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A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 3 december 2019
Scientists race to document Puerto Rico's coastal heritage

In this photo combo provided by Eric Lo, shows the shoreline in Manati, on Aug. 2017, left, before hurricane Maria and on Nov. 2017, after the Hurricane Maria, in
Puerto Rico.
Associated Press

By DÁNICA COTO profit environmental group were eventually wiped out when hurricanes hit. Some "Pieces of land where I had
Associated Press based in Puerto Rico. after the arrival of Christo- scientists say that warmer stood and flown the drone
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) The first site scientists tar- pher Columbus and Euro- temperatures increase the didn't exist anymore," he
— A group of U.S.-based geted was a large swath pean settlers. frequency and intensity of said. "They were underwa-
scientists is rushing to doc- along the U.S. territory's "Up to today, there is still a storms. Puerto Rico is ex- ter." Scientists are now try-
ument indigenous sites north coast that includes a lot we don't know about in- posed to storms every year ing to determine the extent
along Puerto Rico's coast ceremonial center used by digenous culture along our for six months during the of coastal erosion in that
dating back a couple of the Taino Indians roughly coasts," Rivera said. "It's not Atlantic hurricane season, region and the hurricane's
thousand years before ris- 2,000 years ago, said Isa- in our history books." and the scientists noted impact on the archaeolog-
ing sea levels linked to cli- bel Rivera Collazo, an en- "The entire coast is blan- that the storm surge from ical site they are studying.
mate change destroy a vironmental archaeologist keted with archaeological Hurricane Maria washed Three-dimensional models
large chunk of the island's at UCSD who is overseeing sites," she said. "We want away part of the region based on drone images
heritage that is still being the project that began in to recover that information they're studying. are being used to measure
discovered. August 2017. before it disappears." "It's literally in the eye of the distances, areas, volumes
Scientists hope to use the Scientists discovered what Puerto Rico's Department of storm quite regularly," Kue- and explore fine details:
3D images they've taken appears to be a large Natural Resources has said ster said of the island. "You start asking these de-
so far to also help identify settlement just east of the the sea level around the is- Eric Lo, an engineer with tails that historically you
which historic sites are most ceremonial site thanks to land is rising by more than the UCSD's cultural heri- couldn't," Kuester said.
vulnerable to hurricanes, drones and technology 3 millimeters — a little over tage initiative, flew to Puer- The engineering initia-
erosion and other dangers including 3D images, she a tenth of an inch — per to Rico in August 2017 to tive that he oversees has
before it's too late to save said. They were also able year. But climate change launch the project a month helped explore other histor-
the island's patrimony. to determine the shape has more immediately before Maria hit the island ic sites elsewhere, includ-
"It's literally being washed of the ceremonial site, she dramatic effects as well, as a Category 4 hurricane. ing an underwater cave
away," said Falko Kuester, added. destroying habitats, erod- Lo was surprised at what he with prehistoric fossils and
director of the Cultural Armed with that informa- ing coastlines and causing saw upon his return to the a baptistery in Florence,
Heritage Engineering Initia- tion, scientists used exca- more powerful storm surges U.S. territory months later. Italy.q
tive at the University of Cal- vations to determine that
ifornia, San Diego, which one of six plazas previously
is involved in the project. discovered appears to
"A big part of what we're have been used for cer-
working on is to make the emonial dances and the
invisible visible and make veneration of ancestors.
sure it stays in our memory." "The inside of the plaza was
Also involved in the project intensively trampled," Rive-
are UCSD's Scripps Institu- ra said.
tion of Oceanography and The Tainos populated vari-
Para la Naturaleza, a non- ous Caribbean islands but