Hato Caves are
show cave
A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits.
Definition
A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...
s, publicly accessible since 1991 and a popular
tourist attraction on the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
island of
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
. The caves consist of marine
coral limestone, which accumulated over millions of years and after sea levels had dropped were exposed to
atmospheric
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
corrosion and
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
ic processes. They are approximately long and cover an area of .
Location
The site is situated on the island's northern coast, north of the town of
Willemstad on the Roosevelt Weg. The caves constitute layers and terraces. Several caves are to be found on the second terrace, the Hato Caves are exclusively located above on the third terrace.
History
The earliest known inhabitants of the caves about 1,500 years ago were the
Amerindian Arawaks
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, wh ...
and
Caiquetio Indians, who also buried their dead in the caves. The numerous
petroglyphs and cave drawings are attributed to these early occupants. Before the abolition of slavery, runaway
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
used the caves as hiding places.
See also
*
List of caves
*
Caribbean people
Caribbean people are the people born in or inhabitants of the Caribbean region or people of Caribbean descent living outside the Caribbean. The Caribbean region was initially populated by Amerindians from several different Island Caribs, Kalina ...
*
History of Curaçao
References
External links
Hato Caves
{{Navbox prehistoric caves
Natural history of Curaçao
Caves of Curaçao
Petroglyphs in South America
Caves of the Caribbean