Chorro de Maíta (CU)
Chorro de Maíta is located in the foothills of the southeast of Cerro de Yaguajay, in the region known as the Archaeological Capital of Cuba, Banes, in the north of the province of Holguín.
This museum is a replica burial site from the times of the Taíno, indigenous people of Cuba. Intensive excavations took place from 1975 onward. A cemetery was found, covering about 2,000 square metres, with about two hundred burials. 56 of these are now shown in the exact place of discovery, as an in situ museum. It is the first Aboriginal cemetery of ceramist farmers found in Cuba from the period around the arrival of the first Spaniards. Chorro de Maíta is a place of contact with other cultures, not just with the Spanish, but also with the Mexicans.
Across from the museum, a Taino village is recreated including 38 human sculptures and of course houses. The figures also include the priest-doctor exorcising the evil spirits from a young woman with labour pains; a dance group; cotton spinners; cooks preparing yucca to make cassava bread; and the chief smoking; children playing with their dogs; women bathing and sunning themselves in a stream, wearing only woven bracelets; and men also bathing in colourful robes. The village consists of circular dwellings with a conical roof. Daily life is shown like it could have been like for a family of the Aruaca ethnic group more than five centuries ago.
Text & Image source: Radio Rebelde