The Ortoiroid people are first human settlers of the Caribbean. They are believed to have originated in the Orinoco valley in South America, migrating to the Antilles from Trinidad and Tobago to Puerto Rico. Rouse theorizes that the Ortoiroid developed for a large amount of time in South America before moving to the West Indies.^[1] The earliest radiocarbon date for the Ortoiroid is 5230 BC from Trinidad; the latest date is 190 AD from Puerto Rico. The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,410 km, (1,497. ... The Antilles (the same in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen in Dutch) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years[1]. Raw, i. ...

The majority of archaeological sites associated with the Ortoiroid are found near or on the coast. Shellfish remains have been found in these sites indicating that they constituted an important part of the Ortoiroid diet. An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been investigated using the discipline of archaeology. ... Cooked mussels Shellfish is a term used to describe shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ...

The Ortoiroid are considered the first settlers of the archipelago of Puerto Rico.

The Ortoiroid were displaced by the Saladoid people in the West Indies. The Saladoid are a native people of the Caribbean and Venezuela. ...

See also

• History of the Caribbean
• History of Puerto Rico
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The Caribbean The History of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. ... Puerto Rico The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people between 3000 and 2000 BC. Other tribes, such as the Saladoid and Arawak Indians, populated the island between 430 BC and AD 1000. ... Olmec script These glyphs written in Epi-Olmec script, the earliest examples of writing in the Americas, give a calendar date of 7. ...

References

• Irving Rouse (1992). The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the people who greeted Columbus. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300056966. 
• Caribbean Prehistory

Further reading

• Ferguson, James: Far From Paradise. Latin American Bureau, 1990. ISBN 0-906156-54-8 (Good first read, from Columbus to present. Concentrates on slavery, the colonial period, struggles for independence and the rise of US influence. Lots of references.)
• Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing.
• Rogozinsky, Jan: A Brief History of the Caribbean. Plume, 1999. ISBN 0-452-28193-8 (Thorough history of the Caribbean up to the end of the twentieth century.)