Archaeological and ethnological evidence from the site of Efutu in Ghana is used to indicate the African cultural background of people imported into the Caribbean for enslavement in historical times. Historical, oral and ethnographic data are cited as bases for identifying the characteristics that enabled the enslaved people in the Caribbean successfully to establish independent communities and to put up a prolonged resistance against colonial powers. The heritage of Maroon communities in Jamaica is then discussed in order to identify continuities and discontinuities in African traditions among Caribbean societies.©