Editing History of Antigua and Barbuda (section)

==Early history (2900 BC–17th century) ==
{{Main article|Pre-Columbian Antigua and Barbuda}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2018}}
[[Antigua]] was first settled by [[hunter-gatherer|pre-agricultural]] Amerindians known as "Archaic People" (although they are commonly, but erroneously known in Antigua as [[Ciboney|Siboney]], a pre-ceramic Cuban people). The earliest settlements on the island date to 2900&nbsp;BC. They were succeeded by [[ceramic]]-using agriculturalist [[Saladoid]] people who migrated up the island chain from [[Venezuela]]. They were later replaced by [[Arawakan]] speakers around 1200&nbsp;AD and around 1500 by [[Island Caribs]].
[[File:Arowak woman by John Gabriel Stedman.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Depiction of an [[Arawak]] woman in 1818]]
The Arawaks were the first well-documented group of Antiguans. They paddled to the island by canoe (piragua) from Venezuela, and were ejected by the Caribs—another people Indigenous to the area. Arawaks introduced agriculture to Antigua and Barbuda, raising, among other crops, the famous Antiguan "black" pineapple. They also cultivated various other foods including corn, sweet potatoes (white variety), guava, tobacco, and cotton. Some of the vegetables listed, such as corn and sweet potatoes, still play an important role in Antiguan cuisine. For example, a popular Antiguan dish, Ducuna (DOO-koo-NAH), is a sweet, steamed dumpling made from grated sweet potatoes, flour and spices. In addition, one of the Antiguan staple foods, fungee (FOON-ji), is a cooked paste made of cornmeal and water.

The bulk of the Arawaks left Antigua about 1100&nbsp;AD. Those who remained were subsequently raided by the Caribs. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Caribs' superior weapons and seafaring prowess allowed them to defeat most Arawak nations in the West Indies—enslaving some and cannibalising others.

The Catholic Encyclopedia does make it clear that the Spanish explorers had some difficulty identifying and differentiating between the various native peoples they encountered.{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} As a result, the number and types of ethnic-tribal-national groups in existence at the time may be much more varied and numerous than the two mentioned.

According to ''A Brief History of the Caribbean'' (Jan Rogozinski, Penguin Putnam, Inc September 2000), European and African diseases, malnutrition and slavery eventually destroyed the vast majority of the Caribbean's native population. No researcher has conclusively proven any of these causes as the real reason for the destruction of West Indian natives. Some historians believe that the psychological stress of slavery may also have played a part in the massive number of native deaths while in servitude. Others believe that the reportedly abundant, but starchy, low-protein diet may have contributed to severe malnutrition of the "Indians" who were used to a diet fortified with protein from sea-life.

The Indigenous West Indians made sea vessels that they used to sail the Atlantic and Caribbean. As a result, Caribs and Arawaks populated much of South American and the Caribbean Islands. Relatives of the Antiguan Arawaks and Caribs still live in various countries in South America, notably Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. The smaller remaining native populations in the West Indies maintain a pride in their heritage.