Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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Recent archaeological studies in the northern Dominican Republic demonstrate an ethnocultural diverse region, reflected in the admixtures of ceramic series, and a distinct settlement pattern....Show moreRecent archaeological studies in the northern Dominican Republic demonstrate an ethnocultural diverse region, reflected in the admixtures of ceramic series, and a distinct settlement pattern. During the Late Ceramic Age (AD 800 – AD 1500), Indigenous Caribbean communities relied upon their interaction networks as a fundamental part of their lifeways, in which movement and visibility played an important role. With the arrival of Columbus in 1492, the northern part of the Dominican Republic became the first colonised area in the Americas. After the establishment of La Isabela, the Spanish started to search for gold in the inland of the island, along what became known as the Ruta de Colón. This thesis used a GIS-based total landscape approach to model visibility and movement affordances on a landscape scale, contributing to a better understanding of Late Ceramic Age Indigenous interaction networks in the northern Dominican Republic. The visual properties and path frequency values within the spatial neighbourhood of different site categories were compared against those of completely spatially random locations to assess the role of movement and visibility in the determination and use of settlements. Material culture-based movement corridors were compared with the accumulated least-cost path model to evaluate the trajectories of Indigenous path networks. Furthermore, the relation between the reconstructed Ruta de Colón’s trajectory and the Indigenous path networks was assessed to gain more insights into the role of Indigenous movement corridors within the initial stage of European colonisation. This thesis demonstrates that the most important movement corridors in the northern Dominican Republic were east-west oriented and located along the coast and in the Cibao Valley. The Puerto de Los Hidalgos is one of the important north-south oriented movement corridors with the highest path frequency values to traverse the Cordillera Septentrional. The region displays a high degree of diversity in terms of visual properties. The accumulated least-cost path model confirms the hypothesised interactions between Montecristi, the Cibao valley and the northern coast, and lithics, ceramics and marine and agricultural resources were exchanged along these paths. The movement and visual property comparison of site categories suggest that multicomponent sites were important gathering places in regional interaction networks. Meillacoid and Chicoid sites seem to have similar path frequency values within small neighbourhoods, however, Chicoid sites are better connected to movement corridors on a regional scale. Visibility seemed to be more important for the location of Chicoid sites Meillacoid and multicomponent sites. The path frequency values suggest that sites with mounds were important gathering places with prominent positions in regional interaction networks. The good visual properties of these site locations could relate to the construction of mounds on these sites. Extraction sites are better connected to local path networks, while habitation sites seem to be better connected to regional path networks. Visibility was also more important for the site locations of habitation sites than for extraction sites. The path frequencies and visual properties of small, medium and large sites were similar and their variability dependents on the local contexts of the landscape. The Ruta de Colón does not directly correspond with the modelled high path frequency movement corridors, except in the Puerto de Los Hidalgos and the Cibao valley, and was composed of Indigenous path segments. The Ruta de Colón is considered predominantly colonial as the Spanish used it as the most efficient path to reach the gold resources, but it is important to acknowledge the role of Indigenous paths, guides and communities within this initial stage of European colonisation.Show less
