The settlement of Puerto Rico began with the establishment of the Ortoiroid culture from the Orinoco region in South America. Some scholars suggest that their settlement dates back 4000 years.[2] An archeological dig at the island of Vieques in 1990 found the remains of what is believed to be an Ortoiroid man (named Puerto Ferro man) which was dated to around 2000 BC.[3] The Ortoiroid were displaced by the Saladoid, a culture from the same region that arrived on the island between 430 and 250 BC.[2] Between the seventh and 11th centuries, the Arawak are thought to have settled the island. During this time the Taíno culture developed, and by approximately 1000 AD, it had become dominant. Taíno culture has been traced to the village of Saladero at the basin of the Orinoco River in Venezuela;[4] the Taíno migrated to Puerto Rico by crossing the Lesser Antilles.[2] At the time of Columbus arrival, an estimated 30 to 60 thousand Taíno Amerindians, led by the cacique (chief) Agüeybaná, inhabited the island. They called it Boriken, the great land of the valiant and noble Lord.[5] The natives lived in small villages led by a cacique and subsisted on hunting, fishing and gathering of indigenous cassava root and fruit. When the Spaniards arrived in 1493, the Taíno were already in conflict with the raiding Carib, who were moving up the Antilles chain. The Taíno domination of the island was nearing its end, and the Spanish arrival marked the beginning of their extinction. Their culture, however, remains part of that of contemporary Puerto Rico. Musical instruments such as maracas and güiro, the hammock, and words such as Mayagüez, Arecibo, iguana, and huracán (hurricane) are examples of the legacy left by the Taíno.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:56:25 +0000
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