c.

c. AD 400 – 1000 (Theory): The Early Ceramic Age in the southern Caribbean is increasingly viewed as an “interaction sphere” that linked the Orinoco delta with the Antilles. Rather than being isolated islanders, populations in Trinidad and the Windward Islands participated in a “polychrome tradition” of pottery and shared symbolic icons that reflected deep mainland roots. Arie Boomert’s research highlights how raptorial birds and other animal motifs served as icons of shamanism, connecting Caribbean spiritual life to broader Amazonian belief systems. This perspective emphasizes that the southern Caribbean functioned as a gateway for the continuous flow of ideas, materials, and people from South America into the archipelago.