Pre-Columbian

Migrations into the

Caribbean
Concepts

Pre-Columbian refers to history occurring in the Caribbean and Americas
BEFORE the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 CE

CE – Common Era (this is the same as referring to time occurring after the birth
of Christ, which is referred to as AD – Anno Domini / in the year of our Lord.
Therefore CE and AD may be used interchangeably.
For example, this is the year 2021 CE. You may also say, this is the year 2021 AD.

BCE – Before Common Era, which is the same as dating event before the birth
of Christ (BC).
Therefore, BCE and BC can be used interchangeably.

Paleo-lithic – these are Latin terms meaning old and stone respectively.
Therefore, when we speak of paleo-lithic times, we are simply referring to the
Old Stone Age period of time.

Meso- lithic and Neo-lithic – meso is the Latin term for middle, while neo is the
Latin term for new. Thus, the meso-lithic and neo-lithic periods refer to the
Middle and New Stone Age periods respectively.

Pre-history – anything described as prehistoric simple means it occurred during
a time in the human past when there were no written languages. Therefore, pre-
history means before written accounts.












Early Migrations into the Americas

The very first wave of migration into the Americas occurred

about 25,000 years ago when the Beringia ice-bridge or
land-bridge facilitated Asian migration into the Americas.
These early migrants, it is alleged, crossed the land/ice-
bridge in search of food, entering Alaska from which they
spread over the course of many centuries to the rest of the
Americas. After the Ice Age and the disappearance of the
ice/land-bridge, the Americas would become isolated from
the rest of the world, developing independently and forming
various civilisations spread throughout the American
continent and the Caribbean islands.

Pre-Columbian migrations into the Caribbean

The earliest of these people to enter the Caribbean were the
Paleolithic-Indians, a hunter-gather people who arrived
circa 5000 BCE. These were referred to as the Archaic
People. These groups settled in Cuba.
Between 1000 BCE and 500 BCE, the slightly more
advanced Mesolithic-Indians called the Ciboneys or the
Guanahacabibe arrived in the Caribbean and settled
Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba and Haiti.
Around 300 BCE, they were followed by the Neolithic-
Indians who broadly consisted of the Tainos and the
Kalinagos.
The Tainos were divided into the Tainos of the Greater
Antilles, the Lucayans of the Bahamas, the Ignerians of
Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados and the Borequinos of
Puerto Rico.
The Kalinagos who arrived after the Tainos settled the
Leeward and Windward Islands as well as North Eastern
Trinidad.
The Paleo-, Meso- and Neo-Indians originated in South and
Central America and using canoes capable of holding up to
fifty people travelled the short distance from Venezuela on
the South American mainland into Trinidad and traced the
Lesser Antilles archipelago into the Greater Antilles. There is
however the view that the Ciboneys may have arrived in the
Caribbean from Florida, rather than Venezuela by way of the
Lesser Antilles.

The peopling of the Caribbean archipelago was done by canoe. These brought all
kinds of plant and animal species into the Caribbean.

Pre-Columbian Caribbean migration – canoe with 50+ persons