Attractive Ideas, Desirable Goods: Examining the Late Ceramic Age Relationships between Greater and Lesser Antillean Societies

ABSTRACT

This article aims to correct a number of archaeological misconceptions issuing from the Taíno-Carib dichotomy engrained within the discipline. We examine the evidence for Late Ceramic Age (AD 800–1500) interactions between communities of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This article explores and nuances the alleged dichotomy between Taíno and Carib societies, details a number of contact lines between them, and advances hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying these interactions such as incorporation, exchange, and appropriation.

Keywords:

• interaction
• Island Carib
• Taíno
• Late Ceramic Age
• Lesser Antilles
• Caribbean

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are indebted to Antonio Curet, Scott M. Fitzpatrick, and two anonymous reviewers for their critical review of an earlier version of this article. The Netherlands Foundation for Scientific Research (NWO) is thanked for providing the financial support which made the research for this article possible.