Bernardo Vega y los estudios de arqueometalurgia en el Caribe

Abstract

This article discusses the contributions of the archaeolo gist Bernardo Vega on issues of archaeometallurgy in the Caribbean, based on the analysis of his book, Metals and the Aborigines of Hispaniola. In it, he compiles the information known by the end of the 1970s, about many of metal objects found in indigenous archaeological sites of the Greater Antilles. It also includes reports on the chemical composition of some of these artifacts, which establish the use of gold, copper, bronze, and brass. From this analysis, he discusses the handling of metals among the indigenous people of the insular Caribbean, including the local manufacture of gold objects, and the use of metals obtained from Europeans. Vega incorpo rates the chemical study of metals as a research tool and demonstrates how the knowledge of the materiality con tribute to understand the meanings of the artifacts, and the social mechanisms related to the production, acquisi tion, and use of objects. His research gives importance to indigenous perspectives to explain issues that traditional ly were referred only from the European narratives. This paper summarizes the results of new studies, which cor roborate and expand some of the Vega’s hypotheses and demonstrate the validity of his research