c.

c. AD 1000 – 1500 (Ceremonial Architecture): The site of Caguana in Puerto Rico stands as one of the most significant examples of ceremonial architecture in the pre-Columbian Caribbean. It features multiple stone-lined plazas (bateyes) used for the ceremonial ball game and public festivals known as areítos. Many of the stone monoliths lining these courts are engraved with petroglyphs representing ancestral deities and cemís. Keegan and Hofman point to Caguana as evidence of a highly centralized political system where “caciques” (chiefs) used public architecture to materialize their spiritual authority and coordinate social labor across the island’s interior.