The island of Hispaniola
(shared by both Haiti and the Dominican Republic) is a repository of a rich
wealth of information that can shed light on human settlements in the Americas
that date back to prehistoric and colonial times. This archaeological record
has been the subject of study for a long time. In the 1970s, a group of
Dominican archeologists and their international counterparts in American
universities and publications produced a considerable body of work that still
has not been surpassed to this day. We are glad to present some of that seminal
bibliographical material available to the general public at our library. (If
you would like to find out more information about the state of the field of
archaeology and colonial studies in the Dominican Republic contact CUNY DSI
Assistant Director and Historian Anthony Stevens-Acevedo P: 212-650-7496 E: astevens@ccny.cuny.edu. Contact Prof. Sarah Aponte for further
information on library resources T: 212.650.7170 E: aponte@ccny.cuny.edu
To find more bibliographical resources on
archeology in the Dominican Republic at other CUNY schools we recommend you to
search the CUNY+ catalog).
Ortega, Elpido J. (Volumen
I) Compendio general arqueológico de
Santo Domingo [Volume I, A General Guide of Archaeology
in Santo Domingo]. Santo
Domingo, República Dominicana: Academia de Ciencias de la República Dominicana,
2005.
Published under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences, this first
volume of A General Guide of Archaeology
in Santo Domingo is comprised of nine sections that cover the pre-Columbus
period in what later became the Spanish Santo Domingo colony (what is today
known as the Dominican Republic). The
study of the first inhabitants of the Dominican Republic coalesced in the
1970s. In fact, that tumultuous decade saw the emergence of new institutions
and publications funded by both public and private sectors. Further, there were
300 excavations during that time, according to the introduction. By 1973, the
newly built Museo del Hombre Dominicano [Museum of the Dominican Man], had
acquired enough pieces to display both the Mesoindian and Paleolithic exhibits.
This ambitious guide presents a well-detailed overview of archeology in the
Dominican Republic by providing maps, charts and information on archaeological sites; methodology and concepts to study the
pre-historical period; and finally, historical sources (in English, Spanish and
French) as well as archaeology field
surveys and excavations, tracing one of the first archaeological
reports to the 19th century written by the British Consul Sir Robert
Shomburgh*. The guide has a bibliography.
This general guide is of interest to
archaeologists, amateur archaeologists, historians, students and researchers
working on human settlements, pre-capitalist societies and socio-political
formations in the American hemisphere.
Vega, Bernardo. Los cacicazgos de
la Hispaniola [The Indigenous Chiefdoms of La
Hispaniola] . Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Museo
del Hombre Dominicano, 1980.
Published during the heyday of the Museo del Hombre Dominicano [Museum
of the Dominican Man], this research monograph –filed under Investigaciones antropológicas No.13
[Antropological research No. 13]—investigates the indigenous chiefdoms (cacicazgos)
that existed before and after the Spanish conquest in the island of Hispaniola
shared by what is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The research draws
upon history, geography, cartography and linguistics in order to demystify the
traditional historiography on indigenous chiefdoms in the island. The book
comes with a map insert.
This research monograph is of interest to those researching some of
the following topics: Pre-Columbian societies, pre-historic cave paintings,
Caribbean indigenous people, social and political organization of the Taíno people, the Taíno language, Meillac pottery, the impact of
colonization on indigenous people and colonial maps.
Ortega, Elpidio. Arqueología colonial
de Santo Domingo [Colonial Archaeology of Santo Domingo] . Santo Domingo, República Dominicana:
Taller, 1982.
This book is a collection of five archaeological reports
on historical monuments from Santo Domingo City and La Vega or Concepción de la
Vega municipality (Cibao region) dating back to the colonial period.
Additionally, it has a study on ceramics and Spanish colonial coins. The first
part of this book looks at the following religious and government sites: the
Convent of Saint Francis, the Convent of the Dominicans, the Chapel of the
Third Order of the Franciscans, the Square of the Priests and the Colón
[Columbus] Park, the House of Diego Caballero, The Mercedes Church, The San
Miguel Church, The Chapel of San Andrés, a colonial house (No.85) located in
Isabel la Católica Street. Further, there is a
section on colonial coins. Ceramic art from the pre-Hispanic period in the
Antigua Concepcion de la Vega [The Old City of Concepción de la Vega] in what
is today La Vega is the focus of the study of the second report. During the
colonial era, Concepción de la Vega became a boomtown due to the proliferation
of gold mines. The third report covers excavations at La Casa del Cordón, a stone house built in 1503. Its owner
was Francisco de Garay, who was a servant to Christopher Columbus. (Garay would become Columbus’s notary public
as well). The fourth report is on Casa de Gonjon; the Casa de Gonjon was
founded as a school in 1558 by Hernando Gonjon, a wealthy sugar mill owner. Over
the years, Casa de Gonjon housed a university –called Santiago de la Paz—which
flourished for a while until the island was invaded by the pirates hordes led
by Francis Drake. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 marked the end of the
institution of higher learning. The fifth and last report is on Parque
Independencia [Independence Park], San Lázaro Church and
Santa Barbara Fort and Church.
This publication is of interest to researchers working in the
following areas of study: Spanish colonial monuments, religious orders in the
Americas, Spanish colonial coins, pottery in colonial Latin America and the
Caribbean, colonial pottery factories, schools in colonial Santo Domingo,
indigenous people in Santo Domingo, colonial cities in the Caribbean, colonial
government buildings and gold mining towns in the Americas.
Maggiolo, Marcio V. Arqueología
prehistórica de Santo Domingo [Prehistoric Archaeology of Santo Domingo]. Singapur:
Mcgraw-Hill, 1972.
This seminal book is an ambitious attempt to provide a general
overview of pre-historic archaeology in the Dominican Republic. The book is divided into six chapters.
Chapter one looks at the state of prehistoric archaeology in the 20th
century by surveying some of the most important historical sources available to
the author in Spanish, French and English. Chapter two examines the physical
geography of both the country under discussion and the rest of the Antilles islands.
By doing so, the author sets out to prove his thesis of a shared past among the
inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic and
Haiti), the Caribbean islands (Cuba) and South America (Venezuela). The main
aspects under discussion in this chapter are geology, climate, orogeny,
hydrography, vegetation, flora and fauna, ecology and population. Chapter three
examines both pre-ceramic and ceramic cultures. With the aid of ethnology, the
author attempts to reconstruct the ciboney
culture for the reader. The chapter highlights the main characteristic of
ceramic art produced in the island as well as archeological sites. Further,
it offers a typological summary of relational databases that comprises
Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo. Chapter four discusses pictographs
and petroglyphs. The last two chapters focus on the indigenous people. Chapter five presents a historical and cultural
sketch of the island of Hispaniola. This discussion highlights the following:
food diet, geophagia
,fishing, hunting, agricultural practices, domestication of
animals, food preparation, beverages, drugs and hallucinogens, rituals and
sports, division of labor, textile art, taíno art, weaponry,
utensils and so on. Chapter six examines the belief system and the society of
the indigenous people including customs, games, rituals, musical instruments,
marriage arrangements, political and territorial divisions, war, life cycle
(infancy, adulthood, death), funerary rites, religious rites (idols and cemies), trigonolitos (three-cornered stones), purification rituals, masks
and ceremonial canes and walking sticks. The book includes an appendix, maps,
illustrations, photographs, documents produced at the time of the research and
a bibliography.
*Other sources identify him as Sir
Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865).
Amaury Rodríguez,
Library Research Assistant
