Seafaring South Americans began settling Greater Antilles 5,800 years ago

DEC. 19, 2019 / 7:45 AM

By Brooks Hays



Students from the University of Oregon, North Carolina State University and University College London survey an archaeological dig site on Carriacou Island. Photo by Scott Fitzpatrick

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The earliest migrations from South America to the Caribbean began 5,800 years ago, and according to a new survey of archaeological data on the islands, the seafarers first settled the larger, northernmost islands of the Greater Antilles, what is today Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.

Previously, archaeologists surmised the earliest South American settlers in the Caribbean moved onto the smaller, southernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles, slowly making their way north, island by island, over a period of a few thousands years.

When researchers from the University of Oregon analyzed more than 2,500 radiocarbon measurements collected from archaeological sites on 55 Caribbean islands, they revealed a completely different migration pattern.

"This scenario contradicts a competing stepping-stone model that many archaeologists still subscribe to, which asserts a south-to-north settlement beginning in the Lesser Antilles," lead researcher Matthew Napolitano, a doctoral student in the department of anthropology at Oregon, said in a news release.

More:
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2019/12/19/Seafaring-South-Americans-began-settling-Greater-Antilles-5800-years-ago/8681576756114/?sl=1&ur3=1