Population History of the Caribbean
Our research integrates genetic and anthropological approaches to trace the population history of the Caribbean islands. We are using ancient DNA to reconstruct the peopling of Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles and explore the role of DNA in the maintenance of ancient inter-island interaction networks.
Our work also explores the biocultural connections between ancient Indigenous communities and present-day islanders and seeks to understand how the transformations brought by European colonization, the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, and other historical migration and displacement events shaped the genetic variation, culture and health of modern Caribbean communities.
Select Relevant Publications
Potential migration routes taken by the first peoples of the Caribbean as proposed by archaeological evidence.
Nägele K, Posth C, Orbegozo MI, Chinque de Armas Y, Hernandez Godoy ST, González Herrera UM, Nieves-Colón MA, Sandoval-Velasco M, Mylopotamitaki D, Radzeviciute R, Laffoon J, Pestle WJ, Ramos-Madrigal J, Lamnidis TC, Schaffer WC, Carr RS, Day JS, Arredondo Antúnez C, Rangel Rivero A, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Crespo-Torres E, Roksandic I, Stone AC, Lalueza-Fox C, Hoogland M, Roksandic M, Hofman C, Krause J, Schroeder H. 2020. Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean. Science. 369(6502):456-460.
Nieves-Colón MA, Pestle WJ, Reynolds AW, Llamas B, de la Fuente C, Fowler, K, Skerry K, Crespo-Torres E, Bustamante CD, Stone AC. 2020. Ancient DNA reconstructs the genetic legacies of pre-contact Puerto Rico. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 37(3):611-620.
Lab member contributions highlighted in bold text.
Nieves-Colón MA. 2022. Anthropological genetic insights on Caribbean population history. Evolutionary Anthropology. 31: 118-137.