition to the Virgin Islands in 1951 was documented by archaeologists Oswaldo |. Morales Patiho, above, and Fernando Royo Guardia, and subsequently translated and annotated many years later for the Virgin Islands Ar chaeological Society in its Journal number 5 (1978) by Alfredo E. Figueredo. Morales Patifio was president of the National Board of Archaeology and Ethnology within the Ministry of Culture and Education from 1951-1955. During that same period, Royo Guardia served first as secretary and then treasurer. The visiting Cuban scien- tists were part of a commission formed, among other objectives, to study and identify possible routes through which prehistoric cultures may have reached Cuba, to seek evidence of the presence of common Cuban influences in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and to ascertain the spread of Carib influence and identify the culture found by Colum- bus on St. Croix. Welcomed in the Virgin Islands by Gov. Morris de Castro, they visited and examined four sites. On St. Thomas, they judged the Magens Bay site to be Arawakan culture with a few Igneri specimens. Administrator Harry E. Taylor accompanied the visitors on St. Croix, where they viewed three more sites: Christiansted environs where they exam- ined and collected a number of rimsherds and shell samples; the Salt River midden, with its French fort earthworks foundation, where they were able to excavate pottery, stone, shell and shell bead specimens; and Estate Richmond, where they viewed artifacts, including some Igneri pottery, obtained by the owners from Salt River and from an Indian site on the estate. Ac- cording to Figueredo, the “importance of this work (by the Cubans) is not due solely to its reports of archaeological remains, however; it is also a historical document, offering us interesting information on the state of affairs, beliefs, and personalities of its time. The Cubans came during one of our minor dark ages — when archaeo- logical work had come to a near standstill, and the history and historiography of the (Virgin Islands) ... were in abject abandon.” Katheryne Brooks Kay-Willock, archaeologist with the Conservation and Cultural Affairs Department, studies the remains of what is believed to be 1,000-yearold skeleton located at Hull Bay beach in 1974 in St. Thomas, at a proposed condominium project. Tuesday, December 13, 2016 Virgin Islands laborers excavate pre-historic deposits at Magens Bay, St. Thomas. Photo courtesy of THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, OUR NEW POSSESSIONS The “ribbon-sealed” bottle, a PF Heering Company “Heering's Cherry Cordial” bottle produced in the period 1835-1850, was recovered from the harbor in St. Thomas, where many such items have been discarded over the centuries. The Schenectady (New York) Gazette of Jan. 7, 1981, reported an upcoming lecture presentation to the Na- tional Bottle Museum Society in Ballston Spa, N.Y., on the “Bur ied Treasures of St. Thomas.” The newspaper reported that lecturer Gary T. Stephenson “re- cently returned from the Virgin Islands where he provided con- sulting services to an individual who has unearthed over 3,000 bottles from an old community dump. The collection dates back to 1700. ‘| have never seen so many bottles come out of one dig, said Stephenson, vice president of the museum society. Bottles in the collection come from Paris, London, Mar tinique, Canada, Germany and the U.S.A. They graphically illus- trate the history of St. Thomas, showing evidence of worldwide trade and commerce. The St. Thomas collection is considered to be the fifth largest collection in the U.S’ Photo courtesy of VAGN PETERSEN'S DANISH BOTTLES HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014507