An archaeological investigation in Loíza, Puerto Rico, triggered by a routine federally required review ahead of a construction project using U.S. government funds, has uncovered evidence that may represent early cultural blending among Africans, Indigenous people, and Spaniards. Archaeologist Federico Freytes, who leads the excavation, told El Nuevo Día that the dig site is two blocks from Loíza’s town center, an area historic maps show contained brick structures by the 19th century.
Excavators found a series of vessels that are neither purely Indigenous nor Spanish, but 'criollas’ made of crude clay, believed to have African heritage, though their handle style appears Indigenous. Freytes said this may reflect material from Puerto Rico’s earliest colonial period and the mixing of Black, Indigenous, and other populations. He explained the excavation follows Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, a federal law protecting cultural, historic, and archaeological resources in the U.S. and its territories, overseen locally by the State Office of Historic Preservation.
Freytes noted that all of Puerto Rico’s historic town centers contain cultural resources, so any construction there is likely to uncover something.