"The islands of the Caribbean are remarkably diverse, environmentally and culturally. They range from low limestone islands barely above sea level to volcanic islands with mountainous peaks; from large islands to small cays; from islands with tropical rainforests to those with desert habitats. Today's inhabitants have equally diverse culture histories. The islands are home to a mosaic of indigenous communities and to the descendants of Spanish, French, Dutch, English, Swedish, Danish, Irish, African, East Indian, Chinese, Syrian, Seminole and other nationalities who settled there during historic times. The islands are now being homogenized, all to create a standard experience for the Caribbean tourist. There is a similar attempt to homogenize the Caribbean's pre-Columbian past. It was assumed that every new prehistoric culture had developed out of the culture that preceded it. We now know that far more complicated processes of migration, acculturation, and accommodation occurred. Furthermore, the overly simplistic distinction between the ""peaceful Arawak"" and the ""cannibal Carib,"" which forms the structure for James Michener's Caribbean, still dominates popular notions of precolonial Caribbean societies. This book documents the diversity and complexity that existed in the Caribbean prior to the arrival of Europeans, and immediately thereafter. The diversity results from different origins, different histories, different contacts between the islands and the mainland, different environmental conditions, and shifting social alliances. Organized chronologically, from the arrival of the first humans-the paleo-Indians-in the sixth millennium BC to early contact with Europeans, The Caribbean before Columbus presents a new history of the region based on the latest archaeological evidence. The authors also consider cultural developments on the surrounding mainland, since the islands' history is a story of mobility and exchange across the Caribbean Sea, and possibly the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits. The result is the most up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the richly complex cultures who once inhabited the six archipelagoes of the Caribbean."
"List of Figures List of Tables 1. CARIBBEAN KALEIDOSCOPE The Caribbean Islands Different Ways of Seeing Far Tortuga The Name Game Ciboney and Guanahatebey Indios, Arawak, Taíno, Lucayan, Igneri Carib and Kalinago Changing Frames of Reference Underlying Structure 2. THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS FLAKED-STONE TOOL COMPLEXES Origins Cultural Characteristics Environmental Considerations Barrera-Mordán Site, Dominican Republic (representing circa 4000 BC) Lithic Age Assemblages GROUND-STONE TOOL COMPLEXES Banwari Trace Site, Trinidad (circa 5000 B.C) Origins Climate Change and Anthropogenic Landscapes Archaic Age Assemblages in the Greater Antilles Archaic Age Pottery European and Archaic Age Encounters Conclusions 3. THE EARLY CERAMIC AGE From Forest to Sea Creating Identities Trants Site, Montserrat (circa 400 BC to AD 500) Hacienda Grande Site, Puerto Rico (circa AD 150 to 500) Redefining the Early Ceramic Age Morel Site, Guadeloupe (circa 400 BC to AD 1400) Scale and Perspective Settlement Patterns Golden Rock Site, St. Eustatius (circa AD 600 to 850) Subsistence Economy Material Culture Sociopolitical Organization Cosmology Conclusions 4. POST-SALADOID PUERTO RICO Dispersion (circa AD 500 to 900) Crab/Shell Dichotomy A Plethora of Pottery Styles Population Growth and Settlement Patterns Río Tanamá 2 Site (cal AD 980 to 1490) Egalitarian, Hierarchical, or Heterarchical? Settlement Landscape and Community Structure (AD 950 and Beyond) Río Tanamá 1 site (circa cal AD 980 to 1490) Formalization of Exchange Plaza de Estrella, Tibes Ceremonial Center ""Taíno"" in Puerto Rico? Late Pottery Styles (Figure 4.6) Demography Stone-lined Courts and Plazas Cacicazgos Conclusions 5. MEILLACOID AND CHICOID WORLDS Foragers and Farmers Pottery Styles in Hispaniola An Island Divided El Cabo Site, Southeastern Dominican Republic (circa AD 600 to 1500) Northwestern Dominican Republic Meillacoid Revolution El Flaco Site, Northwestern Dominican Republic (circa AD 900 to 1500) Île à Rat Site, Haiti (circa AD 900 to 1500) Social Transformations Cacicazgos En Bas Saline, Haiti (circa AD 1492) Sweetness and Power Chicoid Expansion Conclusions 7. CUBA, THE BAHAMA ARCHIPELAGO, AND JAMAICA CUBA Preagroalfarera (Archaic Age) Protoagrícola (Incipient Agriculture) Agricultores Ceramistas (Ceramic Age) Regional Integration El Chorro de Maíta, Banes (circa AD 1200 to post AD 1600) Precious Metals Chicoid Influences Los Buchillones Site (circa AD 1220 to 1640) Conclusions BAHAMA ARCHIPELAGO Exploration and Colonization Coralie Site, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 700 to 1100) Small Islands Governors Beach Site, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 1100 to 1300) Permanent Settlement Late Ceramic Age MC-6, Middle Caicos, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 1400 to 1600) The (Not So) Empty Islands JAMAICA Pottery Series as Distinct Cultures Paradise Park Sites, Westmoreland (circa AD 850 and AD 1430) Conclusions 8. LESSER ANTILLEAN NETWORKS The First Islanders Late Archaic Age Archaic Age Summary Neolithization of the Lesser Antilles Post-Saladoid Developments Anse à la Gourde Site, Guadeloupe (circa AD 450 to 1350) Windward Islands (Southern Lesser Antilles) Giraudy Site, Saint Lucia (circa AD 900 to 1500) Social and Political Networks Kelbey's Ridge 2 Site, Saba (circa AD 1350) Demographic Collapse after AD 1300 Morne Cybèle and Morne Souffler Sites, La Désirade (circa AD 1440 to 1460) Kalinago Archaeology Argyle Site, St. Vincent Discussion 8. CARIBBEAN Columbus and Cannibals Cannibal Raids or Indigenous Trade? Colonial Emergence Language Archaeological Research Indigenous Settlements Subsistence Social Organization Cacicazgos (Chiefdoms) Mythology and Religion Demography Early Colonial European Chroniclers and the French Missionaries Kaleidoscope: The Final Turn REFERENCES CITED"
William F. Keegan is Curator of Caribbean Archaeology (FLMNH) and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida. He also serves as Associate Director for Research and Collections. He co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Archaeology (OUP, 2013). Corinne L. Hofman is Professor of Caribbean Archaeology and Dean Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, as well as a co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Archaeology (OUP, 2013).
Reviews for The Caribbean before Columbus
The most current and comprehensive survey of the pre-colonial archaeology of the region, this book presents for the first time the complete histories of the major islands and island groups. It is thorough yet accessible, an immersive intellectual exploration of a world before its 'discovery'. * Current World Archaeology * This is a very significant contribution to Caribbean archaeology. Currently there is not a book out there that deals with as many new interpretations and frameworks or that clearly explains where things have gone wrong in the past. I consider this book to be essential for understanding Caribbean archaeology at any level from undergraduate to professional. ... I find the volume well written in a clear style and with good organisation. There are a lot of complex issues discussed but it is not by any means a difficult read. This is the best work I have found for teaching a senior level undergraduate seminar. * Richard T. Callaghan, International Journal of Maritime History *
