The Archaic Tradition in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Both Historical and archaeological sources on the West Indies provide evidence that these islands were once occupied by peoples with a culture markedly different from that of the agricultural, pottery-making Arawak. The archaeological remains of this Archaic mode of life are found on several of the islands in contexts which indicate their separateness from the pottery horizons and imply their greater antiquity. The ethnohistorical sources also attest to the survival of this Archaic tradition into early historic times (Martyr 1912 Vol. 1: 100, 380; Las Casas 1867: 35; 1951 Vol. 2: 240; Velásquez 1869: 424-5; Oviedo 1852 Vol. 1: 90).The characteristics of this West Indian Archaic tradition, as revealed by archaeology and supplemented by the ethnohistoric accounts, are: absence of agriculture and pottery; seminomadic living in small bands; frequent use of caves for shelter and burial; crude artifacts made of conch shells, flint, and other classes of stone; use of hematite or red ocher; and the absence of cranial deformation as practiced by the agricultural peoples of the Antilles.