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A Journey Through Our Indian Roots: The archeological work of Dr. Ricardo Alegría-Gallardo

Jacqueline Flores Otero's picture
Dr. Ricardo Alegría old and as a young archeologist
Dr. Ricardo Alegría Gallardo, arqueólogo y antropólogo

Ricardo Alegría Gallardo (April 14, 1921- July 7, 2011)

Archeological findings help reveal the secrets of old civilizations, construct the history of a place and its ancestors, and shape the identity of contemporary people. The knowledge of our Puerto Rican history, more than an agglomeration of findings that reveal an unknown origin, was a life style for Dr. Ricardo Alegría-Gallardowhom we honor with this spotlight.

The Taino Inside: Science Helps to Decipher Our Origins

Greetchen Díaz-Muñoz's picture
Haplogroup A from Puerto Rico
mtDNA can be classified in haplogroups which are specific for differents regions in the world. This figure shows the haplogroup A of PR.

Do you remember the stories about the native inhabitants of Puerto Rico that we were taught in school? Yes, the Taino Indians. They faded with the arrival of Spanish colonizers, according to the story. When exactly TaÌno ceased to exist? There is archaeological evidence indicating that the Tainos lived on the island longer than historians point, but there are still conflicting versions of both lines. Not only archaeologists and historians were interested in learning more about the Taino culture. A curious scientist that since he was a teenager was fascinated with stories about the Tainos, had in mind a number of questions, but mostly an effort to answer them.

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