Severe Weather and the Reliability of Desk-Based Vulnerability Assessments: The Impact of Hurricane Maria to Puerto Rico’s Coastal Archaeology

Abstract

Within the context of climate change, sea-level rise is threatening not only coastal communities globally, but also the archaeological record of their history, knowledge, and culture. As a response, inter-institutional databases of heritage have increasingly been coupled with other widely available cyberinfrastructure to assess the magnitude of the threat and the vulnerability of cultural heritage, in order to begin the design of actionable steps or mitigation of impact. This article focuses on the coastal archaeology of Puerto Rico to evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria, and to assess the reliability of desk-based vulnerability assessments in the context of disasters. The study conducted a walkover survey of 11 km of coast on the north-central portion of Puerto Rico and documented context, visible impact, and level of threat from coastal erosion, among other factors. The study concludes that, for the case study, the desk-based assessment conducted in 2017 underestimated the vulnerability of coastal resources. While two sites were predicted to be vulnerable, the survey identified eight damaged sites. These results call for heightened attention to the actual process of sea-level rise in the context of changing weather and changing water-level baselines, not just for cultural heritage, but also for coastal and marine ecosystem management and for the resilience of human communities.

Keywords:

• climate change
• sea-level rise
• coastal archaeology
• vulnerability
• catastrophic events
• Puerto Rico
• Hurricane Maria

Acknowledgements

This article would not have been possible without the inspiration and idea-planting of Tom Dawson and the SCAPE team. This research was possible thanks to the strong support and fieldwork of Hector Rivera-Claudio and Hector Rivera-Robles. Thanks to Para la Naturaleza for their partnership, particularly Carlos Torres, Sandra Faría, Belén Rosado, and all the security guards that drove us to and from the sites. Many thanks to Evelyn Dean and to the Laboratorio de Arqueología Ambiental of the University of Puerto Rico for hosting our visit in February, and to the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe for hosting our June visit. Thanks to Hernán Bustelo and Inbar Ktalav for their ongoing research regarding the new Sitio Botones and the shell button industry in Puerto Rico. Finally, thanks to UCSD Prof. Janis Jenkins for her advice in several instances that were better understood through the filter of mental health. This manuscript greatly benefited from the comments and feedback of three anonymous reviewers and Scott M. Fitzpatrick as editor.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.