{"id":10749,"date":"2020-01-06T10:37:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T18:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/?p=10749"},"modified":"2025-08-27T17:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T00:52:00","slug":"tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reprinted from Around the O<\/em>
https:\/\/around.uoregon.edu\/content\/tracing-journeys-caribbeans-first-people<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Caribbean Digging at Grand Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 6, 2020\u2014<\/strong>People first settled the Caribbean thousands of years ago, but their exact migration routes have long remained a puzzle. Now, a new study coauthored by eight UO researchers is piecing that puzzle together through a rigorous reexamination of archaeological data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published in the journal Science Advances,\u00a0the study<\/a>\u00a0reports evidence that the first Caribbean islanders traveled directly from South America to the northern Caribbean beginning about 5,800 years ago, initially settling Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles and smaller islands in the northern Lesser Antilles before further colonizing islands to the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis scenario contradicts a competing \u2018stepping stone\u2019 model that many archaeologists still subscribe to, which asserts a south-to-north settlement beginning in the Lesser Antilles,\u201d said Matthew Napolitano, the study\u2019s lead author and a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of the stepping stone model point out that trade winds and ocean currents in the region would have made travel toward the southern Lesser Antilles difficult for expeditions from the South or Central American mainlands and that early seafarers would likely have been attracted to the larger, more productive islands of the Greater Antilles, settling those first before gradually migrating southward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new study is the culmination of a graduate student project supervised by Scott Fitzpatrick, associate director of the UO\u2019s\u00a0Museum of Natural and Cultural History<\/a>\u00a0and a professor in the Department of Anthropology. Conducted over a four-year period by Napolitano and Fitzpatrick along with graduate students Robert DiNapoli, Jessica Stone and several others, the project was designed to put the stepping stone model and other Caribbean settlement hypotheses to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The north-to-south pattern was borne out in the team\u2019s research, which involved tracking down and reevaluating nearly 2,500 radiocarbon dates reported from cultural sites on 55 Caribbean islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors assessed each date\u2019s reliability using strict criteria related to the geologic and archaeological contexts of the dated material, the quality of the samples and the lab conditions under which the materials were analyzed. The dates were then subjected to rigorous statistical analyses, resulting in a new and exceptionally robust colonization model.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy carefully applying these criteria, we were able to improve confidence about the reported dates, as well as whether the dated materials actually relate to human activity,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the researchers\u2019 surprise, just over half of the analyzed radiocarbon dates passed muster, despite more than 50 years of archaeological scholarship in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur analysis of the resulting acceptable dates, which represent human occupations on 26 islands, provides the first reliable model for initial arrival in the region,\u201d said Fitzpatrick, an expert in island and coastal archaeology whose research focuses on the Caribbean and Pacific.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study has also resulted in the largest publicly accessible database of radiocarbon dates for the region.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuman colonization of the Caribbean is one of the least understood population dispersals in the Americas,\u201d Napolitano said. \u201cThis work helps solve some of the mystery while providing a \u2018best practices\u2019 approach to collecting and reporting radiocarbon dates.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014By Kristin Strommer, Museum of Natural and Cultural History<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED LINKS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Study finds climate helped guide early Pacific seafarers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archaeologists develop a new picture of the human footprint<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Anthropology<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet Scott Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet Matthew Napolitano<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the study<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from Around the Ohttps:\/\/around.uoregon.edu\/content\/tracing-journeys-caribbeans-first-people January 6, 2020\u2014People first settled the Caribbean thousands of years ago, but their exact migration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,11,702],"tags":[605,607,606,81],"class_list":["post-10749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indigenous-peoples-in-the-americas","category-research","category-research-presentation","tag-caribbean-migration-routes","tag-matthew-napolitano","tag-scott-fitzpatrick","tag-uo"],"yoast_head":"\nTracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reprinted from Around the Ohttps:\/\/around.uoregon.edu\/content\/tracing-journeys-caribbeans-first-people January 6, 2020\u2014People first settled the Caribbean thousands of years ago, but their exact migration […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"emeyer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"emeyer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"emeyer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192\"},\"headline\":\"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\"},\"wordCount\":575,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Caribbean migration routes\",\"Matthew Napolitano\",\"Scott Fitzpatrick\",\"UO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Indigenous Peoples in the Americas\",\"Research\",\"Research Main\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\",\"name\":\"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"Center for Latino\/a and Latin American Studies\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192\",\"name\":\"emeyer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/189860cdb862bfb72fb871c1398aa125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/189860cdb862bfb72fb871c1398aa125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"emeyer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/author\/emeyer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -","og_description":"Reprinted from Around the Ohttps:\/\/around.uoregon.edu\/content\/tracing-journeys-caribbeans-first-people January 6, 2020\u2014People first settled the Caribbean thousands of years ago, but their exact migration […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/","article_published_time":"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"emeyer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"emeyer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/"},"author":{"name":"emeyer","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192"},"headline":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people","datePublished":"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/"},"wordCount":575,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg","keywords":["Caribbean migration routes","Matthew Napolitano","Scott Fitzpatrick","UO"],"articleSection":["Indigenous Peoples in the Americas","Research","Research Main"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/","url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/","name":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-06T18:37:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-28T00:52:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/caribbean_digging_at_grand_bay-1.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/tracing-the-journeys-of-the-caribbeans-first-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tracing the journeys of the Caribbean\u2019s first people"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/","name":"","description":"Center for Latino\/a and Latin American Studies","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9de5b949364204fcf9cf6613c17cd192","name":"emeyer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/189860cdb862bfb72fb871c1398aa125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/189860cdb862bfb72fb871c1398aa125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"emeyer"},"url":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/author\/emeyer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10751,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10749\/revisions\/10751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cllas.uoregon.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}