Anthropological genetic insights on Caribbean population history

Abstract

As the last American region settled by humans, yet the first to experience European colonization, the Caribbean islands have a complex history characterized by continuous migration, admixture, and demographic change. In the last 20 years, genetics research has transformed our understanding of Caribbean population history and revisited major debates in Caribbean anthropology, such as those surrounding the first peopling of the Antilles and the relationship between ancient Indigenous communities and present‐day islanders. Genetics studies have also contributed novel perspectives for understanding pivotal events in Caribbean post‐contact history such as European colonization, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and the Asian Indenture system. Here, I discuss the last 20 years of Caribbean genetics research and emphasize the importance of integrating genetics with interdisciplinary historic, archaeological, and anthropological approaches. Such interdisciplinary research is essential for investigating the dynamic history of the Caribbean and characterizing its impact on the biocultural diversity of present‐day Caribbean peoples.

Integrating genealogy and dental variation: contributions to biological anthropology

“…Among the most impressive is the potential for DNA to refine multiscalar reconstructions of past events and processes. At a microevolutionary level, this can involve the use of modern or ancient genetic data to understand site/population structure (Sjögren et al, 2020; Veeramah, 2018; Zimmerman et al, 2021), “peopling events” and migration histories (Cai et al, 2011; Nieves‐Colón, 2022; Reich et al, 2012; Underhill & Kivisild, 2007), and host‐pathogen interaction/coevolution (Bos et al, 2011; Comas et al, 2013; Pimenoff et al, 2018). At a macroevolutionary level, molecular genetic datasets have provided insight into speciation events and phylogeny (e.g., Pozzi et al, 2014; Vanderpool et al, 2020; Zinner et al, 2013), hominin interaction and patterns of introgression (Durvasula & Sankararaman, 2020; Gokcumen, 2020; Posth et al, 2017; Reich et al, 2010), and adaptive change to selective pressures that correlates with patterns observed at the level of alleles (Baiz et al, 2018; Fu & Akey, 2013).…”