The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Both islands were visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498 and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad remained in Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris . In 1889 the two islands were incorporated into a single crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
Pre-Columbian period
Human settlement in Trinidad dates back at least 7,000 years. The earliest settlers, termed Archaic or Ortoiroid, are believed to have settled Trinidad and Tobago from northeastern South America around 4000 BCE. Twenty-nine Archaic sites have been identified, mostly in south Trinidad and Tobago; this includes the 7,000-year-old Banwari Trace site which is the oldest discovered human settlement in the eastern Caribbean. Archaic populations were pre-ceramic, and dominated the area until about 200 BCE.
Around 250 BCE the first ceramic-using people in the Caribbean, the Saladoid people, entered Trinidad and Tobago. The earliest evidence of these people come from around 2100 BCE along the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. From Trinidad and Tobago, they are believed to have moved north into the remaining islands of the Caribbean. Thirty-seven Saladoid sites have been identified in Trinidad and Tobago, and are located all over the island.
After 250 CE a third group, called the Barrancoid people settled in southern Trinidad and Tobago after migrating up the Orinoco River toward the sea. The oldest Barrancoid settlement appears to have been at Erin, on the south coast.
Following the collapse of Barrancoid communities along the Orinoco around 650 CE, a new group, called the Arauquinoid expanded up the river to the coast. The cultural artefacts of this group were only partly adopted in Trinidad and Tobago and adjacent areas of northeast Venezuela, and as a result, this culture is called Guayabitoid in these areas.
