Tibes : people, power, and ritual at the center of the cosmos /

The Caribbean region is archaeologically rich, and justly the location of burgeoning research. Tibes is an important prehistoric ceremonial site in southeastern Puerto Rico whose investigation is a long-term project to which geologists as well as archaeological anthropologists contribute. This volume includes essays on lithics, osteology, social organization, diet, and the physical and biotic setting of the site. With community and household as the units of analysis, the research is designed to disclose the relation of small groups and their actions to the distribution of power and material resources. It details the social and economic contexts in which the ceremonial center functioned. The project expands the range of Caribbean prehistoric archaeology, which has focused more on larger units of analysis such as population movement, culture history, and political economy. The volume brings new perspectives to the study of Greater Antillean sites usually lumped under the term "ceremonial centers" despite their significant differences. The essays show definitively that ceremonial centers with ball courts had a long history before Spanish colonizers described them, and reveal something about the nature of indigenous political and symbolic organization. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All anthropology and Latin American collections. R. Berleant-Schiller emerita, University of Connecticut