Caribbean in the Ancient World
The ancient Caribbean world, comprising the islands of the West Indies, is rich in cultural and historical diversity. The Greater Antilles includes the largest islands—Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico—while the Lesser Antilles and the Bahamas feature numerous smaller islands. The indigenous populations, such as the Taino, Arawak, and Carib, migrated from South America over thousands of years, with the Taino being prominent at the time of European contact. Their society was organized around villages led by local headmen, and they engaged in religious practices that included the veneration of spirits and elaborate burial rituals. The Taino were primarily agricultural, cultivating crops like cassava and yams, while their diet also consisted of fish and small animals.
Contrastingly, the Island Caribs were known for their fierce warrior culture and matriarchal divisions of labor. They lived independently in decentralized villages and were skilled in trade and boat-building. While the Ciboney and other groups like the Guanahatabey had less elaborate societies and eventually faced extinction after European arrival, the cultural legacies of these indigenous peoples continue to be of interest in understanding the Caribbean's ancient history. This exploration highlights the complex social structures, belief systems, and lifestyles that existed in the Caribbean long before European colonization.
Caribbean in the Ancient World
Related civilizations: Ciboney, Taino, Arawak, Saladoir, Island Carib, Guanahatabey.
Date: 4000 b.c.e.-700 c.e.
Locale: Between North and South America, west of the Atlantic Ocean, and east of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean in the Ancient World
The islands of the West Indies form a Y, with the tail extending from South America. One arm curves northwest through the Greater Antilles toward the Yucatán Peninsula and the other through the Bahamas toward Florida. The islands extend for almost 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers). The four largest islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, make up the Greater Antilles. Above the Greater Antilles are more than seven hundred small islands and cays known as the Bahamas group. East of Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles extend in an arc that runs southeast from the Virgin Islands on the north to Grenada off the coast of South America on the south. None of the islands are far apart, and most are within sight of one another. Native canoeists could have paddled between any of them in calm weather.
Although the origin of the people of the West Indies is uncertain, some authorities say three groups—the Ciboney, Arawak, and Carib—came from South America beginning in the 1300’s. Other scholars believe the migration to the islands took place much earlier. According to these scholars, the Casimoiroid Indians came to western Cuba from the Yucatán Peninsula about 4000 b.c.e., and the Ortoiroid came from South America about 2000 b.c.e. The Ortoiroid were displaced by the Saladoir (200 b.c.e. to 600 c.e.), who also came from South America and were the forebears of the Tainos encountered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. A third group, the Island Carib, came from South America sometime after the arrival of the Saladoir and inhabited the islands from Guadeloupe south. These scholars believe that the Arawak did not migrate to the islands but remained on the continent.
The Taino, who inhabited the area from western Cuba through Puerto Rico, had not advanced beyond the Ceramic Age by the time of Columbus. The Taino of Hispaniola were more numerous and advanced, but all Taino had similar cultural traits. Taino homes were clustered around a center plaza where both men and women participated in ceremonies, dances, and ball games. Although the Taino recognized hereditary provincial chiefs and subchiefs in local areas, only the village headmen had power. Each headman ruled his own village and organized the numerous festivals and games held in each village. Religion played an important role in Taino life. They believed that good and evil spirits inhabited humans and natural objects. Shamen used special powers to try to control the spirits, and individuals attempted to capture them in icons or statues called zenis. Burial was an essential part of their religion. Because of the climate, the Taino wore few if any clothes and lived in simple shelters. They practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. After burning off a field, they gathered the nutrients released into piles about knee high and three to six feet (one to two meters) across in which the women planted cuttings with a sharp stick. The most important crops were the bitter cassava and yams. In addition to the cultivated crops, the Taino diet included fruits, fish, small animals, birds, insects, and snakes.
The Island Carib society was male-dominated. The government was decentralized; each village was independent, but one war chief was elected for each island. Their homes were grouped around a house where all the men lived. Women could not enter the central house and were excluded from the activities performed there. The men were expert boat builders and handlers and traded with neighboring islands. They hunted, fished, and waged war. Women did all the other work. The division of labor was more rigid than among the other Indians. The Island Caribs were fierce fighters and always won their battles with other natives. They raided villages and took women for wives. They practiced ceremonial cannibalism on their war victims, but human flesh was not a part of the regular diet. Only the Island Carib survived after the Spanish settled the West Indies.
The Ciboney were in western Hispaniola and Cuba when Columbus arrived but became extinct a century after European contact. They lived in caves, offshore islets, and swamp hammocks. The Ciboney were hunter-gatherers, but the Cuba group used shells and the Hispaniola group used stones in forming tools. Another group that lived in western Cuba at the time of Columbus’s arrival was the Guanahatabey. They lived in mobile bands and lacked the pottery or agriculture of their neighbors. They were not advanced and were not numerous.
Bibliography
Claypole, William, and John Robottom. Foundations. Vol. 1 in Caribbean Story. Trinidad: Longman Caribbean, 1981.
Rogozinski, Jan. A Brief History of the Caribbean from the Arawaks to the Present. New York: Penguin, 1994.
Rouse, Irving. The Taino: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992.