Cave system

Manantial de la Aleta

Sinkhole73 m deepDominican Republic, La Altagracia

Access status not verified · as published 2002 An underwater archaeological site inside Parque Nacional Cotubanamá, studied by research teams with Dominican government and park support. No recreational diving access or current rules are published. Access rules change: confirm with the landowner or managing authority before you travel.

Documented Also known as: La Aleta, Spring of the Fin, Manantial La Aleta, La Aleta sinkhole

Surveyed length

Not published

Documented depth

73 m (239 ft)

Entrances listed

Water temperature

24 °C

Survey and exploration

Indiana University Office of Underwater Science, Museo del Hombre Dominicano

Maximum depth of the debris-mound slopes below the water surface, as measured for the 2002 study.

A deep flooded sinkhole inside Parque Nacional Cotubanamá that was a Taíno ritual site. Its oxygen-free deep water preserved wooden objects and pottery recovered by archaeological divers from 40-71 m. It is an archaeological research site.

Manantial de la Aleta, the 'Spring of the Fin', lies inside the national park about 5 km inland from the nearest coast. Several small openings in the ground lead into a chamber that drops 16 m to a roughly circular pool about 40 m across. Under water, a mound of collapsed rubble rises to within 34 m of the surface, and its slopes descend to 73 m.

The water is clear in the top 10 m, then passes through a milky layer charged with hydrogen sulfide before clearing again below about 20 m. Below about 11 m the water has no oxygen and no light, conditions that preserved organic Taíno artefacts for centuries.

Indiana University archaeologists, working with Dominican partners, mapped and recovered 245 artefacts from the slopes at 40 to 71 m, including a small carved wooden seat (duho), a vomiting spatula, a small wooden vessel tentatively linked to the cohoba ritual, and decorated pottery. Four ceremonial plazas lie within about 75 m of the sinkhole, and the researchers interpret it as a regional ritual centre linked to ancestor worship. A description by the 16th-century chronicler Bartolomé de las Casas has been argued to refer to this spring.

The site is an underwater archaeological site in a national park. No public diving access is published.

Geology

A collapse sinkhole in the karst of the south-east Dominican Republic: rubble fallen from the roof forms a submerged mound whose top is at 34 m and whose flanks reach 73 m.

Water, flow and flooding

The study reports no measurable flow and little runoff, a sulfide-laden layer from about 10 m that clears below 20 m, oxygen-free water below about 11 m, and a nearly constant water temperature of about 24 °C.

Why it matters

Its investigators interpret it as a regional Taíno ritual centre connected with ancestor worship. Because the deep water is dark and oxygen-free, it preserved wooden artefacts that did not survive at comparable sites such as Cueva de Chicho.

Conditions

Hydrogen sulfide layer from about 10 m; oxygen-free water below about 11 m (2002 study).

Typical ranges from published sources, not current conditions.

Survey and exploration history

1981	José Guerrero identified the Manantial de la Aleta during a brief survey sponsored by the Museo del Hombre Dominicano. [1]
2002	Beeker, Conrad and Foster reported 245 artefacts recovered from depths of 40 to 71 m. [1]

Entrances and dive sites

Several small openings in the ground surface lead to one chamber. Archaeological site; no public access point is published.