Pre-Columbian
era
The ancient history of the
archipelago known today as Puerto Rico before the arrival of Columbus is not
well known. Unlike other larger, more advanced indigenous communities in the
New World (Aztec
and Inca)
whose people left behind abundant archeological and physical evidence of their
societies, the indigenous population of Puerto Rico left scant artifacts and
evidence. What is known today about them comes from scarce archaeological
findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era. The first
comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray
Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786,
almost three centuries after the first Spaniards arrived on the island.[22]
The first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture
of Amerindian hunters
and fishermen who migrated from the mainland. A 1990 archaeological dig in the
island of Vieques found the remains of what is believed to be an Arcaico
(Archaic) man (named "Puerto Ferro Man"); he has been dated to around
2000 BCE.[23]
The Igneri,
a tribe from the region of the Orinoco
river, in northern South America, migrated to the island between 120 and
400 CE. The Arcaico and Igneri co-existed on the island between the 4th
and 10th centuries, and perhaps clashed.
Between the 7th and 11th centuries,
the Taíno culture developed on the island; by approximately 1000 CE, it
had become dominant. At the time of Columbus' arrival, an estimated 30,000 to
60,000 Taíno Amerindians, led by the cacique
(chief) Agüeybaná, inhabited the island. They called it Boriken,
meaning "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord".[24]
The natives lived in small villages, each led by a cacique. They subsisted by
hunting and fishing, done generally by men, as well as by the women's gathering
and processing of indigenous cassava
root and fruit. This lasted until Columbus arrived in 1493.[25][26]
Puerto Rican culture reflects aspects of Taíno influences within its music and
vocabulary, as some words entered the Spanish vocabulary and later English.[citation needed]
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