Paleoenvironmental evidence for first human colonization of the eastern Caribbean

Siegel, Peter E.; Jones, John G.; Pearsall, Deborah M.; Dunning, Nicholas P.; Farrell, Pat; Duncan, Neil A.; Curtis, Jason H.; Singh, Sushant K.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.014

Cited by 51 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…That early foragers could have played a significant role in reshaping newly colonized landscapes is also supported by evidence that later foragers did. For example, the first colonists of the eastern Caribbean in the mid-Holocene brought their foraging, collecting and hunting lifestyles with them, and engaged in modification and management of tropical ecosystems that is reflected in significant shifts in pollen and phytolith datasets 50 .…”

Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

et al. 2017

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Abstract/first paragraphSignificant human impacts on tropical forests have been considered the preserve of recent societies, linked to large-scale deforestation, extensive and intensive agriculture, resource mining, livestock grazing, and urban settlement. Cumulative archaeological evidence now demonstrates, however, that Homo sapiens has actively manipulated tropical forest ecologies for at least 45,000 years. It is clear that these millennia of impacts need to be taken into account when studying and conserving tropical forest ecosystems today. Nevertheless, archaeology has so far provided only limited practical insight into contemporary human-tropical forest interactions. Here, we review significant archaeological evidence for the impacts of past hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists, and urban settlements on global tropical forests. We compare the challenges faced, as well as the solutions adopted, by these groups with those confronting present-day societies, which also rely on tropical forests for a variety of ecosystem services. We emphasise archaeology's importance not only in promoting natural and cultural heritage in tropical forests, but also in taking an active role to inform modern conservation and policy-making.

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Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

et al. 2017

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“…BC. (Siegel et al, 2015;Stouvenot et al, 2014). Morel I on Grande-Terre is the oldest ceramic archaeological site in Guadeloupe Islands dating to around AD 80 and attributed to the Huecan Saladoid culture (Neo-Indian or Early Ceramic Age) (Bérard, 2013;Clerc, 1964;Fitzpatrick, 2015;Hofman et al, 1999;Romon et al, 2006).…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

From a thriving past to an uncertain future: Zooarchaeological evidence of two millennia of human impact on a large emblematic lizard (Iguana delicatissima) on the Guadeloupe Islands (French West Indies)

Bochaton

Bailón

Ineich

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

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“…The Lithic Age represents the earliest archaeological evidence of human occupation in the Caribbean (~6,000 years ago) and is found in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. The Archaic Age is defined by the appearance of ground-stone artifacts as early as 5,000 years ago, and has been hypothesized to reflect a second spread of technology and possibly people from South America 4,5 . The Ceramic Age, beginning 2,500-2,300 years ago, is characterized by an agricultural economy and intensive pottery production; it is widely accepted as reflecting at least one migration of people from the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela and the Guianas who spoke a language related to present-day Arawak languages.…”

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confidence: 99%

A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean

Fernandes

Sirak

Ringbauer

et al. 2020

Preprint

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These authors contributed equally to this work. Humans settled the Caribbean ~6,000 years ago, with intensified agriculture and ceramic use marking a shift from the Archaic Age to the Ceramic Age ~2,500 years ago. To shed new light on the history of Caribbean people, we report genome-wide data from 184 individuals predating European contact from The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, and northwestern Venezuela. A largely homogeneous ceramic-using population most likely originating in northeastern South America and related to present-day Arawak-speaking groups moved throughout the Caribbean at least 1,800 years ago, spreading ancestry that is still detected in parts of the region today. These people eventually almost entirely replaced Archaic-related lineages in Hispaniola but not in northwestern Cuba, where unadmixed Archaic-related ancestry persisted into the last millennium. We document high mobility and inter-island connectivity throughout the Ceramic Age as reflected in relatives buried ~75 kilometers apart in Hispaniola and low genetic differentiation across many Caribbean islands, albeit with subtle population structure distinguishing the Bahamian islands we studied from the rest of the Caribbean and from each other, and long-term population continuity in southeastern coastal Hispaniola differentiating this region from the rest of the island. Ceramic-associated people avoided close kin unions despite limited mate pools reflecting low effective population sizes (2Ne=1000-2000) even at sites on the large Caribbean islands. While census population sizes can be an order of magnitude larger than effective population sizes, pan-Caribbean population size estimates of hundreds of thousands are likely too large. Transitions in pottery styles show no evidence of being driven by waves of migration of new people from mainland South America; instead, they more likely reflect the spread of ideas and people within an interconnected Caribbean world.

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Paleoenvironmental evidence for first human colonization of the eastern Caribbean

Cited by 51 publications

References 95 publications

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

From a thriving past to an uncertain future: Zooarchaeological evidence of two millennia of human impact on a large emblematic lizard (Iguana delicatissima) on the Guadeloupe Islands (French West Indies)

A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean

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