This paper addresses a database collected and constructed as part of PhD research project on the north-western coast of the Dominican Republic. The PhD was part of the ERC Synergy Grant NEXUS 1492:... Show moreThis paper addresses a database collected and constructed as part of PhD research project on the north-western coast of the Dominican Republic. The PhD was part of the ERC Synergy Grant NEXUS 1492: New World Encounters in a Globalizing World. The database was collected during fieldwork campaigns between 2014 and 2015. Fieldwork consisted of a regional survey, material culture registry and collection, test pit excavation, and processing relevant environmental variables. The archaeological data consists of a record of 102 archaeological sites, the material culture associated with them (lithic, shell and coral objects, shell mollusk species), and the relationship between site location and a set of relevant environmental variables used for statistical analysis. This database is one of the only open access archaeological databases available at the moment in the Caribbean and can be reused by any Caribbean archaeologist working in the Greater Antilles. Show less
The arrival of Columbus to the Caribbean in 1492 marked a milestone in world history. In both the European and the indigenous world, a set of economic, political and hierarchical networks and... Show moreThe arrival of Columbus to the Caribbean in 1492 marked a milestone in world history. In both the European and the indigenous world, a set of economic, political and hierarchical networks and relations were defined, structured and changed. To approach the transformations that took place in the indigenous world a regional archaeological investigation (coast of the Montecristi province, Dominican Republic) was combined with a theoretical framework that integrated: the concepts of taskscape and contested landscapes with statistical analysis and Geographic Information Systems, to evaluate the patterns of material culture distribution and its cultural implications. This allowed indigenous taskscapes to be defined at different spatial scales, which in turn permitted the delineation of the indigenous landscape before the arrival of Columbus. The archaeological results were compared with evidence from the early colonial chronicles and cartography for the north of the island. This comparison highlighted the spatial and material bases for the transformation of the indigenous landscape. The final results were encapsulated by two transformations of the indigenous landscape, called the Everyday Level, and the Imaginary Level. Show less
