Haas/Creamer 2001 Disculpa/Apology

Jonathan Haas mandó este mensaje por correo electrónico el 21 de Mayo de 2001 a una larga lista de destinarios, pidiendo disculpa por el malentendido ocasionado es ese entonces por sus entrevistas con la prensa después de la publicación del artículo de Shady, Haas y Creamer in Science.

Jonathan Haas sent this email message on 21 May 2001 to a long list of recipients, apologizing for the misunderstandings that arose at that time from his interviews with the press following the publication of the Shady, Haas and Creamer article in Science.

Monday, May 21, 2001 11:11:19 AM
Message From: haas@fieldmuseum.org
Subject: Setting the record straight

Dear Colleagues:

We are writing a note to everyone we can think of to try and set the record straight about the recent media frenzy surrounding the dating of the site of Caral in the Supe Valley. We specifically want to accord full credit for the excavations and research at Caral to Dr. Ruth Shady and her tremendous team of students at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Many of the news stories painted me and my wife/colleague, Winifred Creamer as the leaders in this project, and this is simply not the case. Dr. Shady is the project leader and principle investigator and we have recently joined her in a collaborative effort to more fully explore the Preceramic occupation of the Supe Valley and eventually that whole stretch of the central Peruvian Coast. Our role in the dating of Caral was to help take a series of Radiocarbon samples out of well-provenienced contexts already excavated by Dr. Shady, and then we brought those samples up the U.S. and had them analyzed.

It is with deepest regret that much of the media coverage did not give Dr. Shady and her students appropriate attention in the news reports and we publically apologize for the role we may have played in this misapprehension. For those of you who want to read a balanced and accurate news account of the project, I refer you to the May 7, 2001 edition of Newsweek (link).

Jonathan Haas

Comments

[Katherine Reece]

Hello Charlotte,

I believe all the dates obtained so far are associated with the platform mounds and domestic architecture. I don't recall the exact number but there are between 120 and 140 carbon dates now for the Fortaleza, Partivilca, Supe, and Huaura River Valley sites, so listing them here would not be easy. If you would like to email me (kat@hallofmaat.com) I would be happy to supply you with more information.

Also, let me suggest that if you are interested in learning more about Caral and the other Supe Valley sites that you purchase Dr. Shady's book: Caral, The City of the Sacred Fire. Which is available in a combination Spanish/English version. I received my copy about a week ago and I consider it invaluable. You can go to my site at this url to find the ordering information:

http://www.hallofmaat.com/read.php?1,333109,333109#msg-333109

Kat Reece

[Charlotte Rees]

Was any cotton carbon dated at either Caral or Norte Chico? And if so what were the carbon dates.