The ancient DNA of the Caribbean and the ‘vanished’ Taíno question

Record summary

AI-recalled; source quality 5; corroboration 0. Genome studies of precontact Caribbean individuals, including an individual from the Bahamas, have been used to reconstruct population movement, relatedness, and continuity after European contact. The research matters because colonial narratives often treated Indigenous Caribbean peoples as wholly vanished, while genetic, archaeological, and historical evidence indicate more complicated survival and admixture histories. Interpretive uncertainties include small sample sizes, uneven preservation, community consultation, and the mismatch between genetic ancestry and cultural identity. Researchers should compare ancient-genome papers with bioarchaeology, oral history, and Indigenous scholarship.