Preceramic Connections between Yucatan and the Caribbean

Abstract

Archaeologists have long noted similarities between the lithic artifacts of the first colonists of the Greater Antilles (ca. 3500-2000 B.C.) and those from the eastern Yucatán Peninsula. Recent archaeological work in northern Belize has provided additional archaeological information on the characteristics and dating of the mainland assemblages. New findings by Caribbean archaeologists also have contributed to a clearer picture of the circumstances surrounding the first human migration to the Greater Antilles. A Yucatecan origin for the first Caribbean migrants is now considered probable.