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| | Caribbean Prehistory, SEAC |
 | | The Arawak culture is noted for large village sites of 1,000 to 5,000 people controlled by chiefdoms, with heavy emphasis on the cultivation of yucca and cassava, with supplemental hunting and shellfish-gathering, and the creation of ball courts or ceremonial plazas attached to the larger settlements. |
 | | This culture, termed the Saladoid culture, appears to have established itself initially in the southernmost Lesser Antilles as early as 500 B.C., and reached the area of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by 345 B.C. Radiocarbon dates for these two island areas indicate the Saladoid period, or Cedrosan sub-series, lasted from ca. |
 | | Settlement patterns of the Saladoid culture tended to be on the flat coastal plains and alluvial valleys of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, probably to utilize the maritime food resources and fertile soils for growing food crops, such as manioc, cassava, or yucca, and, to a lesser extent, maize. |
| www.cr.nps.gov /seac/caribpre.htm (3657 words) |
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