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Officially a Reserva Antropológica, this network of bat-infested caves north of San Cristóbal contains the largest display of Taino wall paintings and rock drawings in the Caribbean. You can see mysterious spiritual symbols and scenes of day-to-day pre-Columbian life depicted here.

The “little faces” chiseled into the coral rock of the cave overlooking Lago Enriquillo have a range of expressions. Some represent Tanios praying. Local legend has it that the renegade Taino leader Enriquillo (see Enriquillo (1498–1535)) hid in this cave while on the run from the Spanish.

Taino cave, Las Caritas

Part of the Parque Nacional del Este, this cave system has some of the country’s best-preserved Taino images on rock panels. A guardian figure, with large head and raised arms, watches over the low entrance of the first cave.

Farther into Parque Nacional del Este and accessible only in the company of a park ranger, this cave holds 1,200 Taino pictographs referring not only to religious beliefs but also to the coming of the Spanish. Black charcoal drawings on white limestone walls clearly show a bearded Spanish face and sailing vessel.

This museum holds specimens of delicately carved jewelry and decorated pottery. The powerful spiritual dimension of Taino society is vividly brought to life by the clay zemis , depicting various gods, and by a ceremonial stool, apparently used in rituals by a village chieftain or cacique .

This complex of grottoes and labyrinths is a fascinating exhibition not only of Taino art forms but also stalactites, stalagmites, and other geological curiosities. The 472 pictographs and 19 petroglyphs depict human figures and various animals associated with death rituals.

An indigenous (and much smaller) version of Stonehenge, in England, a circle of rocks surrounds a stone slab in the middle of a huge open space. Nearby, religious petroglyphs suggest that this was an important ceremonial center.

The museum at the Parque Nacional Histórico La Isabela highlights the everyday life in a Taino village. Outside are examples of an indigenous bohío or thatched dwelling, and gardens containing staple crops grown by Taino communities.

Inhospitable mangrove swamps and rocky terrain mean that the Taino sites can only be accessed through an organized boat trip. Caves within the park have extensive drawings, including scenes of hunting, birds, whales, and various faces.

Best known for its diving among offshore wrecks, this park also contains an excavated Taino cemetery, discovered on the beach in the 1970s. A display of skeletons reveals that indigenous communities preferred to bury their dead in a crouched fetal position, in anticipation, apparently, of being reborn.