c.

c. AD 1000 – 1500 (Theory): The Late Ceramic Age Caribbean is increasingly viewed as a “connected” landscape where social networks were the primary drivers of cultural homogeneity and diversity. A.A.A. Mol argues that by mapping these interaction networks, archaeologists can move beyond traditional “culture area” models to see how individual agency and communal exchange shaped the region. This perspective emphasizes that the boundaries between island groups were fluid and that the “Taíno” or “Carib” identities reported by Europeans were actually part of a much more complex and integrated socio-material web. This network approach allows for a more dynamic reconstruction of pre-contact social geography.