Editing Dominican Republic (section)

===Pre-Columbian era===
{{Main|Chiefdoms of Hispaniola}}
[[File:Copia de Cacicazgos de la Hispaniola.png|thumb|upright=1.0|The five caciquedoms of Hispaniola|left]]
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| image2            = Taíno pictographs Cuevas de las Maravillas.jpg
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| footer            = The [[Pomier Caves]] are a series of 55 caves located north of San Cristóbal. They contain the largest collection of 2,000-year-old rock art in the Caribbean.
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The islands of the Caribbean were first settled around 6,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer peoples originating from Central America or northern South America. The [[Arawakan languages|Arawakan-speaking]] ancestors of the [[Taíno]] moved into the Caribbean from South America during the 1st millennium BC, reaching Hispaniola by around 600 AD.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Fernandes |first1=Daniel M. |last2=Sirak |first2=Kendra A. |last3=Ringbauer |first3=Harald |last4=Sedig |first4=Jakob |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Cheronet |first6=Olivia |last7=Mah |first7=Matthew |last8=Mallick |first8=Swapan |last9=Olalde |first9=Iñigo |last10=Culleton |first10=Brendan J. |last11=Adamski |first11=Nicole |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Bravo |first13=Guillermo |last14=Broomandkhoshbacht |first14=Nasreen |last15=Callan |first15=Kimberly |date=2021-02-04 |title=A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=590 |issue=7844 |pages=103–110 |bibcode=2021Natur.590..103F |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03053-2 |issn=0028-0836 |pmc=7864882 |pmid=33361817}}</ref> These Arawakan peoples engaged in farming, fishing,<ref name=Encarta>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563569_7/Dominican_Republic.html |title=Dominican Republic |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=June 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114170306/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563569_7/Dominican_Republic.html |archive-date=November 14, 2007 }}</ref> hunting and gathering,<ref name=LunaC/> and the widespread production of [[ceramic]] goods.<ref name=":13" /> The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, ranging from tens of thousands<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lawler |first1=Andrew |title=Invaders nearly wiped out Caribbean's first people long before Spanish came, DNA reveals |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/12/invaders-nearly-wiped-out-caribbeans-first-people-long-before-spanish-came-dna-reveals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223160603/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/12/invaders-nearly-wiped-out-caribbeans-first-people-long-before-spanish-came-dna-reveals/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 23, 2020 |work=National Geographic |date=December 23, 2020}}</ref> to 2 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/KEEGAN08.ANT |title=Death Toll |last=Keegan |first=William |access-date=June 19, 2008 |publisher=[[Millersville University]], from [[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]] (January/February 1992, p. 55)| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080321191857/http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/KEEGAN08.ANT| archive-date = March 21, 2008}}</ref> By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roberto Cassá|title=Los Indios de Las Antillas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ-wJ49cNwAC&pg=PA126|access-date=August 15, 2012|year=1992|publisher=Editorial Abya Yala|isbn=978-84-7100-375-1|pages=126–|archive-date=January 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111004223/https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ-wJ49cNwAC&pg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Samuel M.|last=Wilson|year=1990|title=Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus|publisher=Univ. of Alabama Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-8173-0462-1}}</ref> The Taíno name for the entire island was either ''Ayiti'' or ''Quisqueya''.<ref name="anghiera">{{cite book| last = Anglería| first   =Pedro Mártir de| title = Décadas del Nuevo Mundo, Tercera Década, Libro&nbsp;VII| publisher = Editorial Bajel| year = 1949| location = Buenos Aires| language = es }}</ref>