Re: A reply to Kevin on Nicaragua statues

On Sep 17, 1:01 pm, kevfarley <kevfar...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sep 14, 11:06 am, mike ruggeri <michaelrugg...@xxxxxxx> wrote:





Kevin,

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).

Thank you ,Mike, for this valuable articule!!
In addition to those large mysterious stone (or tufa?)statues found
in the Lake Nicaragua region (were they in the statue&column export
business?)....
I've also been wondering why Costa Rica has the most magnificicnt
Jade Collection ( and pottery collections of great sophistication and
variaties of styles ) but seemingly no major acrhitecture to speak
of ??? Any thoughts?
Was Mayan Civilization much more diversafied and trade friendly
than
previovsly thought? Or was there an earlier Meta-Mayan empire that
allowed for manufacture of artifacts in Costa Rica for "market " in
the Yacatan.(ie.A united system, or Empire,without the boundries to
trade implyed by the image of waring City States?)
Can the mineral composition of the statues and columns made in
Nicaragua be traced to sites in other places?
Are the columns at Chichen Iza of local stone? Or from elsewhere?
Analysis of mineral signatures should trace these patterns.Has it
been done?
I look forward to hearing more from anyone with information and/or
ideas on this subject.
Thank you, Kevin Farley- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That area is more cosmopolitan than one would think. This is also
true of Ometepe Island and the Santa Elana Penninsula. The jade finds
are also sophisticated. I've had a theory for some time, and that is
that there was a canal that was destroyed by volcanic activity. Using
the Rio San Juan and Lake Nicaragua leaves only an eighteen mile span
to reach the Pacific.

.