Holguín beyond its archaeological history

The eastern city of Holguin excels not only by its nature and cultural traditions, but also an archeological heritage that outlines its ancestral history and makes it one of the most important sites for the study of Cuban aboriginal life.

The third most densely populated province in the country after Havana and Santiago de Cuba, Holguín boasts some of the most transcendental findings of the Indo-American populations reported in this geographic area, a reflection of economic and religious life before 1492, when Spanish Admiral Christopher Columbus found the continent.

One of these sites, invaluable for local historiography, is the Chorro de Maíta Cemetery, the largest aboriginal graveyard in the Caribbean islands.

Located more than 60 kilometers from the provincial capital, this place features a museum and a replica of a native Taino village, which displays the habits of Cuban Indians in agriculture, religious rites, housing and signs of Indo-Hispanic contact, a major attractions for foreign visitors interested in Cuban traditions during the period from 1080 to 1590.

Utensils such as vessels, decorative ornaments, work instruments, food remains, gods, among others, jealously guarded in institutions like the Provincial Museum of History La Periquera and the Indo-Cuban Museum Bani, are a sample of local treasures.

In order to preserve this wealth, highly valued by the programs of conservation of historical places and tourism development, the Central Eastern Department of Archeology promotes the study of these sites through research works such as "Natives in Holguin' and "Osteoarcheology of the region of Banes".

Holguín’s zealously preserved archaeological patrimony bears witness to the life of the first settlers of the region whose cultural roots are treasured by the new generations, increasingly attached to the essence of Cubanness and of the fertile and prosperous land that they cherish.