An emerging history of indigenous Caribbean and circum‐Caribbean populations: insights from archaeological, ethnographic, genetic, and historical studies

Abstract

The Caribbean region has long fascinated anthropologists because it bore witness to pre-Columbian human migrations and interactions for several millennia. This chapter synthesizes archaeological, ethnographic, genetic, and historical evidence for several modern indigenous Caribbean populations to reconstruct the original peopling of the region, and address the complex biological and cultural impacts of assimilation, disease, and genocide brought about by European colonization and the trans-Atlantic slave trade on indigenous Caribbean communities. To clarify the genetic heritage of circum-Caribbean populations, the authors analyzed portions of the genome that provide useful information about migration history and phylogeography of human populations. The majority of the participants in this study were members of the Naguake Community of eastern Puerto Rico, which includes 36 contiguous barrios in eight municipalities. The study demonstrated that genotypic and phenotypic variation does not necessarily correspond with conventional or folk theories of race.