MIGRATION AND

SETTLEMENT
PATTERNS
SECTION A
THEME 1: THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE
EUROPEANS

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 THE FOUNDATION OF CARIBBEAN
CIVILIZATION
• THE EARLY PEOPLEING OF THE CARIBBEAN
BY:

• THE MESO – INDIANS

• THE PALEO – INDIANS

• THE NEO - INDIANS

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 WHO WERE THE EARLIEST PEOPLE?

 There a two accounts as to how the Caribbean region was

peopled.
 The first argument was that about 25,000 years ago the
Bering Straits was at sea level forming the Beringia land
bridge.
 At this time the Ice Age People from Mongolia crossed
the land bridge from Siberia into the American Land mass
at Alaska.
 They could either have been fleeing harsh climate or
following their food supply.
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 A SECOND ACCOUNT

• The second account is that there was no land bridge but an

ice bridge between Siberia and Alaska.
• This argument says that the Asians crossed this bridge and
then followed the corridor between the Alaskan and
Canadian mountains into the Canadian plains.

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 MIGRATORY PATTERMS

• Those first Amerindian people who lived in the Caribbean

islands would have migrated from Central and South
America.
• Their migratory pattern was typically to move from the
Southern most islands and proceed up the archipelago.

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 THE AMERICAS AND THE CARIBBEAN

• The Caribbean (the West Indies) comprises of all of the islands and
countries bounded by the Caribbean Sea.
• These counties today have historical, economic and political
similarities.
• There are over 700 islands in the chain of islands (archipelago).
• These islands are then subdivided into the Greater Antilles and the
Lesser Antilles.
• The Lesser Antilles are then subdivided into the Windward and
Leeward Islands.

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 MIGRATION INTO AMERICA

• Archaeologists support the theory that early man entered the

Americas around 13,500 years ago.
• Hunters and gatherers, following wild herds, crossed the Bering Straits
ice bridge from Siberia into Alaska up to 10,000 years ago.

• Artefacts confirm they moved South while hunting, reaching the

southern tip of South America around 8,000 years ago, and settling
around 5,000 years ago.
• Their staple crops were maize, cassava, and potatoes.
• Villages were soon established and eventually developed into
civilizations: Maya, Aztec and Inca. 13
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 PALEO-INDIANS
➢ They arrived in the region at about 5000 B.C.E
➢ They came across the sea from South and Central America.
➢ They established small seaside communities
➢ They had no real knowledge of pottery.
➢ They were nomadic.
➢ They lived on a diet of fruit and berries, fishing and
hunting.
➢ Their civilization relied heavily on basic implements made
from stones and shells.

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 MESO-INDIANS
• They began arriving around 500 B.C.E.
• They came from South America.
• Their civilization was better developed in terms of pottery
and tools.
• Their settlements were not completely confined to the sea
shore.
• They first settled in Trinidad and then headed northwards
and up to the islands of the Greater Antilles.
• Their main settlements were established in Trinidad, Cuba
and Hispaniola (Espanola).
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 THE CIBONY PEOPLE
• Evidence shows waves of migration from the South
American mainland at about 1000 - 500 b.c.
• These people were known as the Cibonys or
Sibonys.
• They formed small unsophisticated communities
and had no knowledge of pottery and used shells,
stones or wood for basic tools.
• They lived on a diet of fish and wild fruit.
• Did not practice settled agriculture
• Remains of their largest known settlement
numbering about 100 discovered in Cuba.
• They settled in the Bahamas and larger islands of
the Greater Antilles
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 PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC

 PALEOLITHIC: described that time when man followed

his food, the phase of “hunters and gathers”.
 NEOLITHIC : This term describes the move from
nomadic to settled. It heralded the age of farming.
 Approximately 2,500 BC the arts of animal husbandry
and plant cultivation discovered, villages were
established and civilizations were expanded
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 SALADOID OR
SALADOID/BARRANCOID PEOPLE

◦ The archaeological terms are used to describe the

early Caribbean inhabitants.
◦ They were derived based on the pottery discovered
by archaeologists.

◦ These people were sub-divided into a number of

groups - based on archaeological and linguistic
evidence.

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THE NEO-INDIANS: THEY WENT THROUGH NEOLITHIC
REVOLUTION

• The neo- Indians were the newest group of Amerindians

to migrate to the Caribbean islands.
• This group was broken down into the Tainos and the
Kalinagos.
• The first were the Tainos (formerly known as the Arawaks).
• After a period of conflict the Tainos replaced the Cibony
people who were the islands’ previous inhabitants.

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 TAINOS

1. They arrived in the Caribbean about 500 to 300 BC.

2. They spoke Arawakan settled in the Greater and
Lesser Antilles and the Bahamas.
3. Ultimately settled in the Greater Antilles. They were
called ‘Lucayos” in the Bahamas.
4. The group of Arawakan speakers with their Saladoid
culture were called “Taino” translated “men of the
good.”
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 KALINAGO / KALINAS
1. Linguists said that they spoke Cariban.
2. Similar in lifestyles to the Tainos.
3. They also came from South America and
settled on the smaller islands of the Lesser
Antilles.
4. Traditionally portrayed as “bloodthirsty
cannibals.” REVISIONIST - at the time of
Spanish incursion they were actively involved
in their expansionist phase. A snapshot was
taken of them that has been frozen forever
and exaggerated. 23
 CIVILIZATION BEFORE THE
EUROPEANS
• The Neo-Indians/ Tainos and Kalinagos had important
elements of civilization:
1) culture
2) religion
3) commerce
4) political leadership (caciques)
5) social organization
6) division of labour.
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 VILLAGE LIFE

• Their villages were located in areas with easy access to

fresh water and fertile land to plant cassava/manioc.
• They were also situated for the best defensive positioning.
Villages constructed around a central village square.
• They consisted of thatched roofs and timber walls.
• Villages sometimes contained from 300-500 people.

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 DIVISION OF LABOUR

• Men and boys responsible for clearing the fields,

hunting and fishing and defense of the villages. House
construction and canoe making were also their tasks.

• Women and girls did crop cultivation, spinning and

weaving of cotton, making handicrafts e.g baskets,
hammocks and utensils, daily food preparation and
child rearing.
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