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Prehistoric carvings damaged
11/25/2009
THE lone collection of Prehistoric Amerindian carvings so far discovered on this island has been damaged.
“Unfortunately, these have not been looked after awfully well,” Archaeologist and Professor at the University of Sussex Professor Peter Drewett said while displaying pictures of carvings in the Spring Head cave.
He pointed out several modern carvings that have been placed on top of the prehistoric ones, some of which were scoured out with a knife.
“Fortunately we did record these detailed drawings prior to this latest range of damage to them,” he said.
Expressing his certainty that other caves would have had such markings, he stated that these had more than likely been eroded during the passage of time.
Drewett was speaking at the Barbados Museum during Monday night’s lecture entitled “Amerindian Barbados: c 2000 BC- c AD1492.
Saying that the carbon date for one artefact discovered had placed its creation at 2000 BC, and noting that more is needed to prove what this suggests, he lamented that most of pre-ceramic Barbados has been washed away over the centuries.
“We may not find a lot more pre-ceramic Barbados,” Drewett stated, noting that several of these articles had been found in the Port St Charles, Silver Sands and Chancery Lane sites.
His discovery could possibly make Barbados, the second oldest settlement for Amerindians, behind that of Trinidad and Tobago, which possesses artefacts dating back to 5000 BC.
Several other articles have been found at the various sites including pots, shell tools and stone axes.
Commending Barbados Museum Director Alissandra Cummins for her support, Drewett also lauded the over 150 archaeology students who participated in the dig.
These came from various countries around the world, including China, Spain, Denmark, England, several South American states, Jamaica, Trinidad and of course, Barbados. (JM)
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