Editing History of Cuba (section)

==Pre-Columbian (to 1500)==
[[File:Taíno women preparing cassava bread.png|left|thumb|[[Taíno]] women preparing [[cassava bread]]]]
Cuba's earliest known human inhabitants inhabited the island in the [[4th millennium&nbsp;BC]].<ref>Allaire, p. 678</ref> The oldest known Cuban archeological site, [[Nicaro-Levisa|Levisa]], dates from approximately 3100&nbsp;BC.<ref>Allaire, p. 686</ref> A wider distribution of sites date from after 2000&nbsp;BC, most notably represented by the Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures of western Cuba. These [[neolithic]] cultures used [[ground stone]] and [[Seashell|shell]] tools and ornaments, including the [[dagger]]-like ''gladiolitos''.<ref name="Allaire688">Allaire, p. 688</ref> The Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures lived a subsistence lifestyle based on [[hunter-gatherer|fishing, hunting and collecting wild plants]].<ref name="Allaire688"/>

The indigenous [[Guanajatabey]], who had inhabited Cuba for centuries, were driven to the far west of the island by the arrival of subsequent waves of migrants, including the [[Taíno people|Taíno]] and [[Ciboney]]. These people had migrated north along the [[Caribbean|Caribbean island chain]]. The Taíno and Siboney were part of a cultural group commonly called the [[Arawak peoples|Arawak]], who inhabited parts of northeastern South America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Initially, they settled at the eastern end of Cuba, before expanding westward across the island. The Spanish [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] clergyman and writer [[Bartolomé de las Casas]] estimated that the Taíno population of Cuba had reached 350,000 by the end of the 15th century. The Taíno cultivated the [[cassava|yuca]] root, harvested it and baked it to produce [[cassava bread]]. They also grew [[cotton]] and [[tobacco]], and ate [[maize]] and [[sweet potato]]es.<ref>''Historia de las Indias'' (vol. 3). Biblioteca Ayacucho: [[Caracas]] (1986). pp. 81–101.</ref>