The original inhabitants of the Caribbean were a people on the move. We can reconstruct their movements using scientific methods, such as isotope or ancient DNA analysis. Isotope analyses of dental enamel can be used to determine whether an individual migrated during their lifetime and where they originated from, while ancient DNA analysis provides information on their genetic ancestry, kinship ties, and geographic origins.
Sample preparation for ancient DNA work at the Center for GeoGenetics, Copenhagen (photos: Center for GeoGenetics).
Text by Hannes Schroeder & Jason Laffoon