Ancient DNA Reveals Genetic History of Caribbean World. Prior to European colonization, the Caribbean was a mosaic of distinct communities that were connected by networks of interaction since the first human occupations in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico around 6,000 years ago. The pre-contact Caribbean is divided into three archaeological ages, which denote shifts in material cultural complexes. “The islands’ first inhabitants, a group of stone tool-users, boated to Cuba about 6,000 years ago, gradually expanding eastward to other islands during the region’s Archaic Age,” said Dr. William Keegan, an archaeologist in the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. “Where they came from remains unclear — while they are more closely related to Central and South Americans than to North Americans, their genetics do not match any particular Indigenous group.” “However, similar artifacts found in Belize and Cuba may suggest a Central American origin.” “About 2,500-3,000 years ago, farmers and potters related to the Arawak-speakers of northeast South America established a second pathway into the Caribbean.”
