The Caribbean in the Islario of Alonso de Santa Cruz

Although not immediately useful for our primary interests, we found the maps of the insular Caribbean in Alonso de Santa Cruz's Islario general de todas las islas del mundo fascinating. We are primarily interested in indigenous toponyms in the Greater Antilles, for which the map of of Hispaniola is perhaps the most detailed or useful.

More on Indigenous Caribbean Historical Matches

As we should have done at the beginning, we finally went back and re-read the reference study (Fernandes et al.) used by 23andMe for their indigenous Caribbean references. As expected, our Matches are to Ceramic Age samples from sites in Hispaniola (mostly eastern), Puerto Rico, and Bahamas. Our historical matches fell into the following major groups based on the above study's analysis of the genomes of ancient Antillean peoples:

Haiti Ceramic: 2 matches

Bahamas Ceramic: 2 Matches

SECoast DR Ceramic: 11 Matches

Eastern Greater Antilles Ceramic: 11 matches

The overwhelming number of matches (although mostly small) are with what the study terms Southeast Coast DR groups and Eastern Greater Antilles (which includes samples from Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic). This matching pattern is to be expected given the Ceramic Age population largely replacing Archaic lineages and the pattern of close relatives from different sites on Hispaniola or genetic matches between individuals from other islands. To what extent this pattern was also due to relatively small population sizes in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico is another mystery. We have always tended to prefer somewhat higher population numbers for Puerto Rico and Hispaniola in pre-Columbian times based on Moscoso's analysis of Puerto Rico. 

We also found it cool that some of our larger matches were to the two Individuals in the Haiti Ceramic clade. These two individuals were related and harbored significant Archaic ancestry from groups on the island before the Saladoid or Arawakan expansion to the Greater Antilles (unless we are already outdated in our terminology here). We matched the two ancient Haitians from Diale for approximately the same amount of total shared cM on 2 segments. It would be interesting if part of that shared ancestry was from the earlier, Archaic population.

Indigenous Historical Matches

One of the more interesting aspects of 23andme is seeing the historical matches. Since we have ancestry from Puerto Rico that includes indigenous Caribbean admixture, we found a very large number of matches with the Indigenous Caribbean Ceramic Age samples on 23andme. While most were undoubtedly very small matches, we found it fascinating to see matches from the Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Indeed, some of the matches were with individuals buried in the same area, like the two from northern Haiti's Fort-Liberté Bay. To make the feature even more interesting, 23andme should provide more precise information on the chromosome segment's location. It might be worthwhile to explore these matches to various indigenous Caribbean peoples who were related to others from different parts of Hispaniola or even different islands altogether. 

Despite the lack of these features, it was still interesting to note that most of our matches are with samples from Hispaniola (mainly the Dominican Republic). This is presumably due to the far greater number of indigenous Caribbean samples from the DR as well as the migration/intermarriage of indigenous peoples between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico (and the Lucayan Islands). Nonetheless, we found it intriguing that the highest matches were with samples from Hispaniola. The largest amount of shared ancestry was with an ancient woman from the site of Andrés, east of Santo Domingo. Although we only share 16.45 cM across 3 segments with this woman, this supposedly means we share more ancestry with her than 99.90% of all 23andme customers who share DNA with her. The next largest matches were of 10.8 and 10.2 cM with two individuals from Diale 1, a site in northeastern Haiti. Although only 2 segments, the amount of shared DNA with the two individuals is similar and possibly the same segment. If 23andme provided the segment information, I could potentially explore my relation to the 2 people from the Diale site in Haiti and the woman from Andrés. Even more intriguing is the fact that the two individuals from Diale had 16-20% Archaic ancestry from peoples who lived in the Antilles before the Arawakan-speakers migrated to the Greater Antilles. Moreover, the two people from Diale, who lived sometime between 800 CE to 1200 CE, may have fallen under the sphere of influence of Marien, a cacicazgo that was perceived by the Spanish sources as the most powerful chiefdom or polity in northern Haiti. Of course, there is no evidence for Marien in this earlier time period, but the site which was the probable capital of Marien was inhabited by the 1200s.

In addition, we shared 2 segments of DNA with two other individuals from the modern Dominican Republic. In the case of Ceramic Age Caribbean Individual I15112, from El Atajadizo, DR, we have more common DNA with her than 91.90% of all 23andme customers. For Ceramic Age Caribbean Individual I12350, we share more DNA with her than 87.90% of all 23andme customers who match her. The general picture then is one of closer matches with women from sites in the DR and Haiti and a plethora of smaller matches in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas. Since the site where these individuals were found is no sure guarantee of their origin, it is difficult to say with any certainty where they may have originated from. Therefore, it is possible some of these matches were with indigenous people who may have hailed from Puerto Rico or the eastern Dominican Republic before migrating. Nonetheless, we believe that the two related individuals from Diale, Haiti may have come from the area and one was male while the other female. Overall, the closest indigenous matches were from Atajadizo, a site near San Pedro de Macorix, and the two relatives from Haiti. The results could be explained by a number of factors but are certainly consistent with a shared ancestry between indigenous peoples in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. They could also be due to the forced relocation of indigenous peoples from Hispaniola and the Bahamas to Puerto Rico in the 16th century. But historians and archaeologists have provided more than enough evidence for long-standing contacts between the eastern part of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. 

Ancient Caribbean DNA Matches

Although hardly the most sophisticated or reliable method, using Gedmatch's autosomal DNA comparison feature can be entertaining and occasionally useful. In this case, comparing our data to that of around 42 kits of ancient samples was an interesting experience. Indeed, of the 42 ancient samples, we only had matches with 4 individuals, which is significant. All 4 of them, however, were either individuals from Cuba or the Bahamas, surprisingly. We apparently did not share DNA, at least not detectable using Gedmatch, with ancient persons from Puerto Rico and Hispaniola with kits on Gedmatch (that we know of). The dates given for the samples are from undated in one case but the others the woman from Preacher's Cave, in the Bahamas, was the subject of an important article published in 2018 by Hannes Schroeder. According to this study, "Results are consistent with Puerto Ricans and the ancient Taino forming a clade without any significant gene-flow postdivergence." Clearly, the ancient Lucayan woman's genome was similar to that of modern-day Puerto Ricans. Indeed, this study found that Puerto Ricans share large parts of their genome with the ancient "Taino" of the Caribbean. Another study found similarities between the Preacher's Cave sample and precontact Puerto Rico samples in terms of autosomal DNA. These similarities also extend to South American Amazonian groups, such as the Yukpa, Piapoco, Karitiana, and Surui. Furthermore, modern Puerto Ricans harbor mtDNA that is at least partly a reflection of precontact Puerto Rico populations. 

What we find interesting in our matches is the lack of a Puerto Rico or Hispaniola connection. While this is probably, in part, due to the less sophisticated tools and models via Gedmatch, we did match with another ancient "Taino" sample from the Bahamas. On Gedmatch, it is called Kit WE2232796 (*Bahamas Taino Native), with further indication that its test results are from 23andMe. Is this one of their indigenous Caribbean samples the company uses? This person appears to be the same as the Atunwa Inaru, the name given to this ancient woman from the Bahamas. Anyway, we only shared a total of 3 segments, the longest at 3.6 cM. Our total Half-Match segments was 9.7 cM and a total of 458412 SNPs were used, with 47.467 percent fully identical. As one might expect, shared DNA with someone who lived several centuries ago would be low. Yet, with another kit from the same woman from Preacher's Cave, Atunwa Inaru on Gedmatch, we shared a total Half-Match segments of 14 cM, with the largest segment at 6.7 cM of 3 shared segments. 260057 SNPs were used for the comparison with 38.498 percent identical. We assume this match is at least somewhat reliable since geneticists using more sophisticated matches noted similarities in the ancestry of the Preacher's Cave sample and that of modern and ancient Puerto Ricans. We are not sure which of the two kits for the same person are more accurate or reliable, though we'd bet money on the first kit. 

The other two matches, however, remain more problematic. Both are from Cuba, although the date and exact location are unclear. One, called Brizuela on Gedmatch, is supposedly from the 12th century. With that sample, we share one segment at 4.5 cM, but at a lower SNP density. The other sample from Cuba shared even less with us, only 3.8 cM. But, with this Cuban sample, more SNPs and at a higher density. One wonders if these Cuban samples may reflect a 'ceramic' culture whose ancestors included some of the same groups who migrated into the Bahamas from Hispaniola. Or, alternatively, due to the widespread seafaring abilities of the indigenous Caribbean and the lack of evidence for inbreeding in the sample from Preacher's Cave, perhaps some groups found spouses or significant others from distant islands in the archipelago. What we do not understand, however, is our inability to find ancient samples from Hispaniola with whom we share DNA...

Our Cacique, Caonabo

Although the author admits to the speculative nature of some of his conclusions, Taino Indian Myth and Practice: The Arrival of the Stranger King, Keegan's study is a thought-provoking work on the basis of cacical authority and the inter-island connections in the late precolonial Caribbean. Using Las Casas's claim that Caonabo was from the Bahamian archipelago, Keegan endeavors to use ethnohistoric and archaeological methods to identify the possible village site Caonabo came from. Of course, since the sources are problematic and our understanding of Taino worldview less than ideal, Keegan must use potentially misleading or unrepresentative writings on Taino mythology (mainly Pané) to make meaning of the Spanish sources. Indeed, this is a necessity but there is always the danger of generalizing and homogenizing based on Pané's recordings of the specific beliefs of one particular cacicazgo of Hispaniola. Despite these risks, and  the author's recognition of far greater diversity among the peoples of the Taino Interaction Sphere, he still uses Pané (and the interpretations of Taino religion from Stevens-Arroyo's scholarship) heavily to reconstruct the mythic geography of the Taino. Caonabo's alleged origins at a specific site in Middle Caicos requires heavy allegiance to Stevens-Arroyo's work on Pané.

Since Keegan accepts the greater diversity of Taino peoples and the antiquity of ceramics in Cuba and Hispaniola soon after the Saladoid culture reached Puerto Rico, the deeper history of migrations, cultural exchanges, and eventually colonization of the Bahamas is a more complex process than one would think. Indeed, if Keegan is correct about the matrilineal and avunculocal nature of the Taino chiefdoms, perhaps some specific sites in the Bahamas were short-term and long-term settlements meant to provide fish, salt, and shell beads to Hispaniola. Caciques, whose power was at least partly based on marriage alliances with numerous other communities (as well as their ability to communicate with numinous beings), could have been linked to Middle Caicos sites from northern Hispaniola. Marriage alliances could have meant Caonabo was born at the MC-6 site excavated by Sullivan and Keegan, but his mother was from Hispaniola, perhaps Maguana. Caonabo then would have been eligible to succeed to the office of cacique in Hispaniola through his mother's kin, and perhaps would have embodied aspects of a stranger "king" with roots in an island that provided salt and marine resources (or salted fish) to Hispaniola. This remains rather speculative and uncertain, and one still has to consider the reason why Las Casas believed Caonabo rose to position of chiefdom: his military prowess. Perhaps his background on Middle Caicos may have prepared him, or he displayed distinct warrior talent in his early youth after relocating to the cacicazgo of his mother? 

Since so much remains unknown of Caonabo's origins and the Spanish sources, beginning with Columbus, were guilty of creating their own myths and legends of Caribbean indigenous peoples, much remains uncertain. Columbus himself, according to Keegan, was guilty of misunderstanding the Taino reference to the Carib as part of a mythology that also included notions of guanin and an island inhabited only by women. The fact that Columbus was sometimes mistaken to be a Carib himself has apparently escaped critical attention by many scholars. In fact, if the Spanish could also be perceived as Caribs, then the alleged cannibalism of the Caribs should be seen as part of Taino mythic geography. Indeed, perhaps this is why Caonabo, who was not born on Hispaniola, could be referred to as "Carib" by Oviedo and at the same time embody some of the mythic characteristics equated with outsiders. Indeed, Keegan goes even further, suggesting that Caonabo may have cultivated or been associated with Deminan and his 3 brothers (Caonabo was said to have 3 brothers) and possibly was seen as the guardian of the Cave of the Jagua from which humans first arose. In addition, Keegan produces evidence from MC-6 and the site of El Corral de los Indios in today's San Juan de la Maguana to point to certain patterns of astronomically aligned plazas and Taino monuments reflecting the culture's mythology or cosmovision. 

Indeed, the MC-6 appears even more unique in this regard with its own plaza recalling those of Hispaniola. Since Caonabo was ruler of Maguana, and would have been familiar with the plazas of MC-6 and Maguana, one can link him to MC-6 for its exceptional qualities. After all, it is possible that only an exceptional site in the Lucayan islands would have produced someone capable of becoming the most powerful cacique of Hispaniola. And due to his position, Caonabo would have intervened with Guacanagari's chiefdom by destroying La Navidad, in order to protect his own position as the "dominant" stranger king of Hispaniola. Even if Caonabo was, through his mother, actually part of the kinship structure of Maguana or another Hispaniola chiefdom, he was still remote or enough of a stranger to accumulate possible mythological characteristics linked to his political office. He would have felt a strong threat from Columbus as a potential contender, or perhaps someone through whom Guacanagari could have become a threat. Caonabo, already allied with Beheccio through his marriage to Anacaona, may have dominated half of Hispaniola with Jaragua. A newcomer allied with a different cacicazgo could have threatened the political stability of the island.

Perhaps most interesting is the archaeological evidence for cacical authority reflected in sites such as En Bas Saline, MC-6, San Juan de la Maguana. Citing evidence from another archaeologists analysis of En Bas Saline, Keegan presents evidence that the households of caciques were not exempt from the daily tasks and chores of commoner households. Moreover, it is possible that caciques did not actually impose sumptuary restrictions on their population, but monopolized the distribution of luxuries like iguana meat for festivals or feasts. Indeed, it remains unknown to what degree caciques actually controlled production in their polities through tribute or other means. However, caciques must have had access to skilled labor for the production of luxury crafts, communities for long-distance trade or manufacturing of shell-beads and salted fish off Hispaniola, and the construction of elaborate plazas and ballcourts. Undoubtedly, the cacique's rise to supremacy over behiques with regards to contact with the divine through the cohoba ritual was an important aspect of the ideological basis for political authority. As a result, the form of a Taino village and the most elaborate plazas with astronomical alignments for the solstice and Orion must have reinforced the cacique's authority as leader of a community spatially organized in recognition of the cemis. Whether or not this means the most powerful cacicazgos were en route to state formation from a "tribal-tributary" model is up for debate. But one is led to think that at least the matunheri caciques wielded tremendous power. Indeed, some may have even sponsored short-term and long-term colonization in nearby islands to harvest resources for use in Hispaniola.