Jorge Calvera, general director of the archaeological project Los Buchillones, said that the evidence located in four zones of the territories of the central provinces of Ciego de Avila and Camaguey showed a high concentration of well-defined nuclei, close together, with similarities between their art pieces, and style.

Up until now, chieftainships amongst the Taino indians, the most advanced Cuban indigenous group before the arrival of the Spaniards, had not been delimited, as archaeological evidence to date led specialists to think that ancient inhabitants of Cuba lived only in small, and independent, settlements, and that no large villages had existed.

The new conclusions result from investigations made for 25 years under the fostering and leadership of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, and the Cuban Ministry for Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA).

The remains of rooms detected correspond to villages, in some cases with 8 cabins minimum, and in others up to 30, Jorge Calvera informed.

After studying the concentration zones, similarities between the pieces found in neighbouring places suggest the pieces are associated with different chieftainships to ensure successful coexistence in common territory.

According to investigations in the Antilles, a chieftainship was formed by a group of settlements united by religious links, or some other kind of alliance, which although independent, could also join with other settlements and create confederations to resolve issues within a greater territorial area.

By: Prensa-Latina