I'd be the first to admit that some things archaeologists are interested in are not very tangible or relevant or juicy to the majority of people. I, for example, am interested predominantly in postholes - negative features, filled with only earth, sand and gravel; others get passionate about a nice soil stratigraphy - ultimately very tedious. However, some things archaeologists find are of immediate interest to a wider audience - and we are currently making such discoveries in El Cabo.
The indigenous population of the eastern Dominican Republic were slain and enslaved and perished from disease within about 50 years of European contact. Though many agricultural practices, recipes and elements of their language persist, and some of their genes are mingled with those of the current Dominican population, culturally and socially and physically they were pretty much destroyed by the Spanish.
Until this week, we believed that the site of El Cabo was abandoned before Columbus set foot in the Americas. However, one small blue glass bead and a handful of green glazed ceramics throws a whole new light on the Taino settlement of El Cabo. These few artefacts, recovered by students from the sieves, indicate that the indigenous population was still very much at large when the Spaniards came with their guns, germs and steel. They also indicate that the Taino in El Cabo exchanged goods, probably gold, pearls and other goodies coveted by the Europeans, for pottery, glass, bells, pins and copper buckles and other goodies which they themselves coveted. We are still assessing the implications of these new finds, but what we may be witnessing in the iste are some of the first encounters between Europeans and inhabitants of the Americas!