Oldest human remains from Puerto Rico contradict idea of simple island nomads | Science
Over 2 days in 2019, William Pestle drove a truck containing 35 carefully packed boxes from Virginia to Florida. At night, the University of Miami bioarchaeologist brought the boxes inside his hotel room for safekeeping. This was no ordinary cargo: Inside were the oldest human remains yet found in Puerto Rico.
A new analysis of the bones—some dating back about 3800 years—sheds light on the lives and rituals of Puerto Rico’s early inhabitants. Although typically…