Ancient DNA shows humans settled Caribbean in 2 distinct waves A photo provided by Sapienza Archaeo-Anthropological Mission showing excavation of the Juan Dolio archaeological site in Punta Rucia, Dominican Republic. About 2,500 years ago, the archaeological record shows, there was a drastic shift in the cultural life of the Caribbean. Sapienza Archaeo-Anthropological Mission via The New York Times. by Carl Zimmer (NYT NEWS SERVICE) .- When Dr. Juan Aviles went to school in Puerto Rico, teachers taught him that the original people of the island, the Taino, vanished soon after Spain colonized it. Violence, disease and forced labor wiped them out, destroying their culture and language, the teachers said, and the colonizers repopulated the island with slaves, including Indigenous people from Central and South America and Africans.