San Juan, Puerto Rico Via East Orange, New Jersey, Making It Work: Cultural Resource Management from Across an Ocean
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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO VIA EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, MAKING IT WORK: CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FROM ACROSS AN OCEAN Timothy R. Sara and Sharla C. Azizi The Louis Berger Group, Inc. ❐ ABSTRACT This paper describes the principal findings of an urban archaeological investigation conducted in a cultural resource management (CRM) context in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico (Sara and Marín Rom n 1999). The inves- tigation was prompted by the United States General Services Administration’s need to rehabilitate the Federal Courthouse and Post Office Building in the Old City. A major component of the investigation was the recovery and analysis of more than 16,000 Spanish colonial-period artifacts from urban fills beneath the building. The col- lection includes a total of 106 ceramic ware types, various small finds including gun flints, tobacco pipes, bone combs, die, and buttons, dietary faunal remains, and fine examples of European decorated glass. Analysis of these artifacts revealed that, despite strict trade laws imposed by the Spanish Crown, San Juan was well-integrated in the world economy early in its history. As a result of careful planning and coordination by project archaeologists and engineers, the remains of the Bastión de San Justo del Muelle, a massive seventeenth-century fortification work, was left in situ beneath the building during new construction. The successful outcome of the project was owed to the close coordination by the Federal and local government agencies, historic preservation consultants, and local specialists in Puerto Rican history and historical archaeology. Resumen Esta ponencia describir una programa de investigación arqueológica manejar en un contexto de Manejo de Recursos Culturales en el Viejo San de Puerto Rico (Sara y Marín Rom n 1999). La investigación originar de los planes de la U.S. General Services Administration para la rehabilitacion del Palacio de Justicia Federal y el Edificio de Correos ubicados en el Viejo San Juan. Una grande parte de la investigación incluyo el recobro y ana- lysa de mas de 16,000 piezas arqueológicas que datan del periodo colonial Español. La colección consiste de un total de 106 tipos de ceramica, artefactos militares, pipas de tabaco, dies, botones y peines estar hecho de hueso, restos alimenticios, y fragmentos de vidrio Eurpeo decorar finamente. An lisis de esta colección revelar que, a des- pecho de estrictos reglas imponer por la Corona Español, la ciudad de San Juan estar incorporado en la economía mundial temprano en história colonial. El resultado de planificacion y coordinación preciso entre los arqueológos y ingenieros, los restos del Bastión de San Justo del Muelle, una fortifiación datan del siglio XVII, fuera garda in situ durante la construcción nueva. El resultado afortunado del proyecto deber a la coordinación preciso entre las agencias gubermentales Federal y local, los consultantes del preservación históricas, y las especialistas locales en la história y arqueología puertorriqueña. Résumé Cette communication décrit les résultats principaux d’un travail archéologique urbaine réalisé dans un contexte de Gestion des Ressources Culturelles de San Juan de Puerto Rico (Sara et Marín Rom n1999). L’investigation fut nécessaire à cause des besoins de U.S. General Services Administration de reconstuire le Palais de Justice et Poste du Vieux San Juan. Une grande partie du travail inclut des fouilles sous l’immeuble qui recupèrent plus de 16,000 artefacts archéologique qui dérivent de l’âge colonial Espanol. La collection inclut plus de 106 diffé- rents types de ceramiques et d’autres artefacts archéologiques comprenant des silex d’armement, pipes à tabac, peignes, jeu de dés, et boutons en os, materiaux fauniques alimentaires, et des artefacts de verre européens fine- ment décorés. L’analyse de la collection a révélé que, malgré des stricts lois d’échange imposées par la Couronne Espagnole, la ville de San Juan fut bien intégrée dans l’économie mondiale au commencement de son histoire. A cause de la planification et coordination precises imposées par les archéologues et ingenieurs pendant le projet du Bastion de San Justo del Muelle, un ouvrage de fortification massif datant du dix-septième siécle, fut préservé in situ sous l’immeuble. La réussite du projet est accordée à la coordination precise entre les agences gouvermen- tales Fédérales et locales, les consultants de préservation historique, et les spécialistes locaux d’ histoire et d'ar- chéologie portoricaine. 26 ❐ INTRODUCTION In 1996 the Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger) was contracted by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to assess the potential environmental impacts that could result from rehabilita- tion of the Federal Courthouse and Post Office Building (Federal Building) in Old San Juan (Figure 1). The Federalist-Mediterranean-style building, which occupies a prominent location on the harbor waterfront, was completed in 1914 and the two towers added in 1940. Part of the environmental review included an assessment of what impacts the project could have on historical resources located at the building site. Since part of the upgrade included installation of over 200 new mini piles throughout the building foundation, it was critical to determine whether significant archaeological resources were pre- sent beneath the building. Indeed, the initial review of early building plans revealed that a large Spanish colonial fortification work, known as the Bastión de San Justo del Muelle, as well as a Spanish colonial customs house, once stood at the building site and may had been left undisturbed during pre- vious construction episodes. The presence of in situ archaeological remains associated with the Old City was confirmed through soil borings excavated at the building site (Sara 1995). Previous archaeological investigations in the site vicinity had identified deep deposits of landfill containing Spanish colonial artifacts (Meléndez Maíz 1994; Pantel and Marín Rom n 1990). Our soil borings not only revealed deep depo- sits of stratified landfill containing concentrations of Spanish colonial artifacts, but encountered the foundation remains of the bastion and the customs house. Early during the planning stages of the project, GSA had consulted with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to establish overall architectural preservation goals. Once it was learned that potential- ly significant archaeological resources were present at the site, Berger began to work closely with the Institute to design a historic preservation plan that would mitigate or avoid impacts to thesearchaeo- logical resources. The preservation goals included a plan to excavate, recover, and analyze thousands of artifacts contained in the landfill at the site, modify the building rehabilitation design to avoid impacts to the bastion, and record architectural features of the customs house as they were uncovered during construction. The overall objective of archaeological excavation was to ensure that historic deposits would be scientifically documented, analyzed, and reported, and the data made available to future generations of researchers (Sara et al. 1994). To provide GSA with the best possible cultural resource management plan, we assembled a multi- national and multi-disciplinary team that included Berger’s in-house specialists, as well as Puerto Rico-based experts in Caribbean archaeology and military history, all of whom were recommended by the Institute and formed the core of the research team. The Institute was instrumental in providing the team with access to reports and documents from their libraries, and offered suggestions on the archaeological research design, and provided the team with laboratory space for artifact processing and analysis (Sara 1997). ❐ HISTORIC MAP RESEARCH Background research conducted early in the study found that this area of Old San Juan was stra- tegic to the city’s military defense and commercial development throughout its 500-year history (Berkowitz et al. 1991; Marin 1994). Immediately to the west of the bastion and customs house stood La Puerta de San Justo, the old commercial and ceremonial gate to the Old City constructed in the seventeenth century. Review of historic documents showed that the bastion was completed in 1639 as part of the military fortification of the Old City, and partially removed at the end of the nineteenth cen- tury during efforts to open this part of the city to commercial development. Upon examining the fini- shed plans of the Federal Building, we discovered that the massive bastion had been encountereddu- ring construction in 1912, left in situ, and incorporated into the building foundation. A construction drawing prepared upon completion of building construction shows the bastion measuring approxi- mately 33.5 m in length and 3.05 m in width (Berryman 1913). A series of historic maps of the Old City begin in 1625 with a sketch by Vingboons (Sepúlveda 1989) which depicts the bay with anchored ships, sandy beach, and buildings near the site. A 1678 map 27 by Orsario (Sepúlveda 1989), who was commissioned by the Spanish Crown to record military fortifi- cations of the Americas, clearly shows the Bastión de San Justo del Muelle, the Puerta de San Justo, and the sister Bastión de San Justo (Figure 2). A 1766 plan by Rueda (Sepúlveda 1989) shows a Plaza des Armas behind the Puerta de San Justo as well as a structure, possibly a customs house where goods were stored and a pier. A 1792 map by Mestre (Sepúlveda 1989) shows the two bastions as fully terra- plained and