PREHISTORIC SANTO DOMINGAN KITCHEN-MIDDENS. 

 CEMETERIES, AND EARTHWORKS 



By HERBERT W. KRIEGER, 



Curator, Division of Ethnology, U. S. National Museum 



The third consecutive season of archeological work in Santo 

 Domingo was begun in January and concluded in May, 1930. As 

 in preceding years, the work was made possible through a subvention 

 of Dr. W. L. Abbott, who had previously conducted biological investi- 

 gations principally in the high mountains surrounding Constanza val- 

 ley, and on the southern slopes of the Central Cordillera in the prov- 

 ince of Azua. 



The season's work opened on the south coast, at the little Domini- 

 can village of Andres on the Bahia de Andres, an arm of the Carib- 

 bean, situated approximately 30 kilometers east of the capital city of 

 Santo Domingo. The writer first became interested in what had been 

 reported as an Arawak burial ground at Boca Chica, when viewing in 

 March, 1929, the collection of Senor Andres Socias, of Copey, Monte 

 Cristi Province. In that collection was an earthenware vessel differ- 

 ent from the usual type of pottery from the north coast of Santo 

 Domingo. Senor Socias had obtained the vessel several years previ- 

 ously from a friend residing at Boca Chica. The Indian burial ground 

 at Boca Chica (Andres) had in the meantime been worked by Mr. 

 Thomas Howell, of New York, the president of the Compania 

 Azucarera Boca Chica. In 1928 while excavating for a new sugar 

 warehouse many skulls, skeletons, and accompanying pottery vessels 

 were uncovered. Before Howell's attention was directed to these finds 

 a large number of earthenware vessels had been wantonly destroyed 

 by the laborers. 



In 1930 the writer proceeded to Andres hoping to learn more of 

 the culture stratification in the adjoining kitchen-midden. Mr. Fox, 

 the resident manager of the concern, during the absence of Air. 

 Howell, kindly granted the writer permission to carry on investiga- 

 tions for the Smithsonian Institution on the property directly in 

 front of the sugar warehouses where most of the finds were being 

 made. Local officials of the Dominican Government granted permis- 

 sion to explore within the confines of the adjoining village of Andres. 

 Living quarters were supplied by the Compania Azucarera, the offi- 

 cials of which assisted the undertaking in every possible manner. 



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