From UCTP News

Puerto Rican archaeologists accuse U.S. Army Corps of taking artifac
Posted by: "R. Mucaro Borrero" uctp_ny@yahoo.com uctp_ny
Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:43 am (PST)
Puerto Rican archaeologists accuse U.S. Army Corps of taking
artifacts without permission

The Associated Press
Monday, October 29, 2007

Puerto Rican archaeologists on Monday accused the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers of illegally shipping two dozen newly discovered pre-
Columbian artifacts off the island without permission.

Diana Lopez, a University of Puerto Rico archaeologist, said the
Army Corps should be fined for sending ceramic pieces, stone tools
and bones € ¦’• which may date from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D. € ¦’• to Atlanta
for testing without approval from a local archaeology council.

"They never told us that they were going to take those pieces," said
Miguel Rodriguez, a member of the council who claimed such tests
could have been done on the island.

Jose Rosado, chief of the corps' San Juan construction office, has
promised that engineers will return the pieces to Puerto Rico once
tests determine their origin and value. Calls and e-mails to his
office went unanswered Monday.

The artifacts were discovered earlier this month when an Army Corps
team began work on a dam project in southern Puerto Rico.
Archaeologists said the find could shed light on most aspects of
Indian life in the region, from sacred rituals to eating habits.

They called for a halt to the corps' heavy digging, which they
warned could expose the pre-Colombian site to wind and rain.

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