🏛️ Archaeology of Hispaniola

Archaeology is not just the study of ancient objects — it is how we reconstruct who we are. Every Taino petroglyph, every colonial ceramic and every underwater shipwreck tells us a story about the people who lived on this island before us.

Hispaniola (today the Dominican Republic and Haiti) was the center of the encounter between three worlds: the Taino, the European and the African. Understanding how these cultures coexisted, clashed and blended is essential to understanding our Caribbean identity.

ArcLycée features over 70 real archaeological sites spread across an interactive Real Map (R key) with toggleable layers. Each site has real GPS coordinates, an educational description and historical context.

🗺️ Real Map Layers

The Real Map (LeafletJS) organizes archaeological sites into layers that can be toggled on and off independently.

Thematic layers

Exploration layers

🗿 Explored Taino Sites

The Tainos inhabited Hispaniola for over 5,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. Their petroglyphs, ceramics and ceremonial structures bear witness to a sophisticated civilization.

Caves and Rock Art

• Cuevas del Pomier (San Cristóbal) — The largest rock art system in the Caribbean: 55 caves with 6,000+ paintings and 500 engravings. Pictographs of cemies, animals and ceremonial scenes.
• Cueva de las Maravillas (San Pedro de Macorís) — Over 500 Taino pictographs with a visitor lighting system.
• Cueva del Puente (Samaná) — Petroglyphs carved into limestone with representations of faces and geometric figures.
• Cueva de Berna (San Rafael del Yuma) — Rock art featuring representations of birds, bats and human figures.
• Las Caritas (Lago Enriquillo) — Petroglyphs carved into the northern cliff face of the lake. Faces with varied expressions (500-1,000 years old).

Settlements and Ceremonial Plazas

• La Aleta / Manantial de la Aleta (Parque Nacional del Este) — Sacred cenote 73m deep with submerged Taino wooden offerings.
• Chacuey (Dajabón) — Hundreds of petroglyphs and stone plazas with sophisticated pathways.
• Parque Nacional Los Haitises — Caves with pictographs and petroglyphs in a karst landscape of mogotes.
• El Cabo (Higüey) — Taino village excavated by Leiden University (occupation 600-1504 AD).

In the game

The Taino settlements are represented in two levels: Yucayeque de Marién (chiefdom of Guacanagaríx) and Yucayeque de Maguá (chiefdom of Guarionex). The player learns about bohíos, conucos, areíto ceremonies, the batú ball game, behique medicine and ceramic craftsmanship.

🏰 Explored Colonial Sites

Hispaniola was the center of Spanish colonization in the Americas. The first European settlements, cathedrals, fortresses and cities in the New World were founded here.

• La Isabela (Puerto Plata) — Second European settlement in the Americas, founded by Columbus in 1494. Excavated ruins of the hospital, the church and the storehouse.
• Zona Colonial de Santo Domingo (UNESCO) — First permanent European city in the Americas (1498). Catedral Primada, Alcázar de Colón, Panteón Nacional, Calle de las Damas, Sundial.
• Museo de la Catedral — 15 halls in the restored Real Cárcel with treasures from the 16th to the 20th century. Directed by Fabiola Herrera.
• La Vega Vieja (Concepción de la Vega) — Founded in 1495, the first site where gold was processed in the Americas.
• Fortaleza San Felipe (Puerto Plata) — 16th-century military fortress.

In the game

The player explores La Isabela (combat with the Spanish soldier Diego) and the Zona Colonial (combat with Constructor Méndez, visit to the Museo de la Catedral with Fabiola Herrera, changing of the guard at the Panteón, Roberto Cassá as mentor).

⚓ Explored Shipwrecks

The coasts of Hispaniola harbor hundreds of shipwrecks, from Columbus's flagship to galleons laden with colonial treasure.

• Santa María (Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) — Christopher Columbus's flagship, run aground on Christmas Eve 1492. The most historically significant shipwreck in the Americas.
• Guadalupe and Tolosa (Bahía de Samaná) — Two Spanish galleons sunk by a hurricane in 1724. Discovered in the 1970s.
• Quedagh Merchant (Isla Catalina) — Captain Kidd's ship, discovered in 2007 at only 3 meters depth.
• Monte Cristi Pipe Wreck — 17th-century merchant vessel with a cargo of clay pipes.
• Aquatic World Shipwrecks — In the game, the player explores the remains of the Santa María alongside sea turtles, corals, jellyfish and the invasive lionfish.

🏛 Museums

30 museums in the Dominican Republic and Haiti are marked on the Real Map, including:

• Museo del Hombre Dominicano (Santo Domingo) — The most important collection of Taino artifacts in the Caribbean.
• Museo de las Atarazanas Reales (Santo Domingo) — In the game, Dr. Morbán directs this museum where artifacts are authenticated by C-14 analysis.
• Museo de la Catedral (Santo Domingo) — 15 halls with religious treasures from the 16th to the 20th century.
• Memorial de la Resistencia (Santo Domingo) — History of the struggle for democracy.
• Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (Port-au-Prince) — History of Haiti since independence.

🔍 Unexplored Sites

8 sites discovered by the underwater robot programmed at the LFSD. They only appear on the map after completing the "Full Metal Archeologist" mission.

These sites represent the potential of robotic technology to discover new underwater archaeological sites — the goal of the robotics project by les fous du robot.

🔬 Archaeological Potential

15 real sites identified through academic research as areas with high potential for future discoveries. Based on sources from Leiden University, the Florida Museum, UNESCO, and academic publications.

Unexcavated Taino Settlements

• El Cabo and surroundings (Higüey) — The main village was excavated by Leiden (600-1504 AD) but the surrounding area has barely been explored.
• Manantial de la Aleta — Sacred cenote 73m deep. Only "the tip of the iceberg" has been investigated.
• Boca de Nigua (San Cristóbal) — Unexcavated Taino remains + site of the 1796 enslaved people's revolt.

Underwater Zones

• Montecristi coastal shelf — 400+ colonial shipwrecks reported, fewer than 50 located. UNESCO priority zone.
• Bahía de Samaná — Undiscovered shipwrecks + archaic site El Pozito (Sapienza's discovery).
• Isla Catalina — The Quedagh Merchant was found here in 2007. The reefs likely contain more shipwrecks.

Cave Systems

• Cuevas del Pomier (unexplored sections) — ~50 of 55 caves contain undocumented art.
• Parque Nacional Jaragua — Chiefdom of Jaragua. Pictograms dated as far back as 2590 BC in a 1,374 km² karst interior that has not been surveyed.
• Grotte Marie-Jeanne (Haiti) — Potentially the largest cave system in the Caribbean. Ritual ceramics and rock art.

Maroon Settlements

• Maniel de Ocoa — First documented Maroon settlement in Hispaniola (16th century). Never excavated.
• Sierra de Bahoruco — 85+ years of Maroon occupation. Also the refuge of Enriquillo (1519-1533). No systematic survey has been conducted.

Valleys and Coastline

• Valle del río Chacuey — Petroglyphs and plazas are known, but the agricultural settlement pattern has not been excavated.
• Interior of the Valle del Cibao — ~300 registered indigenous sites, poorly studied compared to the coast.
• Southwest coast of Haiti (Les Cayes-Jérémie) — Chiefdom of Jaragua. No systematic coastal survey.
• Fort-Liberté and En Bas Saline (Haiti) — ~300 sites at risk of looting. Most likely candidate for La Navidad (Columbus's fort, 1492).

💡 Why Does Archaeology Matter?

• Identity — Knowing where we come from helps us understand who we are. The Tainos, the Africans and the Europeans together forged Dominican culture.
• Protection — Many sites are threatened by urban development, looting and climate change. Knowing about them is the first step toward protecting them.
• Education — Every artifact tells a story. A cemi is not just a statue — it is the spiritual expression of an entire people.
• Justice — Illegal artifact trafficking destroys archaeological context. The Dominican Republic's Law 318 protects heritage, but it needs informed citizens.
• Future — Technology (underwater robots, magnetometers, C-14 analysis) opens new possibilities for discovering and preserving our past.