The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the

The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)

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For the Lucayan Arawaks of the Caribbean, the year 1492 marked the beginning of the end: the first people contacted by Christopher Columbus were the first extinguished. Within thirty years, a population of perhaps 80,000 had declined to, at most, a few refugees. Clearing new ground in the study of prehistoric societies, Keegan argues that a different perspective on the past provides an accurate portrait of a culture that became extinct almost 500 years ago.
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Keegan terms his approach paleoethnography, developing a portrait of the past by linking archaeological field data and historical documents. The result, the first overview of the prehistory of the Bahamas, explains how and why the Bahamas were colonized by the Tainos almost 1,400 years ago. The portrait includes characteristics of the islands themselves, descriptions of how the Lucayans made their settlements, what they ate, how they organized in social groups, and how their population spread throughout the archipelago.
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Keegan reconstructs Columbusâ€™s voyage through the West Indies, raising questions about the explorerâ€™s motivations and presenting a controversial theory about where, exactly, Columbus landed. Offering new perspectives on Caribbean prehistory to both scholars and general readers, the book ends with the Spaniardsâ€™ arrival and the Lucayansâ€™ demise.
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Country USA
Brand University Press of Florida
Manufacturer University Press of Florida
Binding Hardcover
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780813011370
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University Press of Florida
Manufacturer	University Press of Florida
Binding	Hardcover
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9780813011370
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)