TAINOS AND CARIBS – Sebastián Robiou Lamarche Supply

The author presents to us sequentially the main cultures that inhabited the Antilles before and during the European impact. For both the Tainos and the Caribs, he explains the main elements of their material and ideal life, highlighting their likeness as well as their differences. A brilliant research work based on archeological and ethnohistorical information . Lourdes Domínguez, Oficina del Historiador de La Habana, Cuba.

The book is a significant contribution to the knowledge of the aboriginal world view in the Antilles. The author analyzes – among other aspects – the intimate correlation that exists between astronomical systems, climatological cycles and magic-religious beliefs, as well as agricultural practices linked to fertility rites. In the same way, his research on the bateyes or ceremonial plazas in the Antilles make plausible the existence of a solar calendar in the process of development and of myth-astronomy in the pre-Columbian islands . Manuel A. García Arevalo, Academia Dominicana de la Historia, Dominican Republic.