El Flaco and household-made landscapes
Laguna Salada, northwestern Dominican Republic (source place-name, not an ancient self-designation)
Houses, mounds, cooking, and plant processing show residents actively making landscapes. Food studies test material evidence against inherited assumptions rather than treating cassava as the only crop or one style as one people.
Communities, landscapes, and the evidence
Island landscapes and connections
The northern foothills and nearby valleys linked agriculture and movement. The point indicates Laguna Salada, not an archaeological mound or burial. This is an archaeological landscape, not a mapped homeland or jurisdiction.
Political organization and community scale
Settlement planning and household work do not establish a single capital or homogeneous chiefdom across the Cibao.
Colonial transformation, living heritage, and modern reception
Field reports and residue studies document both interpretive advances and sampling limits. Contemporary place names do not determine ancient identity. Living heritage relationships require community authority; this profile cannot decide identity, recognition, descent, or membership.
The field report documents local settlement features rather than a fixed ethnic territory.
The griddle study identifies maize-related practices in its sample, not a dietary percentage.
Comparative shell-tool research supports diverse processing functions.
A concise, sourced timeline
These milestones are orientation points, not a complete history.
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Project occupation frame
The project synthesis gives a broad sequence; its end is not proof of regional disappearance.
Food, craft, language, work, and belief
Languages named in this profile
- Spoken languages are not established by this site's material record
Language family: Unresolved for the archaeological context
Mounds could accumulate through several activities, not one building event.
Microscopic residues can differ between neighboring communities.
Independent DNAGENICS AI-assisted educational summaries, not reproductions of the cited works or professional scholarly review. Cited communities, museums, researchers, universities, National Trusts, heritage authorities, UNESCO, and the National Park Service did not author or endorse this atlas. Names identify sources only; no logos, source imagery, human remains, restricted cultural expressions, or sensitive coordinates are reproduced. Public publication does not establish cultural consent. Use the site's contact channel for corrections or concerns.
Ask about this reviewed profile
The guide can explain and connect facts already present on this page. It cannot search the open web, establish identity or citizenship, or evaluate ancestry and genetic information.
AI-generated interpretation of genetic similarity, not proof of ancestry. Informational only, not professional advice.
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Before you continue: the analysis you are about to generate is produced by an AI model. AI output can be incomplete, inaccurate, or simply wrong. It describes statistical genetic similarity to reference populations and is not proof of ancestry, ethnicity, identity, or descent. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and is not medical, diagnostic, genealogical, legal, or other professional advice. Do not rely on it to make health, financial, legal, or family decisions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, DNA Genics, S.L. accepts no liability for any loss or decision arising from your use of this AI output.
Sources used for this page
Prefer Caribbean heritage authorities, Indigenous and community perspectives, accountable excavation projects, original archaeological studies, and institutional collections documentation. Attribute written and oral accounts by date, genre, language, audience, and viewpoint. Historical inventories, tentative nominations, catalog records, and full excavation reports are not interchangeable.
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C1
Caribbean Archaeology and World Heritage Convention (World Heritage Papers 14)
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Regional archaeological and heritage proceedings; historical inventory, not current inscription status · 2005
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C2
Teaching Indigenous History and Heritage: A Guide for Teachers in the Caribbean
Eldris Con Aguilar and Corinne L. Hofman; NEXUS1492, Leiden University · Educational research guide; cited for evidence methodology, not reproduced or adapted · 2017
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C3
Bringing Taíno Peoples Back Into History
Leiden University, NEXUS1492 · Institutional account of living heritage and Smithsonian exhibition · 2018-08-27
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C4
Caribbean Ties: Connected People, Then and Now
NEXUS1492, Leiden University and Caribbean partners · Collaborative archaeological outreach publication · 2019
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C5
Caribbean encounters: rescue excavations at the early colonial Island Carib site of Argyle, St. Vincent
Corinne L. Hofman and Menno L. P. Hoogland; Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia, Leiden University · Original archaeological research contribution · 2012
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C6
Late Precolonial Culinary Practices: Starch Analysis on Griddles from the Northern Caribbean
Andy J. Ciofalo and colleagues; Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · Original peer-reviewed microbotanical study · 2019
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C7
Lucayan charred wood selection patterns: a comparative study of variability in fragile island ecosystems of the central and northern Bahamas
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany; Springer Nature · Original peer-reviewed wood-use and chronological study · 2024
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C8
Archaeological History, Memory, and Heritage at the White Marl Site, Central Village, St Catherine Parish, Jamaica
Caribbean Quarterly; Taylor & Francis · Original community and heritage research · 2023
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S1
University of Leiden Fieldwork Report Dominican Republic, 2015
C. L. Hofman and project team; DANS Data Station Archaeology · Deposited original field report · 2015
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S2
Late Precolonial Culinary Practices: Starch Analysis on Griddles from the Northern Caribbean
Andy J. Ciofalo and colleagues; Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · Original peer-reviewed microbotanical study · 2019
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S3
Starchy shells: Residue analysis of precolonial northern Caribbean culinary practices
Andy J. Ciofalo and colleagues; Archaeometry · Original peer-reviewed tool-residue study · 2020
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S4
Caribbean Ties: Connected People, Then and Now
NEXUS1492, Leiden University and Caribbean partners · Collaborative archaeological outreach publication · 2019
Editorial review: October 20, 2026