Caguana Ceremonial Site

Set in a bowl of green mountains near Utuado, Caguana was a ceremonial centre of the Taíno, the people who were living across the island when Europeans arrived. Ten plazas and ball courts are laid out here, the largest a rectangle of beaten earth bordered by upright slabs of limestone, and on many of those slabs are petroglyphs: faces with wide eyes and open mouths, wrapped limbs, the figure known as the Woman of Caguana. The courts were used for batey, a ball game played across the Caribbean with a rubber ball that could not be touched with hands or feet, and which carried ritual as well as sporting weight. A small museum sets out what is known, and royal palms and ceiba trees shade the site.

History

The Taíno built the courts around 1270 AD, and locals knew the site as the Corrales de los Indios for the corral-like outlines of the courts. The American anthropologist John Alden Mason led the first survey in 1914, Yale archaeologists such as Irving Rouse continued the work from the 1930s, and the site museum reopened in June 2024 with more than 200 pieces (Wikipedia, Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site).

What you'll find

• The main plaza - the largest court, bordered by carved upright slabs.
• The petroglyphs - Taíno faces and figures cut into the border stones.
• The Woman of Caguana - the best known of the carved figures.
• The setting - ceiba and royal palms in a bowl of mountains.

When to go

Year-round, though the mountain roads are best driven in dry weather and mornings are cooler for walking the open plazas. The site has been closed for repairs at times after storms and earthquakes, so it is worth confirming it is open before making the drive.

Things to know

The remains are low stone borders and earth plazas rather than buildings, so this is a site that rewards reading about it beforehand. Signage has been limited and the museum is small. The mountain roads to Utuado are narrow and winding, and the drive takes longer than the distance suggests.

Nearby

The Camuy caves and the karst country are half an hour north; Arecibo is beyond them.

Key facts