Fodor's Expert Review Parque Arqueológico de San Agustín

The parks surrounding San Agustín make up the largest pre-Columbian site outside Central America and Peru and are part of a vast complex of tombs left by little-known cultures whose actual names are lost to history. One of these thrived in this region from AD 300–800 and was given the name "the San Agustín culture" by the Spanish settlers who stumbled upon their relics. (Carbon-14 dating places some of the works here as early as 3300 BC.) Altars and idols carved from volcanic rock make up the structures scattered throughout this ancient funerary complex. Some of the pieces have been donated from private collections. As with all the parks in the region, a guide is necessary to get a full understanding of what you're seeing. The folks at the Secretaria de Turismo or the Hacienda Anacaona can hook you up with one.