Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Greater Antilles

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reniel Rodríguez Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Culture History ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Original Emphasis ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Important Shift ◽  
Regional Perspective

This chapter synthesizes the different lines of information on pan-regional interactions in the Caribbean discussed in the previous twelve sections of the book. The author highlights the fact that Caribbean archaeology has experienced an important shift in perspective, from its original emphasis on culture history to an “interaction paradigm” This shifting trend has underlined the limitations that previous normalized notions about the lifeways and identities of the ancient inhabitants of the Antilles have presented for understanding what was a highly diverse and complex social and cultural seascape where multi-vectorial and multi-scalar interactions took place through time between the inhabitants of the islands and with those that occupied the surrounding Caribbean mainlands. These interactions resulted in the “cultural mosaic” that has existed in the islands since their initial occupations up to the present. The final chapter thus offers a broader meaning and contextualization to the new data in order to firmly embed them into current dialogues within Caribbean archaeology, focusing on the issues of origins, lifeways, and identities. The author provides a wide regional perspective as the framework for understanding the importance and implications of new evidence and conceptual models presented in the preceding chapters.

scholarly journals Understanding the Urgent Need for Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Spanish-Speaking Greater Antilles

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián Fuentes-Luque ◽  
Pabsi Livmar González-Irizarry
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Current State ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Caribbean

Even though Audiovisual Translation (AVT) is growing and flourishing throughout the world, it is practically unheard-of in the Caribbean, where accessibility faces an even bleaker existence. The circumstances of the deaf and hard of hearing (also referred to as D/deaf) are no less alarming: social barriers and exclusion are widespread. This paper emphasizes the need to make subtitles accessible in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, specifically on the islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, and underscores the challenges faced by the D/deaf communities on each island. Our research focuses on issues like AVT laws and regulations, the habits of viewers of audiovisual (AV) products, and literacy and limitations on each island. This paper also examines the different types of D/deaf audiovisual consumers in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the difficulties each community faces when accessing media and entertainment. Our research reveals the current state of AVT accessibility in this region and provides a foundation for influencing legislators to begin enforcing AVT regulations and drafting SDH guidelines.

Ibero-American Maritime History: Recent Advances in Research, 1975-1994

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Ortiz-Sotelo
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
South America ◽  
Maritime History ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
The Caribbean

This essay provides a complex review and analysis of existing work on Ibero-American naval, colonial, and independent maritime history. Countries discussed include Spain, Portugal, South America, and others across the Caribbean and Latin America.

scholarly journals The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 20190947 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Rachel M. Keeffe ◽  
María C. Vallejo-Pareja ◽  
Jorge Vélez-Juarbe
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Distal Humerus ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Early Arrival ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Molecular Phylogenies ◽  
Additional Support

The nearly 200 species of direct-developing frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus (the Caribbean landfrogs, which include the coquís) comprise an important lineage for understanding the evolution and historical biogeography of the Caribbean. Time-calibrated molecular phylogenies provide indirect evidence for the processes that shaped the modern anuran fauna, but there is little direct evidence from the fossil record of Caribbean frogs about their distributions in the past. We report a distal humerus of a frog from the Oligocene (approx. 29 Ma) of Puerto Rico that represents the earliest known fossil frog from any Caribbean island. Based on its prominent rounded distal humeral head, distally projecting entepicondyle, and reduced ectepicondyle, we refer it to the genus Eleutherodactylus . This fossil provides additional support for an early arrival of some groups of terrestrial vertebrates to the Greater Antilles and corroborates previous estimates based on molecular phylogenies suggesting that this diverse Caribbean lineage was present in the islands by the mid-Cenozoic.

scholarly journals Local Annual Survival and Seasonal Residency Rates of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris Pusilla) in Puerto Rico

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 1397-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Rice ◽  
Jaime A. Collazo ◽  
Mathew W. Alldredge ◽  
Brian A. Harrington ◽  
Allen R. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Differential Mortality ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Annual Survival ◽  
Salt Flats ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Calidris Pusilla ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

Abstract We report seasonal residency and local annual survival rates of migratory Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) at the Cabo Rojo salt flats, Puerto Rico. Residency rate (daily probability of remaining on the flats) was 0.991 ± 0.001 (x̄ ± SE), yielding a mean length of stay of 110 days. This finding supports the inclusion of the Caribbean as part of the species' winter range. Average estimated percentage of fat was low but increased throughout the season, which suggests that birds replenish some spent fat reserves and strive for energetic maintenance. Local annual survival rate was 0.62 ± 0.04, within the range of values reported for breeding populations at Manitoba and Alaska (0.53–0.76). The similarity was not unexpected because estimates were obtained annually but at opposite sites of their annual migratory movements. Birds captured at the salt flats appeared to be a mix of birds from various parts of the breeding range, judging from morphology (culmen's coefficient of variation = 9.1, n = 106). This suggested that origin (breeding area) of birds and their proportion in the data should be ascertained and accounted for in analyses to glean the full conservation implications of winter-based annual survival estimates. Those data are needed to unravel the possibility that individuals of distinct populations are affected by differential mortality factors across different migratory routes. Mean length of stay strongly suggested that habitat quality at the salt flats was high. Rainfall and tidal flow combine to increase food availability during fall. The salt flats dry up gradually toward late January, at the onset of the dry season. Semipalmated Sandpipers may move west to other Greater Antilles or south to sites such as coastal Surinam until the onset of spring migration. They are not an oversummering species at the salt flats. Conservation efforts in the Caribbean region require understanding the dynamics of this species throughout winter to protect essential habitat. Tasas de Supervivencia Anual Local y de Residencia Estacional de Calidris pusilla en Puerto Rico

scholarly journals Genetic Structure and Phylogenetic Relationships of Capsicum chinense

2012 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marissa Moses ◽  
Pathmanathan Umaharan
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Amazon Region ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Capsicum Chinense ◽  
Arbitrary Primers ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Major Cluster ◽  
Phylogenetic Origin ◽  
The Caribbean

Capsicum chinense is commercially the most important pepper species grown in the Caribbean. It is popularly used to impart pungency and flavor to Caribbean cuisine. However, unlike Capsicum annuum, which is the most commercially exploited domesticated species internationally, C. chinense has not been methodically collected or characterized for systematic improvement through plant breeding. The objectives of the study were to assess the diversity of C. chinense and its structure within the Caribbean basin and to determine its phylogenetic relationship to groups within South America. DNA isolated from 201 accessions of C. chinense, representing geographical regions where the species is found, were amplified using arbitrary primers to generate 138 polymorphic and reproducible random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Nei’s and Shannon’s diversity indices for C. chinense (0.28 and 0.419, respectively) were higher in South America compared with Central America or the Caribbean, corresponding to its putative center of diversity. The study showed the existence of three phylogenetic clusters within C. chinense. The largest cluster consisted of accessions from the Upper Amazon region, the Guianas including Venezuela, and the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. The other major cluster was represented by accessions principally from the Lower Amazon region. Another distinct but small cluster consisted of samples solely from the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. The discovery of the three phylogenetic clusters within C. chinense may have potential for exploiting heterosis in breeding. The implications of the findings to the understanding of the phylogenetic origin and distribution of C. chinense are discussed.

Cuban Archaeology in the Caribbean

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Environmental Archaeology ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Research Initiatives ◽  
Patterns Of Interaction ◽  
Key Questions

Cuba is not only the largest island of the Caribbean but also the most centrally located one, as it is accessible from the mainland by different routes and was therefore subject to several waves of migration. The history of the early colonization of this island—and of the Greater Antilles in general—is extremely complex. The research initiatives presented in this book strive to solve some of the main problems in understanding that complexity, and to give answers to key questions regarding the patterns of successive migrations and colonization of the island, the patterns of interaction between the foraging and the agriculturalist groups, and the fate of the indigenous groups at the time of contact with the Spanish. A methodical multidisciplinary approach, necessary to tackle the full scope of the proposed research questions, is reflected in the variety of the contributions included in this volume, such as archaeology, physical anthropology, environmental archaeology, paleoecology; paleodemography; isotope analysis; bathymetry; paleobotany; linguistics; and ethnohistory. While the immediate focus of the book is region-specific, it will also contribute to ongoing debates in anthropological archaeology concerning migration and colonization; the importance of landscape and seascape in shaping human experience; the role that contact and interaction between different groups play in building identity; and the contribution of native groups to the biological and cultural identity of post-contact and modern societies.

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