An Amazing Great Leap: The Neolithic Transition in Puerto Rico.

Abstract

Two thousand years ago, voyagers based at the apex of the Orinoco delta established gateway settlements on the semi-arid south coasts of Puerto Rico and neighboring Vieques Island. Their arrival signaled initiation of the Neolithic transition from a subsistence economy of fishing, gathering, and gardening to one featuring extensive communal field cropping that would eventually extend throughout the Antillean archipelago. The nature of the process is perhaps the most hotly debated issue of Caribbean prehistory, over which there has been little agreement among specialists with diverse disciplinary perspectives. An anthropogeographic interpretation is here proposed that integrates available data from archaeology, ethnohistory, and geography. The emergent model is one of a specialized trade system featuring the exchange of 'surplus‘ children and young women from Orinoco basin villages for salt and other island products. The inception of extensive agriculture coupled with the reproductive subsidy of imported young people resulted in exponential population growth, leading to a collapse of carrying capacity brought on by a recorded natural disaster, with a consequent diaspora to neighboring islands.