Origins of the Tainan Culture, West Indies

subordinate significance from South America coming from over
the Lesser Antilles and Virgin Islands, together with others
from Florida and from Yucatan, which culture - in so far as it
concerns Cuba - HARRINGTON calls "Taino Culture". For I must
mention that this had come over from Haiti by emigration
to Cuba, where, especially in the plateau land of Oriente, the
population which arrived shortly before the Discovery was very
numerous, as the abundance of finds proves. On the other hand,
HATT'S investigations have made clear that at a late date a Taino
emigration took place from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands,
which appears to be younger than an older South American influenced
Ignerian culture. Cuba's older Arawak culture is poorer
and not so highly developed as the Taino culture, that came in
at a late time from Haiti. HARRINGTON calls this older Cuban Arawak
culture, "sub-tainan culture". He will even extend the term
and make it designate the Arawak culture on Jamaica. But
precisely on Jamaica, the Arawak culture has advanced to an
indiginous development turning aside from the rest of the Greater
Antilles and little dependent on the specific Taino cultural evolution
of Espanola and Puerto Rico. Because of this, the Jamaican
culture remains poorer than the Espanolan-Puerto Rican. Outside
influences have not furnished many contributions. Evidently
Jamaica stood in immediate communication with northern Central
America, while the South and North American elements remained
in the Taino culture, and did not pass over from Espanola or
eastern Cuba to Jamaica. The Jamaican culture is too high and
uniquely developed to be classified with the "sub-Tainan" in
Cuba. It surely has been developed on Jamaica since the Arawaks
took possession of that island. Therefore, we can talk of a
hypothetical"sub-Taino" stage in Jamaica, only so far as that
this emigrated to the island at a time when the Taino culture
was not yet developed on Espanola to say nothing of eastern
Cuba.
There exists a great coherence otherwise within the entire
culture of the Island-Arawaks. This is true above all for the
Tainos. the Arawak race which at the time of the Conquest, still
lived on the Greater Antilles and the Bahama Islands. Even if
on searching the historical sources more thoroughly, we can learn