Excavando el pasado del caribe insular venezolano: historia e historiografía de los primeros 100 años de arqueología en las islas de Cubagua y Margarita 1915–2019

Abstract

The present investigation seeks to make a historical and historiographical balance on archeology in the insular Caribbean of the Venezuelan northeast. The main conclusions point to an archeology centered on three major problems: (1) the prehispanic settlement of the Venezuelan insular region and its implications for the settlement of the rest of the Caribbean islands; (2) the study of the first moments of the Atlantic World expansion that takes place on the island of Cubagua with the beginning of the exploitation of the pearl farms and the birth and disappearance of the city of Nueva Cádiz founded during the first half of the XVI century and; (3) The attempts to develop the value of the archaeological heritage of the island of Cubagua and its appropriation by communities and public and private institutions.