The Icacos Petroglyph Group (
Spanish: ''Grupo de Petroglifos de Icacos''), also known as the Río Blanco Petroglyphs (''Petroglifos de Río Blanco''), is an ensemble of indigenous
petroglyphs that can be found on four large boulders located at the confluence of the
Icacos and
Cubuy rivers, within the
El Toro Wilderness section of
El Yunque National Forest. The site and its environment are well-preserved due to their remote location and through their protection by the
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
. Although the address and exact coordinates are not publicly available, the site is located within the boundaries of the
Río Blanco barrio
''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
of the municipality of
Naguabo, Puerto Rico and can be accessed through guided tours. It has been listed in the
National Register of Historic Places since 2015.
About
Motifs
The petroglyphs are estimated to be relatively recent in the timeline of indigenous inhabitation of
Puerto Rico; dating based on stylistic comparison puts them as Chican
Ostionoid (1200-1492) in origin. The group consists of fourteen petroglyphs that depict traditional motifs of the
Taino culture, mythology and society. The most notable motif is that of the "wrapped ancestor", popularly and erroneously called "wrapped infant", that depict a cadaver wrapped in funerary bundles as part of last rites that were described by early Spanish chroniclers such as
Fray Ramón Pané.
This motif has been adapted into the modern popular culture of Puerto Rico as a symbol of Taino culture. Other notable motifs include geographical patterns, local animals and plants, and anthropomorphic faces thought to represents
zemis such as
Yokahu and
Atabey.
Academic surevys
The earliest academic survey of the site might have happened in 1890 by French anthropologist
Alphonse Pinart, although it is possible that he might have described a site that used to be located downstream along the Icacos River, closer to the main settlement of Río Blanco. Although most of these petroglyphs were lost due to erosion and human activity, some can still be admired next to
Charco El Hippie
Charco is a settlement in the west of the island of Santiago, Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordin ...
.
This possible site was also mentioned by American anthropologist
Jesse Walter Fewkes in 1907. Most likely,
Irving Rouse from
Yale University was the first academic to provide a full survey of the site in 1938. Further surveys were made by
Monica Flaherty Frassetto
Monica Flaherty Frassetto (1920–2008) was a filmmaker and archaeologist.
Biography
Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Frassetto was the daughter of pioneering filmmakers Robert J. Flaherty and Frances Hubbard Flaherty. On her third birthday, Frass ...
in 1960,
when the individual petroglyphs were first properly traced and replicated for comparative study, and in 1979 by Juan Gonzalez who made another survey on behalf of the
Puerto Rican Institute of Culture
The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...
. Antonio Daubon officially inventoried the site in 1981 on behalf of the Archaeology Heritage Program of the U.S. Forest Service. Although the site is remote and protected it was the victim of an act of vandalism in 1960 when unidentified individuals carved their names in the boulder.
See also
*
Taino archaeology
References
External links
What are petroglyphs?(El Yunque National Forest official site)
{{Protected Areas of Puerto Rico
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico
El Yunque National Forest
Naguabo, Puerto Rico
Petroglyphs in Puerto Rico
Pre-Columbian archaeological sites