La Caleta Ceramic Horizon

The ceramic horizons at La Caleta, on the southern coast of Hispaniola (modern Dominican Republic), mark a period when pottery-making communities reshaped island lifeways. Archaeological data indicates sustained occupation between approximately 600 and 1650 CE, with diagnostic pottery styles that tie La Caleta into wider Caribbean ceramic traditions often linked to South American origins. Excavations at the La Caleta site have revealed household pits, middens, and finely decorated ceramics that demonstrate craft specialization and regional interaction.

Genetically, the picture is rooted in Indigenous American ancestry. The predominance of Y-chromosome haplogroup Q in the 62 analyzed individuals aligns with a broadly Native American paternal heritage. Maternal lineages are dominated by haplogroups C and A2 subclades, which are common across the pre-contact Americas and consistent with south-to-north migration models that brought ceramic technologies into the Caribbean. Limited evidence suggests interaction and mobility between islands and the mainland, but the archaeological record at La Caleta currently best supports local continuity of Indigenous lineages into the late pre-contact and early colonial periods.

Caveats: while 62 samples provide meaningful resolution, they derive largely from one locality; broader regional sampling is needed to map population structure across Hispaniola and neighboring islands.

The La Caleta genetic dataset (62 samples) offers one of the clearer local windows into Ceramic-period population ancestry on Hispaniola. Paternal lineages are overwhelmingly haplogroup Q (36 of 62), a marker typically associated with Indigenous populations across the Americas. This strong Q signal supports continuity of Native American paternal ancestry through the ceramic period at this site.

Mitochondrial DNA is dominated by haplogroup C (38 samples) and multiple A2 subclades (A2e: 17; A2h: 2; A2: 2), with minor representation of C1b (2). These maternal lineages are widespread in pre-contact South and Central America and throughout the Caribbean, consistent with archaeological models that trace ceramic technology and people moving from the South American mainland into the islands. The balance of C and A2 lineages suggests maternal ancestry rooted in these continental sources, and when combined with Y-DNA Q, paints a picture of a population primarily descended from Indigenous American founders.

Limitations and uncertainties: although 62 samples afford statistical weight, they come from a single locality and time span; potential admixture events (European, African) across the late 15th–17th centuries are archaeogenetically detectable but require fine-grained temporal sampling. Further genomic comparisons with mainland South American and neighboring-island assemblages will clarify migration routes and degrees of continuity.