Times of the Islands Summer 2022

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The name Lucayan is traced to the Arawak words lukku cairi, literally “people of the islands.” The Spanish called The Bahamas and TCI “Las Islas de los Lucayos” (Islands of the Lucayos), and “Lucayan” is the English version of their name. Referring to this archipelago as the “Lucayan Islands” is one important step in acknowledging the vibrant history of the lukku cairi. So, who were the Lucayans? Until recently, our answer came primarily from the study of artifacts preserved at archaeological sites. Radiocarbon dating of carbon-based materials from these sites indicates there were no people living in the Lucayan Islands until about 1,300 years ago. Based solely on geographical proximity, it was first proposed that the Lucayans came from Florida. However, no material evidence has ever been found that establishes a definitive connection, so Florida is no longer considered as a likely source for the origin of this population. In fact, all of the cultural practices known for the Lucayans reflect a more southern origin. The nearest possible source islands are Hispaniola and Cuba, and archaeologists have debated for decades which was their homeland. It has even been argued that there were separate migrations from both. However, because only one type of pottery was ever made in the Lucayan Islands, this unique ceramic tradition is attributed to a single migration. Until recently, it seemed the question would never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Fortunately, advances in ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis have given us new tools for investigating Lucayan ancestry. Most people are today familiar with direct-toconsumer genetic testing companies, such as Ancestry. com and 23&Me. They offer a way to trace a person’s ancestry, providing millions of people worldwide with insight into where their ancestors once lived. These at-home test kits rely on the study of DNA that is extracted from saliva. However, saliva cannot be used for aDNA because it does not preserve in the archaeological record. Instead, DNA must be recovered from human bones and teeth. Extracting DNA from ancient bone proved especially challenging until researchers determined that a particular part of the skeleton, known as the petrous part of the temporal bone, preserves a high concentration of DNA. “Petrous” means “stone-like” in Latin, and it is one of the densest bones in the human body, located behind your ear. In 2020, two separate studies of Caribbean genetic history were published by teams of geneticists and archaeologists from the Max Plank Institute (Germany) and Harvard/University of Vienna who studied the DNA The petrous part of the temporal bone is one of the densest bones in the human body. It preserves a high concentration of DNA. preserved in the petrous to provide a new lens into the past. We are members of the Harvard team. To fully understand Lucayan ancestry, we need to know something about the genetic landscape in the wider Caribbean region millennia before the Lucayan Islands were settled. The study of aDNA identified two migrations of genetically distinct peoples from the American mainland into the Caribbean islands that occurred at different points in time. Not only were the people who were part of each migration genetically distinct, but they had distinct cultures as well. The first group moved into the Caribbean during the Archaic Age, while the movement of the second group began the region’s Ceramic Age. The first migration — that of the Archaic Age — began about 6,000 years ago and is characterized by the use of stone tools, the relative absence of ceramics, and an economy based on fishing, gathering, and simple farming. Known as “Ciboney,” these first people to enter the Caribbean settled first in Cuba and expanded eastward over the next 3,000 years to eventually inhabit Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and finally, the northern Lesser Antilles (but not Jamaica or the Lucayan Islands). They came from somewhere in South or Central America, although their precise origins could not be determined SHUTTERSTOCK 26 www.timespub.tc
NEW YORK TIMES Ancient DNA is extracted from ancient bone samples (the petrous part of the temporal bone) in David Reich’s lab at Harvard. genetically. Because the Ciboney were living on the Jardines del Rey islands off the north coast of Cuba 4,000 years ago, it is possible they crossed the 10-mile-wide Old Bahama Channel to reach the most remote of the Bahamian islands, and then continued eastward to the larger Lucayan Islands. However, there is no archaeological or genetic evidence that they did. In sum, this first migration provides no insight into Lucayan ancestry. The second migration — that which began the Ceramic Age — started about 2,500 years ago and was accomplished by people who made abundant use of ceramics and had an economy based on intensive farming and fishing. The genetic evidence connects this migration to northeastern South America, and specifically to the Arawak-speaking societies who live there at present. In deeper time, the Arawak sojourn began from Northwest Amazonia where they developed the farming practices that allowed them to spread rapidly along the rich floodplain soils of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers. When they reached the Orinoco Delta at the eastern terminus of the continent in modern-day Venezuela, some groups crossed the narrow channel to Trinidad and then traveled north into the Lesser Antilles, while others turned south into the Guianas. They northward expansion continued all This diagram shows the process of extracting ancient DNA. the way to Puerto Rico, which they settled at an early date (around 200 BC). For a reason that is still unknown, their migration paused here for almost 1,000 years. The groups who resumed the expansion process had the same genetic ancestry as those who participated in the earlier migration. In quick order they occupied Hispaniola (AD 600), Jamaica (AD 700), Turks & Caicos (AD 700), and finally, eastern Cuba (AD 900). Although archaeologists have interpreted changes in ceramic styles through time as evidence for additional waves of migration into the Caribbean from South America, these are not reflected in the genetic evidence. Genetically, Arawak communities in the Caribbean are remarkably homogeneous across space and time, reflecting a high degree of mobility and interconnectedness of people across islands. Furthermore, there is very little genetic evidence of intermarriage with the Ciboney who were already living KENDRA SIRAK Times of the Islands Summer 2022 27
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