Pre Hispanic times cont..

It is amazing that 25% of all known statues left behind by these people have been found in Cayo Dos Mosquises, an unrivaled event anywhere else in the Caribbean.

The images of 382 statues representing men and even pregnant women together with devices for burning, tobacco pipes and mammal bones and the way these were set about lead us to believe that these objects were used as important offerings or accessories in important rituals.

Excavations done in Dos Mosquises and the many pieces found have provided valuable information about what life was like in this settlement. It is how we know that this camp was mainly visited by men and teen age men, among them witch men and tribal kings and members of high social rank such as warriors. We also know that the female statues in this island context represented other beliefs quite different to those held in the mainland. The presence of these statues in the keys was essential to sustain life in the camp.

These statues metaphorically assumed the social role of women who were absent from the island and also removed the threatening supernatural forces, linked to the sea and its creatures.

These camps of the bearers of ceramics were spread out among the 25 keys of the archipelago Los Roques. However the tiny key of Dos Mosquises was chosen by Valencioids as their logistics and ceremonial center.

Why this sandy shallow and very small island received so much attention by these Amerindian societies from the lake Valencia region at 160 km away?

Could it be because of its privileged geographic position within the archipelago or because of some unknown- today symbolic meaning related to beliefs or ancient events?
Whatever the reason we can state that the richness of pieces found on this island as well as the evident ceremonial character of its archaeological contexts, place it among the most “ sacred “ islands in the Caribbean and of pre Hispanic America in general.

See also map of Los Roques.