Attractive Ideas, Desirable Goods: Examining the Late Ceramic Age Relationships between Greater and Lesser Antillean Societies

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article aims to correct a number of archaeological misconceptions issuing from the Taíno-Carib dichotomy engrained within the discipline. We examine the evidence for Late Ceramic Age (AD 800–1500) interactions between communities of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This article explores and nuances the alleged dichotomy between Taíno and Carib societies, details a number of contact lines between them, and advances hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying these interactions such as incorporation, exchange, and appropriation.