The vast cavern, used by the black rebels as refuge, preserves rustic vestiges of beds, pots and other objects associated with the maroons, Pedro Luis Hernandez, one of the scholars of the site, told Prensa Latina.
Among the tracks left by these human groups are machetes of the type known as calabozo, turned by the fugitives into a weapon of combat to face their pursuers. Recent searches within the cave confirmed the good state of preservation of archaeological finds, strokes of the lifestyle of slaves in circumstances of harassment.
An estimated 12 people inhabited the place to escape the rigors of slavery and the persecution of slave hunters said Hernandez, a historian of the Speleological Society of Cuba.
Located in the western province 90 kilometers west of Havana, the cave served as a haven to the group in a steep mountain setting, near the river Santa Cruz.
Initial studies done in the cave found homemade smoking pipes with incised geometric motifs, linked to African culture, and remains of fires near their beds for warmth and light.
The researchers corroborated, moreover, the presence of a campfire site, by the amount of accumulated ash.
In areas of Artemisa and neighboring Pinar del Rio there are more than a hundred places linked to fugitive slaves during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Curious bone needles used to secure clothing or for other purposes, and vessels for culinary use are also part of the findings reported during the research.
The difficult location of many sanctuaries like the cave of the Buddha, favored their preservation until now, experts say.
Source: Plenglish