Barbados History

Little of the island’s prehistory is known, but archaeological investigation indicates that it may have been settled as early as 1600 bce by people from northern South America who later disappear from the archaeological record. From about 500 to 1500 ce, Arawak and Carib Indians probably lived on the island, which they called Ichirouganaim. The first contact with Europeans may have occurred in the early 16th century, when Spaniards visited Barbados. Portuguese explorers also touched on the island, which they named Barbados (“Bearded Ones”), either for bearded fig trees or bearded men on the island. The island was depopulated because of repeated slave raids by the Spanish in the 16th century; it is believed that those Indians who avoided enslavement migrated to elsewhere in the region. By the mid-16th century—largely because of the island’s small size, remoteness, and depopulation—European explorers had practically abandoned their claims to it, and Barbados remained effectively without a population.