ABSTRACT
At the dawn of the new millennium, the landscapes of the Caribbean region are quite different in appearance from those a thousand years ago. Then, indigenous Amerindian peoples lived throughout the islands and a recent estimate suggests a pre-1492 population of three million (Denevan 1992). Less is known about the pre-Colombian landscapes of the Caribbean islands than those of mainland America, but Sauer’s (1966) discussion of Taino (Island Arawak) raised fields or montones, based on the writing of contemporary Spanish chroniclers, suggests that humanised landscapes, at least in lowland areas of the larger islands like Hispaniola and Cuba, were extensive. Watts (1987) concludes that much of the native mature forests (especially in upland regions) remained intact until the arrival of the Europeans. Over the last 500 years, however, the natural landscapes familiar to Amerindian peoples have largely disappeared and only remnants survive. The impacts of colonisation, commerce, economic development and urbanisation have created new and unique Caribbean cultural landscapes. The transformations have been dramatic, far-reaching and irreversible. Many of these changes are considered in the chapters that follow.
