For 2.5 weeks in September 2021, Coppa"s team from Sapienza University of Rome, with investigators from Santo Domingo"s  combed a 12mx12m area of virgin turf untouched by agriculture. Digging just 20cm below the surface, gently prodding the moist, coffee-coloured earth for signs of past civilisations, they found a trove of polished stone hammers, pestles and axes, conches and other tools used by the Archaic people.