Taino artifacts that according to experts are over one thousand years old, including an agricultural field that was found intact and dating back to the pre-Columbian period, have been found in an archaeological site project in Rio San Juan, on the country’s north coast.
Taino artifacts
The Tainos were the original inhabitants of the island. The project is funded by the “Playa Grande Resort,” near Rio San Juan in collaboration with the Museum of Dominican Man and the Institute for Anthropological Research of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.
The artifacts, unearthed in an archaeological excavation, were turned over to the Museum of Dominican Man in Santo Domingo.
The “Playa Grande” project, currently under construction, will sponsor and open a local museum that will exhibit the Taino pieces.
The collection will artifacts plus to the “Rio San Juan” tourism offer, situated on the country’s north coast.
The archaeological site has also unearthed a field with agricultural lots that have been perfectly preserved for almost a thousand years. The lots are three to four meters wide and some 50 to 70 inches high.
The native population grew corn, cassava, and other vegetables in these plots. It is the first time that they are found intact in the Caribbean region.
Also found in what was once a Taino settlement were the remains of several individuals, as well as a rare coin, minted in 1505 in Seville, Spain for use in the Americas. Ceramics, axes, hammers, grates, shells, Spanish pottery, a Spanish glass bead, and bronze and iron pieces.
Sabine A Mertes-Urbahn