Caribbean parrots thought to be endemic are actually relicts of millennial-scale extinction
In a new study published in PNAS, researchers have extracted the first ancient DNA from Caribbean parrots, which they compared…Read More
Ancient DNA reveals an early African origin of cattle in the Americas
Cattle may seem like uniquely American animals, steeped in the lore of cowboys, cattle drives and sprawling ranches. But cattle…Read More
Oldest DNA from domesticated American horse lends credence to shipwreck folklore
An abandoned Caribbean colony unearthed centuries after it had been forgotten and a case of mistaken identity in the archaeological…Read More
The persistent effects of colonialism in Caribbean science
Prior to the first world war, sprawling European empires collectively controlled roughly 80% of Earth’s landmass. Following WWII, that percentage…Read More
Crawling out of history: The Grand Turk tortoise
My Hero by Billy Collins Just as the hare is zipping across the finish line, the tortoise has stopped once…Read More
Clear as mud: The origins of early pottery in the Lucayan Islands
In our last “Talking Taino” we described a variety of ways that meals were prepared without clay pots. The invention…Read More
Not a pot to ‘cook’ in
Irving Rouse, the doyen of Caribbean archaeology, once estimated that pottery comprised 90% of all artifacts found in the region….Read More
Human eye beats machine in archaeological color identification test
A ruler and scale can tell archaeologists the size and weight of a fragment of pottery – but identifying its…Read More
Ancient DNA retells story of Caribbean’s first people
The history of the Caribbean’s original islanders comes into sharper focus in a new Nature study that combines decades of…Read More
Study puts the ‘Carib’ in ‘Caribbean,’ boosting credibility of Columbus’ cannibal claims
Christopher Columbus’ accounts of the Caribbean include harrowing descriptions of fierce raiders who abducted women and cannibalized men – stories…Read More