The Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola

Along the southern coast of Hispaniola, at La Caleta and nearby sites, the Ceramic Age islanders farmed, fished and buried their dead for centuries before Columbus. Their genomes told a story of near-total replacement: across the Greater Antilles, the older Archaic-related ancestry gave way almost entirely, more than 98 percent, to the Ceramic-related ancestry that had spread up the island chain. Nineteen pairs of cousins turned up across the islands, with close relatives buried some 75 km apart, a measure of how tightly the sea bound these communities. Each settlement was small, perhaps 500 to 1,500 people, which makes colonial claims of millions on Hispaniola hard to credit. The twelve here are everyday members of those coastal villages.

The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean.

Every Ancestry Map includes the free Notable Matches lens: your coordinates are compared to every sequenced member of every catalog entry, and the distance to the closest member is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional space the Distance lens uses. Because these are a small group of real individuals, not a population average, distances naturally run larger than population distances. That is expected, not a poor result. And one thing is never claimed: a small distance means similar ancestry composition, not that the Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about Ancestry Map, the full Global25 report.

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  Who were the Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola?

  The Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola (c. 250-1500 CE, La Caleta and other sites, Dominican Republic) are one of the Iconic discoveries entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 12 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean".

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  What does "matching" the Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola mean?

  Your Global25 coordinates are compared to the entry's sequenced members and the distance to the closest one is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional reference space the Distance lens uses. A notable entry is one person or one small burial group, not a population average, so distances naturally run larger than population distances.

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  Are they my ancestor?

  No, and no DNA test can show that. A small distance means your genome sits near theirs in a shared reference space: similar ancestry composition, not descent. Ancestrify never claims a notable individual is your ancestor or relative.

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  How do I see my own distance to the Ceramic Age Islanders of Hispaniola?

  Notable Matches is a free lens on every Ancestry Map, never sold separately. Order Ancestry Map, our Global25 analysis (29.99 EUR), and your report ranks your coordinates against the full catalog, with a portrait, dossier and map for every entry. The public demo shows the lens with example data.

The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers. Browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:

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• The Early Iron Age of the Okavangoc. 700-1000 CE

• The Guanchesc. 300-1500 CE

• The Kulubnarti Nubiansc. 650-1000 CE

• The Skeleton Lake of Roopkundc. 800 CE and 1800 CE

• The Maya of Chichén Itzác. 600-1100 CE

• The Taíno Woman of Preacher's Cavec. 950 CE

• The Vikingsc. 750-1050 CE

• The Settlers of Icelandc. 870-1100 CE

• The Hungarian Conquerors10th century CE

• The Ancient Puerto Ricansc. 550-1350 CE

• The Christians of Sigtunac. 900-1050 CE