Chorro de Maíta Museum and Taíno Village

Sixty-two skeletons lie exactly where archaeologists found them, at the position and depth they were buried, under the roof of a small museum on the slope of Cerro de Yaguajay inland from Guardalavaca. The cemetery dates from the 1400s and 1500s, either side of the Spanish arrival, and that is what makes it unusual: most burials are Taíno, curled in the fetal position, but some lie stretched out in the Christian way, and the remains include people of European, African and Mesoamerican origin. Look for a young woman buried with many objects, and a man of 1.75 metres, tall for a Taíno. Gold idols, coral necklaces and pottery fill the cases.

Across from the museum, Aldea Taína is a reconstructed village with life-size figures in native houses, plus a restaurant. Tours from the Guardalavaca hotels pair the two with the fishing village of Boca de Sama and a country lunch. The museum may charge for cameras.