The Ortoiroid are believed to have developed in
South America before moving to the
West Indies. The earliest
radiocarbon date for the Ortoiroid is 5230 BC from Trinidad. At this time, Trinidad might have still been connected to the South American mainland. Ortoiroid peoples settled on
Saint Kitts from 2000 BC to 400 BC. The majority of sites associated with the Ortoiroid are found near or on the coasts.
Tobago has at least one Ortoiroid site,
Martinique has two, and
Antigua has 24 Ortoiroid shell
midden sites. These deposits, consisting of discarded shells, bone tools, and stone tools, represent the extended use of mollusks as a food source, as well as the use of stone and bone tools by human inhabitants. They are considered to belong to the Ortoiroid culture. In the north, two distinct Ortoiroid subcultures have been identified: the Coroso culture, which flourished from 1500 BC–200 AD, and the
Krum Bay culture, which spanned 1500—200 BC. The Coroso people lived on the island of
Puerto Rico, where the oldest known site is the
Angostura site, dating from 4000 BC. The Krum Bay people lived in the
Virgin Islands. The Ortoiroid are considered the first settlers of the archipelago of Puerto Rico. ==Culture==