Exploraciones arqueológicas en la Fortaleza de Santo Tomás de Jánico: nuevos aportes a su comprensión histórica

Abstract

Archaeological explorations in the fortress of Santo Tomas of Jánico. New contributions to its historical understanding EXPLORACIONES ARQUEOLÓGICAS EN LA FORTALEZA DE SANTO TOMÁS DE JÁNICO. NUEVOS APORTES A SU COMPRENSIÓN HISTÓRICA Resumen 12El trabajo muestra los resultados de las prospecciones arqueológicas realizadas en el solar donde estuvo ubicada la fortaleza de Santo Tomás de Jánico, fundada por los españoles en 1494 durante los procesos iniciales de colonización de La Española. Los objetivos esenciales fueron localizar posibles restos de esa estructura, validar las ideas sobre la existencia de un segundo momento de ocupación de ese enclave militar y arrojar nuevas informaciones sobre los materiales utilizados para su construcción. Durante las prospecciones se aplicaron medios técnicos no invasivos como radar de penetración de suelo (GPR), detector de metales, estación total (TS) y drones. Un modelo tridimensional de la superficie del sitio arqueológico fue creado a partir de levantamientos fotogramétricos, lo que proporcionó un mapa topográfico actualizado del mismo, además las exploraciones en su entorno arrojaron nueve sitios arqueológicos indígenas, que no habían sido previamente registrados.Palabras clave: colonización; fortificación; paisaje; prospección; arqueología; fotogrametría. AbstractThe paper shows the results of archaeological surveys carried out at the site where the Spaniards founded the Fortress of Santo Tomás de Jánico in 1494, during the initial colonization of Hispaniola. With the objective to identify structural remains of the fortress, and to validate ideas of a second occupation of this enclave, as well as searching for new information about the materials used in its construction, technical means such as ground penetration radar (GPR), metal detector, total station (TS) and drones were used. A three-dimensional model of the surface of the archaeological site was created from the photogrammetric surveys, in order to provide a new topographic map. From archaeological field surveys in the vicinity of the fortress nine new indigenous archaeological sites were registered as well.

The Transformation of Indigenous Landscape in the First Colonized Region of the Caribbean

“…Second, the medium-sized sites seem to have been related to temporary or permanent housing activities and, given that both the material evidence and its diversity is less, they may have had fewer inhabitants or existed for shorter periods of time. As in neighboring areas, these medium sites also could have been related to specific activities such as agriculture or could have served as rancherías (small hamlets) for hunting parties or fishermen going to the coast [27]. Third, the small sites might have been related to specific tasks, possibly daily activities which recurred over time but that did not need to be done in exactly the same place (e.g., a location where marine products were processed once or multiple times before being transported to hamlets or the main settlement).…”

“…Nevertheless, the wider idea of indigenous territories connected to hierarchical political structures was present in several colonial chronicles and was finally depicted in Charlevoix's map in 1731 (Figure 9). [26,27,34,35,53,54], do not seem to reflect the cultural diversity or the political organization before 1492.…”

“…Based on their understanding of the world, the first Spanish tried to identify in the indigenous communities hierarchical and spatial patterns similar to those that existed in Europe at that time. In spatial terms, this led to the definition of indigenous "territories" [52] that, based on the available archaeological evidence from the northern region of the island [26,27,34,35,53,54], do not seem to reflect the cultural diversity or the political organization before 1492.…”

Indigenous Routes and Resource Materialities in the Early Spanish Colonial World: Comparative Archaeological Approaches

“…This fits with a model of the ruta having low levels of formalization and a relatively short period of use following the initial entrada . Archaeological research at the route's endpoint at the Santo Tomás de Jánico fort has also pushed back against previous reconstructions of a larger plan and stone-built architecture, suggesting a smaller, briefly occupied site characterized by a more ephemeral wooden construction (Ulloa Hung and Sonnemann 2017).…”