Earliest evidence of sedentism in the Antilles: Multiple isotope data from Canímar Abajo, Cuba

Abstract

The first peoples of the insular Caribbean were traditionally depicted as hunter/fisher–gatherer societies with high residential mobility. In this study, isotope analysis of 44 human teeth from the Canímar Abajo site provided the earliest direct evidence of a greater degree of sedentism in the Antilles. In contrast to previous accounts, the combination of enamel strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes indicated that between cal. BC 2237–790, the individuals buried at the site had a mixed C3/C4 diet and spent their lives exploiting and cultivating local resources near the locality. These results suggest that at least some of the first groups to settle the Antilles were more sedentary than previously recognized. Keywords: Caribbean archaeology, archaic age lifeways, isotope analysis, mobility