The Cabo Natural Monument, in the eastern part of the Samaná peninsula, houses a new archaeological site that is currently being studied. It is a “cemetery”, with the remains of those who could be the first settlers of the island of Santo Domingo, as explained by the specialist in archaeological methodology, Adolfo López.
The remains, which are estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000 years old, were made a little over a month ago, however, for almost four years, the group of Dominican archaeologists has been developing the project, which focuses on recovering the memory one of the first cultural groups that entered and settled on the island of Santo Domingo.
“We want to know where they came from, on what date, who they were, what their customs were, what relationships they had with other cultural groups of their time, from other islands, it could be from the Insular and Continental Caribbean (…) we want to build the origin and the life of the first inhabitants of the island of Santo Domingo, because what we know is very little, and besides, everything is out of date. They are very old information, ”López told reporters from LISTÍN DIARIO.
To achieve the task, the archaeologist López, together with Sara Gálvez, a specialist in archaeological exhumations; the researcher and president of the Guahayona Institute, Daniel Shelley and a group of 12 Dominicans, residents of Samaná, have worked locating archaeological sites in various areas of that demarcation in order to excavate and find human remains.
The main purpose of these excavations is to fundamentally search for burial areas to obtain human remains and carry out DNA studies, Physical Anthropology and diseases at Harvard University. In addition, they try to find out, through the analysis of starches, what were the products that these ancestors cultivated and consumed.
The cemetery
“The last and most recent thing we have found is this place, a cemetery, it is not a place where they lived, but a place where they came to bury their dead… Here we are doing some archaeological excavations of a site that belongs to the cultural group called “archaics”, which are much older than the Taínos”, explained archaeologist López.
The expert describes it as “a funerary and ritual establishment”, where the first settlers of Santo Domingo, the archaics, went to bury their people and “which had a special magic and was sacred”.
“Perhaps part of that magic was that stone from the cave, which is shaped like an iguana or perhaps it was the same telluric force that this shelter has, but obviously there was something magical here, which motivated them to bring their dead and bury them on this site,” he said.
From the ground, the group of archaeologists unearthed 18 remains of individuals, but they specified that there are others below, added to those that time (humidity, tree roots) has scattered, a sample that had never been found, “added the archaeologist.
The group estimates that the remains found could be between the third and fourth millennium before the present, however, the data is not yet accurate until they obtain the results of carbon 14.
“We have been able to observe different burial rituals. Some in a fetal position, others in their skirts, stretched out and tied up,” exclaimed Gálvez, adding: “We know they were groups of hunters and gatherers.”
they study remains
“We have searched the sites that had already been excavated 30 to 40 years ago by the Museum of Dominican Man and we have recovered some pieces, especially teeth from the skeletons, which are being studied in laboratories in the United States,” said López.
Other findings
In addition to the human remains, the excavation team found other magical-religious elements that give even more evidence of the archaic period, including stones carved in the shape of skulls. Also hunting and cooking tools.
what’s next
“Cleaning, analyzing, meeting, looking at the pieces and classifying them, that’s all we have left and it takes a lot of time. In archeology we say that we are in the field for a month and in the laboratory for 11 months,” said Gálvez, who also indicated that they are interested in continuing to excavate in that area because they are convinced that the first settlers of Hispaniola are there.
international interest
“The work we are doing is in coordination with several universities and research centers. Harvard is in charge of doing the DNA studies, a university in Puerto Rico is going to be in charge of doing the studies of the fauna (the remains of animals), other universities are going to do the studies of starch, of the pieces, to see what they crushed, the plants they ate, to check if they cultivated or not”, he commented, while specifying that international organizations have provided support to the project due to their interest in learning about the history of cultural groups in the Caribbean.
“They are interested in all this because it turns out that very little is known about the ancient inhabitants of the Caribbean, people think we know, but the truth is that we don’t, and that is something that is known throughout the scientific world. When we proposed this project, the great instructions that investigate in the area immediately joined us because it was an excellent opportunity where many questions, which until now we cannot answer, would be resolved, “said López.
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A milestone in the DR
López cataloged the project, called “Identification of the Origin and Affiliation of the First Archaic Inhabitants of the Island”, as novel, and above all at an international level. “Finding such a large and ancient cemetery is almost impossible, I didn’t even think it could be located and it is practically intact. That is a great contribution of the Dominican Republic to the investigation of all the cultural groups of the Caribbean”, he stated.
Support and coordination
The group in charge of this investigation works together with Dominican and foreign entities such as the Guahayona Institute, in Puerto Rico, the García Arévalo Foundation, the Museum of Dominican Man, the National Directorate of Museums and the Vice Ministry of Protected Areas.