Ceremonial Offerings and Religious Practices Among Taino Indians: An Archaeological Investigation of Gourd Use in Taino Culture
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In 1997 archaeologists working at La Aleta, a Tafno site in the Dominican Republic, recovered an incised .gourd - the first of its kind ever discover~d - from a ceremonial cenote (water-filled sinkhole). During the summer of 1998, I conducted six weeks of field research in the Dominican Republic to explore the religious and ceremonial meanings of this incised gourd. In this paper, I detail gourd use in Taino creation myths, religious ceremonies, and in everyday life by placing these practices within a broader cross-cultural framework. I conclude that gourds emphasized the ever present duality in Taino culture.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Article Details
Section
Articles
IUSB Student Journal Copyright Agreement
☐ I declare that this submission is my original work, and that it does not, to the best of my knowledge, infringe upon anyone's copyright.
☐ I agree that that [the journal] may, without changing the content, translate the submission to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation.
☐ The Undergraduate Research Journal may keep copies of my submission, and to translate it to any medium for future reproduction and distribution. I understand that I have the right to request that my submission be removed from IUSB online sources at any time by emailing Stephen Finlay, IUSB ScholarWorks administrator, at scfinlay@iusb.edu. Once I have made the request, the item in question will be taken down immediately.