Arawakan Indians who occupied much of the Greater Antilles, especially Hispaniola, at the time of Columbus's arrival. There were permanent villages of up to 1000 houses (of logs and poles with thatched roofs), some built on open plazas. Government was by hereditary chiefs and subchiefs. There were classes of nobles, commoners, and serfs. Cultivation was based on the slash-and-burn techniques and they were skilled carvers in wood and stone. The characteristic pottery was of the Chi-Coid series. They became extinct within 100 years after the Spanish conquest of the late 15th century.