Lucayan Heritage

The Lucayans lived across these islands for centuries before 1492 and were taken to Hispaniola as forced labour within a generation of contact, leaving the islands empty for over a century. What they left is archaeological: MC-6 on Middle Caicos is one of the largest Lucayan settlement sites known anywhere, with a plaza and stone alignments and an unusual amount of Hispaniolan pottery suggesting a trading role; the Conch Bar caves held wooden objects preserved by the dry conditions, including a paddle and a duho, the carved ceremonial seat. The museum on Grand Turk holds the collection.

What you actually see

• MC-6 on Middle Caicos - one of the largest known Lucayan settlements.
• The wooden finds - a paddle and a duho preserved in the caves.
• The museum collection - ceramics, tools and shell work on Grand Turk.
• The trade evidence - Hispaniolan pottery indicating a wider network.

When to go

November to May is the driest for reaching the sites. The museum on Grand Turk is the practical starting point. Site visits on Middle Caicos should be arranged rather than attempted alone.

Honest expectations

The sites themselves are largely unmarked and unexcavated ground that reads as scrub without a guide; the museum does the work. Looting has been a problem at several. Nothing may be removed. The population was destroyed entirely within about twenty-five years of contact, and there is no continuous Lucayan community here.

Nearby

The museum is in Cockburn Town; MC-6 is on Middle Caicos.