A sneak peek at archaeological finds

The corporate social responsibility team of Best Sunshine International, Ltd., along with the media, was given a sneak peak of the archaeological objects that were excavated from their Garapan site. The artifacts are stored in an air-conditioned warehouse in Lower Base. (Frauleine Villanueva-Dizon)

BSI counsel Viola Alepuyo and chief services officer Tao Xing gave a tour of the warehouse they are leasing in Lower Base to store all the artifacts and objects that may have historical significance to the people of the CNMI.

Inside a room with air-conditioning units and humidifiers to maintain proper temperature, five pallets of large rocks and corals and six pallets of boxes after boxes containing objects were stored.

Among the big rocks was one with a hollow center resembling a mortar.

The boxes, which weren’t opened, had labels describing their contents such as remains or bones.

According to Alepuyo, among the significant pieces their team of experts found at the site was an overturned three-foot ceramic bowl, which when lifted turned out to be covering the bones of a 3-year-old child. Digging further, their experts found that it was surrounded by remains of people that appeared to be protecting the bowl.

Alepuyo said the bowl is the “largest ceramic bowl ever found intact.” She added that the pottery is much thinner and much more sophisticated.

“When they first unearthed it and they found human remains, they didn’t know what the bowl was but they were excited about the bowl itself,” Alepuyo said, adding that representatives of the Historic Preservations Office and the CNMI Museum came down and looked at the bowl.

Alepuyo pointed out that this was not the way ancient burials were done. There were no clear explanations yet with regards to that finding, but it could be a good point of discussion for the whole community.

The site in Garapan where Best Sunshine plans to build its Grand Marianas casino resort is believed to be an ancient village and burial site and is said to be where the Spanish-Chamoru War happened.

Aside from archaeological finds, the dig also revealed a lot of buried bombs, the most significant of which was a Japanese sea mine that had to be detonated by a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Detonation team from Guam.

BSI said their experts are currently continuing with their DNA testing, carbon dating, and other tests, but once they are done, they will be returning to the island to share their results.

“This site is of archeological significance,” Alepuyo said.

She added that the community would be given a chance to provide input on what to do with the remains found on the site.