It took no time at all for the native Americans who first greeted Christopher Columbus to be all but erased from the face of the earth. For about a thousand years the peaceful people known as the Taino had thrived in modern-day Cuba and many other islands. But less than 30 years after Columbus’ arrival, the Taino would be destroyed by Spanish weaponry, forced labor and European diseases. Unlike their distant cousins, the Inca, Aztecs and Maya, the Taino left no pyramids or temples—no obvious signs that they had ever existed. But it is a mistake to assume—as many scholars have until quite recently—that the absence of abundant artifacts meant the Taino were necessarily more primitive than the grander civilizations of Central and South America. They simply used less durable materials: the Taino relied on wood for building and most craftwork, and much of what they made has disintegrated over the centuries. However, thanks largely to two remarkable digs undertaken recently, archaeologists will be able to enrich their knowledge of the Taino. There nearly intact remains of a Taino dwelling buried in the dirt. This site may have been one of the Taino’s major centers. Meanwhile, deep in the forests of the Dominican Republic, a U. S.-Dominican team has also made an important discovery: a 240-ft. deep Taino cenote, or ceremonial well, where hundreds of objects thrown in as offerings have been preserved in the oxygen-poor water. It will take a much longer time to understand the Taino fully, but they have been rescued from the ignoble status of footnotes in the chapter of history that began with the arrival of Columbus. The main idea of Paragraph 1 is ______.

A. Christopher Columbus returned the Taino’s greeting with cruelty
B. the Europeans’ coming brought an end to the existence of the Taino
C. the Taino once prosperous in modern-day Cuba now has no trace on earth
D. Spanish weaponry would have crushed the Taino but for Columbus’ arrival