The status of paleoethnobiological research on Puerto Rico and adjacent Islands

Recent and ongoing paleoethnobiological research concerning archaeological settlements and biotic resources on Puerto Rico and adjacent islands has begun to illuminate distinctive patterns of resource use by the various prehistoric human groups occupying the area beginning approximately 2,200 years ago. This particular subregion of the Caribbean includes Puerto Rico and the geologically related smaller islands of Culebra and Vieques, immediately to the east of Puerto Rico (Figure 4.1). Archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological studies of several well-preserved assemblages of macrophytic and faunal materials from the island group are providing essential new data on subsistence practices and economic systems associated with the different prehistoric occupations or cultures of the islands. We present an overview of these data and current research, with an emphasis on the distinctive features of the botanical and faunal assemblages, including discernable economic trends in plant and animal use.