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The And Puerto Rico

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Puerto Rico is an archipelago that is currently a territory of the United States of America with its official name being, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; however, it is often referred to by Puerto Ricans as Borinquen, a term derived from the name given to the island by its original Taíno natives, Borikén. The Taíno natives were the last group of people to live on the island unphased by the outside world and are also the most well known pre-columbian settlement of Borinquen due to the greater number of archaeological remains and Spanish documents from the era; the period the Taíno people inhabited the island is currently known as the Taíno phase (Picó 12). The Taíno natives were able to fully utilize the island’s resources unlike the earlier inhabitants, “amerindians”, due to their modified cultivation processes, “cultivation was started by setting fire to the area of forest that was to be cleared. Then the soil was heaped into mounds on top of which stalks were planted” (Picó 13-14). This process allowed for a growth in population sizes where some settlements may have even reached near five-hundred people from what was once only about twenty-five people that could be fed daily through hunting, fishing and gathering fruits during the time before the Taíno phase (Picó 14). During the Taíno phase, the people lived under a hierarchy of sorts. Nitainos were the ruling class with more important responsibilities: heading war expeditions and influencing collective decision

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