Caguana, also known as Capá, is an important Taíno site in central Puerto Rico. The settlement shows evidence of occupation at least since A.D. 500, but reached its maximum development during the Taíno florescence, between AD 1000 and 1450. It is now comprised within the Caguana Indian Ceremonial Park, in Puerto Rico.
The site lies in the rugged interior of the island, far away from the coast. Close to the Tanamá river, Caguana is located in a limestone landscape dotted by many caves and rock shelters that probably had important religious significance for the Taíno.
Caguana Settlement Layout
Caguana seems to have been a ceremonial center surrounded by isolated farming units. There is little evidence of habitation other than elite’s residences and temples. The site contains the most elaborate group of plazas and ball courts of the Caribbean.
Plaza A is the main area of the site. This is a large rectangular plaza, measuring about 1760 sq. meters, oriented north-south. Organized around this central plaza there are a series of smaller rectangular plaza, probably ball courts, and circular spaces are surrounded by an alignment of stones decorated with petroglyphs, portraying images of humans and animals, from Taíno mythology and chief's ancestors.
The spaces limited by these stone alignments, which were probably oriented according to the stars or planet, were the stage for procession, ball games and ceremonies, such as areytos, which involved the whole population in dances, songs and ancestor worship.
Archaeologists believe that Caguana was a political and ceremonial meeting place, more than an heavily inhabited settlement, and a communal place where people from dispersed communities congregated to reinforce social bonds and religious identity.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Caribbean Timeline, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Saunders Nicholas J., 2005, The Peoples of the Caribbean. An Encyclopedia of Archaeology and Traditional Culture. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California.
Wilson, Samuel, 2007, The Archaeology of the Caribbean, Cambridge World Archaeology Series. Cambridge University Press, New York