is this really 500 years old?: the loss of collective memory in historical sites

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Is This REALLY 500 Years Old?: The Loss of Collective Memory in Historical Sites

Agamemnon G. Pantel, Ph.D. - Pantel, del Cueto & Associates, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

The desire to present historical and archaeological information to the public, often has led to the

development of historical sites which range from the naively manipulated to the outright

misrepresented presentation of “historic” experiences. Ranging from the controversies of the

“manipulated” Mathew Brady Civil War photographs to the “reconstructions” of the Palace of

Knossos in Crete by Sir Arthur Evans, the information provided to those who view these “historical”

objects remains the responsibility of present-day conservators, curators, archaeologists, historians

and all who participate in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

As a case in point, I would like to present the historical site of Juan Ponce de León’s first major

settlement in the New World in 1508. The site of Caparra, as the settlement was named, was

located along the north coast of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico at the far back end of the bay

of San Juan. It’s strategic location was oriented towards the exploitation of the placer mining of

gold during the first years of Spanish occupation of the Island. The settlement was founded as the

first capital of the Island and was subsequently abandoned in 1521 when the capital was moved

several miles north to the promontory at the entrance of the bay and the present day location of

San Juan.

Visitors today to the Caparra Archaeological Site along Highway #2, on the southern outskirts of

the city of San Juan, will find a small park containing the ruins of the “original house” Juan Ponce

de León built in 1508 at the Spanish settlement named Caparra (Figure 1). A bronze plaque titled

“RUINAS DE LA CASA DE JUAN PONCE DE LEON” identify the foundations and low rubble-

masonry walls one is viewing as the historical ruins of the original 1508 fortified house built by this

Presented under a Getty Grant at the Association for Preservation Technology International - Los Angeles, California, 2009

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Figure 1

famous Spanish colonizer (Figure 2). But let us take a closer look at what it is we are actually

viewing.

After the 1521 “abandonment” of the original settlement of Caparra, which was dismantled, with

any usable materials recycled to the new site, it slowly fell into historical oblivion. The original site

lay dormant for several hundred years until the 400 anniversary of it’s founding in 1908, when ath

renewed interest arose in discovering the location of this landmark site in the history of the Island.

It was not, however, until 1936 that the ruins of Ponce de León’s original strong-house were

purported to have been discovered. The Official Historian of Puerto Rico at the time, don Adolfo

de Hostos, began excavations in 1937 and was able to locate intact foundations and a significant

amount of associated archaeological material dating to the 16 century, which allowed him toth

confirm the chronological association of the ruins with the settlement of Caparra.

His excavations resulted in the exposure of substantial rubble-masonry foundations, tamped

earthen tapia walls, and subsurface evidence attributable to the strong-house complex as

described in the historical documentation of the chroniclers. His thorough and rigorous archival

investigations, fieldwork and highly sophisticated analysis of the archaeological evidence is still

exemplary for its time. His evidence which he subsequently published (de Hostos, 1938), provided

Figure 2


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substantial scientific proof of the antiquity and probable association of the ruins as being Ponce de

León’s main house at the settlement of Caparra. As a meticulous and well trained researcher, he

also kept and made detailed notes, hand drawings, sketches, and photographic records of his

work, finds and conclusions. These documents now serve as the first link in the trajectory of why

and how this famous archaeological site evolved as a significant destination visited by islanders

and visitors from abroad seeking the history of Puerto Rico’s early European colonization.

The most visible archaeological evidence excavated by de Hostos, were clearly the tamped earth

and masonry ruins outlining the shape and distribution of the strong-house which Ponce de León

built as the symbol of the Spanish Empire’s presence and power in this early New World foothold.

The archaeological evidence of the house and attached adjacent work areas measured an

impressive 162 feet by 65 feet and was strategically oriented along a north-south axis. It was

composed of a southern section which was built in rubble stone masonry and measured 47 feet

Figure 3


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wide by approximately 60 feet in length. The northern portion of the house, constructed primarily

in tamped earth measured 47 feet wide by approximately 74 feet in length. The entire structure,

however, had been cut in half in 1915 by a 43 foot wide swath made by the construction of the

second major insular road of Puerto Rico ,Carretera Insular No.2 (Figure 3).

As a direct consequence of his archaeological excavations and research, de Hostos wrote several

letters to the Department of the Interior of the United States regarding the importance of his finds

and urging the preservation of these historic ruins. Between 1938 and 1942 he made repeated

requests for the development of an archaeological park and the modification of the proposed future

highway expansion of Insular Road No. 2 to preserve the ruins in situ. A proposed semi-

roundabout, circumventing the stone-masonry portion of the ruins, was even designed as a Works

Progress Administration (WPA) project by the U.S. Department of the interior and approved in 1942

to avoid the destruction of the ruins (Figure 4). Unfortunately the reality of World War II interrupted

Figure 4


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the potential consideration of this project as stated in an official letter sent to de Hostos by the U.S.

Department of the Interior, National Park Service. It is not until 1948 that the property containing

part of the ruins of the 1508 Ponce de León strong-house was purchased by the government of

Puerto Rico. At this same time, the remaining tamped earth tapia ruins were destroyed by the

northern expansion of the insular road, now called Highway PR-2. A 1948 survey map by the P.

R. Department of the Interior shows the cadastral limits of the purchased lands with the general

outline of the Caparra ruins shown perpendicular to PR-2 (Figure 5). The orientation of the ruins

in this document is a significant link in understanding the history of the present site.

By 1958 (ten years later), the historic property acquired by the government was entrusted to the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture wherein the ruins were “consolidated” and a museum and park

was developed within the property. From this point onwards the Ruins of Caparra are converted

Figure 5


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into a prime historical site for Puerto Rico which is visited by children on school trips, residents and

non-resident visitors to the Island. In 1963 additional expansion to the south of Highway PR-2

resulted in the destruction of even more of the ruins and archaeological evidence discovered in

1936.

In 1984 the Ruins of Caparra were officially nominated and listed by the U.S. National Park Service

in the National Register of Historic Places as an “unaltered”, “original site”.

In 1988 the Foundation of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Puerto Rico under a grant

from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, revisited the Ruins of Caparra to

carry out additional archaeological testing of the surrounding area and to re-examine the integrity

of the listed National Register ruins. The results of the research project were able to determine that

the ruins which de Hostos excavated in 1936 were oriented north-south while the Ruins of Caparra

exhibited in the historic park were neither similar in orientation nor distance from PR-2. Subsurface

archaeological testing within the limits of the original location of the 1508 structure produced

sufficient evidence to propose the survival of additional archaeological evidence associated with

the first Caparra settlement and the Juan Ponce de León strong-house. It was clear, however,

from the 1988 research that the Ruinas de Caparra were not in-situ original historic remains but

the result of, to date undocumented, administrative decisions made after 1942 (Pantel, et. al.

1988). In addition to the aerial photographs of 1938 (Figure 6) and 2004 (Figure 7), a drawing

superimposing the present exhibited foundations located on top of those originally excavated by

de Hostos clearly shows these differences (Figure 8).


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Figure 6

Figure 7


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The lack of a clear public record of what happened to the actual excavated tamped earth tapia and

stone rubble-masonry remains shown in the 1936 publication of the de Hostos excavations, places

the historicity of these remains in serious question. Osiris Delgado, who participated in the 1936

excavations with de Hostos published a book on the plastic arts in Puerto Rico (Delgado Mercado

1994) in which he relates that he was witness to the moving of the ruins. Although the dimensional

parameters of the stone rubble-masonry section of the 1936 excavations is “reproduced” in the

present park, the final composition of these “consolidated” ruin walls is open to debate. Are they

the intact stone rubble-masonry walls or an amalgam of the archaeological materials found at the

site in 1936? Although no analytical tests of the present “ruins” has been carried out, cursory

examination of the walls’ mortars appears to have a non-historic cement-like character.

Irrespective, the presentation of this site as the Ruinas de Caparra is at best, misleading.

Figure 8


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As a result of the 1988 research, in 1994 the U.S. Department of the Interior eliminated the

National Register listing of the Ruinas de Caparra and converted the “area”, rather than the “ruins”,

into a National Landmark listing. Similarly, the interpretive exhibit in the site museum has recently

incorporated the results of the 1988 research into the showcases. Nevertheless, the bronze plaque

and the “common” public understanding continues to portray the low stone ruins along highway #2

as the sole surviving intact ruins of the first Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico in 1508, now

perfectly aligned perpendicular to highway PR-2 along with all the other suburban lots of the

roadway. Alas, the 500 year anniversary of the founding of Caparra came and went in 2008th

without even a celebration, speech, firecracker or a whimper.

Although we recognize, and may accept, that these mistakes have been made in the past, the

question we must pose, as conservators, curators, administrators or anyone with the responsibility

of safeguarding the cultural patrimony of a people, is – does our responsibility not include that of

maintaining the collective history of objects or sites handed down to us over the generations? Are

we not equally responsible for informing the public (as well as other researchers) the level of

authenticity within an interpretive site? If we don’t, we are guilty of propagating myth and adding

to the long line of logical conclusions coming out of false premises.


is this really 500 years old?: the loss of collective memory in historical sites

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