Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

196 / Coppa et al.
Figure 14.1. Geographical distribution of the samples (each number represents a sample;
see Table 14.1).
four centuries, too short a time to establish permanent settlements in every island
(Keegan 1992). The rapid movement was caused by the islands’ small size
and limited availability of terrestrial resources, which bound the human groups
to seek for marine resources and concentrate along the coasts (D. Harris 1965;
Keegan 1992). Rouse (1986) suggested that the Saladoids’ expansion was halted in
the eastern part of Hispaniola by the long- settled hunter- gatherer populations
(Casimiroids).
The Ostionoids, a Saladoid subseries, would eventually evolve into the wellknown
Taíno culture (Veloz Maggiolo 1993), which started again the expansion
process around a.d. 600. They moved along the southern and northern coasts of
Hispaniola, reaching Jamaica and eastern Cuba. Here Rouse (1986) identified yet
another barrier along the mountain chains in east Cuba, represented by what he
considered the original hunter- gatherer settlers.
The Taíno, who originated from the South American continent ( Lalueza- Fox et
al. 2001), expanded into the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northernmost
Lesser Antilles (Figure 14.1). Rouse (1992) divides them into Western Taíno, living
in Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas; Eastern Taíno for those inhabiting the Leeward
Islands and the Virgin Islands; and then the Classic Taíno for those in Puerto
Rico and Hispaniola.
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