I originally signed in intending to write about last night's entertainment but I got sidetracked with the water problem. We went over to the university to listen to our friend, Sandy, give a talk on recent archaeological excavations she has been involved in here on Guam. She spoke at first of the history and pre-history of the island. Then she showed us what she (well, her team) has found at Ylig Bay and in Malesso.

The pre-history of Guam is broken into the pre-latte period running from the first arrival of humans about 3500 BC to 850 AD. The latte peiod runs from 850 to about 1700. At that point we get out of the pre-history and into the historical period because the Spanish began writing the history of the place in their typically brutal fashion.

The historical period is broken into phases. There is the Spanish Colonial Period running from 1688 to 1898. Then the first American Period from 1898 to 1941. Then the Japanese Period from 1941 to 1944. And finally the second American Period from 1944 to the present.

As a side note it is interesting to point out that the Japanese occupation was not entirely bad. Wakana and her Japanese friends have been finding out that the Japanese did many positive things while they were here. These things have been overshadowed by the terrible things they did to the Chamorro people. One of the positive things they did was to study the pre-history of the island.

Both of the sites, Ylig and Malesso, were rescue and recovery digs. The Ylig site was discovered by the construction crew widening the road south out of Yona. The Malesso site was discovered by a construction crew digging to bury utility lines.

Ylig Bay is a perfect place to live. The Ylig river brings fresh water down from the inland areas and the reef system supports plenty of fish to feed a community. the river has cut a channel through the reef to allow access to deep water for the heavy canoes. Sandy found that there was a thriving community there throughout pre-history and into the Spanish period. They discovered extensive burials and many artifacts pointing to a rich and healthy community.

In Malesso the construction crew was digging for the power lines when they discovered a layer of cobblestones. They called in the archaeologists. Before they were done they had uncovered a long avenue of cobblestones and a previously unknown graveyard. It appears the burials were hasty and there were a lot of them in a very short time. Historical research indicates that there was a smallpox epidemic on the island at the time.

All in all it was a very interesting evening.