On May 21st, the exhibition “Unidad y Diversidad en el Caribe Amerindio: Una Mirada al asentamiento arqueológico El Cabo San Rafael” (Unity and Diversity in the Amerindian Caribbean: The El Cabo San Rafael Archaeological Site) was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Corinne Hofman, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Dominican Republic, Mrs. Marijke A. van Drunen-Littel the, and in name of the director of the “Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jiménez” Mrs. María Elena Aguayo.

Archaeological research at El Cabo was undertaken by Leiden University under the direction of Prof. dr. Menno Hoogland and  Prof.  dr. Corinne Hofman, in collaboration with the Museo del Hombre Domincano, between 2005-2008. This research was financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO project: “Houses for the living and the dead”).

Extensive archaeological excavations and surveys were conducted at and around El Cabo, extending into the social and ritual landscape of the area – settlement sites as caves and cenotes were recorded.  During these four years of research, several phases of occupation were recognized, roughly dating between AD 600 and 1500. At El Cabo approximately 2000 postholes were recovered, within a 1000m2 trench. The preservation of the postholes, cut directly into the limestone, allowed for the identification of more than 50 structures, 30 of which have been interpreted as houses (PhD Dissertation “Renewing the house” by Dr. Alice Samson 2010).  The research at El Cabo also showed that human mobility and the exchange of people, ideas, and materials was continuous and sustained in the region.

The exhibition was extended with a part on the current archaeological and anthropological investigations in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic in the context of the NEXUS 1492 project supported by the European Research Council.  

On June 11th the Centro Leon Jiménez organizes an excursion to the site of El Flaco.