Possible Prehistoric Smooth Flooring Found in Turks and Caicos

COCKBURN TOWN, TURKS AND CAICOS—Turks and Caicos Weekly News reports that a recent excavation in the Long Bay Hills area of the island of Providenciales continued the investigation of a Lucayan settlement thought to date to at least as early as the fourteenth century. Archaeologist Shaun Sullivan said the Lucayans may have carried sandy clay from a nearby estuary to create smooth living surfaces. Remains of shellfish, turtles, and possibly iguanas and hutia, a rodent-like creature, were also recovered. “At other Lucayan sites in these islands there was a far greater variety of shell but this one seems to be focused on conch, maybe due to the concentration of conch in the area and the ease with which they could obtain them,” Sullivan explained. Analysis of minerals in the pottery from the site could help the researchers determine whether the Lucayans traded with peoples living on the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba. For more on archaeology in the Caribbean, go to “Pirates of the Original Panama Canal.”