Taíno Inter-Island Maritime Trade Networks

The Taíno maintained systematic, sustained maritime exchange routes that connected Puerto Rico to Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cuba, the Lesser Antilles, and the South American mainland (Venezuela/Orinoco region). These were not occasional voyages but regular trade patterns that underpinned Taíno social and political complexity.

Maritime technology centered on the dugout canoe (canoa), carved from single large tree trunks of ceiba or other hardwoods. Canoes ranged from small fishing craft to large trading vessels. Spanish chroniclers noted that Taíno canoes were highly decorated and carved as displays of chiefly power. Columbus himself reported encountering a canoe holding 25 people near Jamaica.

Nearly all Caribbean islands were within sight of each other, enabling island-hopping navigation along established routes. The Taíno used knowledge of trade winds, ocean currents, and stellar navigation to traverse open water passages.

Traded goods included greenstone and jade ornaments carved from nephrite, serpentine, chrysoprase, and fuchsite; guanín (a gold-copper alloy) brought from the South American mainland; pottery and ceramics showing shared artistic traditions across islands; wood for canoe-making traded from the Lesser Antilles; and cotton, tobacco, foodstuffs, and parrots. Spanish accounts document Taínos arriving from Jamaica specifically for trade in Puerto Rico, and Caribs from the Lesser Antilles traveling to the Greater Antilles for exchange.