[Aztlan] Ancient Nicaraguan Statues

[michael ruggeri]

Max,



Here is a BBC article from 2003 on the ancient Nicaraguan people who
built those statues you spoke of,

Mike Ruggeri



Ancient Nicaraguan society found
By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent

Archaeologists have discovered what they describe as a previously
unknown ancient civilisation in Central America.

A picture has emerged after several years' research
The site, near the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, dates from before the
Mayan era, and relics include what appears to be a centre for mass
production of ceremonial columns.

Researchers have been working on the site at El Cascal de Flor de
Pino, near the town of Kukra Hill for six years.

They've found evidence of an ancient town and several outlying
villages, which developed around 2,700 years ago and lasted for a
thousand years.

There are monuments, petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pottery, and most
remarkably, an area where many huge columns were formed out of rock -
columns which may have been used at burial sites.

Extends range

Petroglyphs are abundant
"The pottery is similar to pre-classical pottery found at sites of
similar age in Belize," Dr Ermengol Gassiot, of the Universitat
Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, told BBC News Online.

"And the columns resemble those found at Mexican sites where they had
ritual uses.

"The society had political centres. Kukra Hill, we believe, was a
small town, and at least three villages lay around it and were
dependent on it."

The newly discovered civilisation is similar to the societies that
preceded the Mayan civilisation further to the north.

A centre for mass production of ceremonial columns
Independent experts say this shows that the process that led to the
founding of the Mayan cities, such as Tikal, Palenque, or Copan (in
Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras respectively) covered a much larger
geographical region than archaeologists have supposed up to now.

Time before

Much research remains to be done at El Cascal de Flor de Pino but it
promises to reveal a vast amount about the various societies and
customs which were eventually assimilated into the great culture of
the Mayas.

Commenting on the discovery, Jeremy Sabloff, Williams Director of the
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, US,
said: "This site sounds very exciting and full of potential.

New information about pre-classical times
"We're learning lots now about the pre-classical era - the groups
which came before the Maya - and this discovery greatly extends the
range of these pre-classical civilisations."

In addition to researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
(UAB), the Kukra Hill archaeological team includes members from the
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua), and the
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).




Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Americas Breaking News
http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News and Links
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