The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands at the edge of the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in the Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc which begins east of Puerto Rico at the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, swings southeast through the Leeward and Windward Islands towards South America, and turns westward through the Leeward Antilles along the Venezuelan coast.

Most of the islands are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc between the Greater Antilles and the continent of South America. The islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the Lesser Antilles and the Greater Antilles make up the Antilles. The Antilles together with the Lucayan Archipelago are collectively known as the West Indies.

The islands were dominantly Kalinago Indigenous peoples compared to the Greater Antilles which was settled by several groups, including the Taíno; the boundary set between them is known as the "poison arrow curtain" for the Kalinago's favoured weapon for fending off Europeans that came to conquer the islands in the 16th century.

thumb|200px|A map of the Lesser Antilles, 1780

History

Archaic Age

The earliest Archaic Age habitation is evidenced at archaeological sites like St. John and Banwari Trace in Trinidad, dating between 7700 and 6100 B.P. Artifacts from this period include stone and bone tools used for hunting and fishing. A total of 29 Archaic Age sites have been identified in Trinidad and Tobago, associated with the Ortoiroid people, divided into the Banwarian (5000–2500 BC) and Ortoiran (1500–300 BC) subseries. During the Late Archaic Age, wild plant foods became more significant, with evidence of early plant management, including crops such as maize, sweet potatoes, achira, and chili peppers had been imported and cultivated from the continent.

The archaeological record for the rest of the southern Lesser Antilles is sparse, with sites in Tobago, Barbados, and Martinique yielding potential Archaic Age artifacts. Factors like local tectonic activity and hurricanes or other storms have likely distorted the archaeological evidence in these regions. Entire islands may now be submerged. Severe erosion, landslides, and volcanic eruptions are fairly common and may contribute to the preservation of archaeological sites.

  • Trinidad and Tobago<sup>†</sup>

<sup>†</sup> Physiographically, these are continental islands not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc. However, based on proximity, these islands are sometimes grouped with the Windward Islands culturally and politically.

See also

  • Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc
  • Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
  • Southern Caribbean

References

Bibliography

  • Rogonzinski, Jan. A Brief History of the Caribbean. New York: Facts on File. 1992. .
  • Keegan, William F. & Hofman, Corinne L. The Caribbean before Columbus. New York: Oxford University Press. 2017.
  • The Lesser Antilles Island Arc: Structure And Geogynamic Evolution

mr:अँटिल्स#लेसर अँटिल्स