GEOGRAPHY


Lollik Islands on the north through the channel between Great
Thatch Island and St. John, southward around the eastern end of
St. John, and out through Flanagan Passage. The United States
Virgin Islands or the American Virgin Islands consist of St. John,
St. Thomas, St. Croix and neighboring smaller islands, cays, and
rocks. The total area of this latter group has been cmipuicd as
133 square miles. Populations, based on the 1960 census, are 923
for St. John, 16,046 for St. Thomas, and 14,935 for St. Croix. On
the other hand, the British Virgin Islands are comprised of 36
islands, of which 13 are inhabited. The total population for the
British group as of 1960 was 7,338.
 St. John (Fig. 1) represents the smallest of the three principal
islands of the American Virgin Islands. Its area is just a fraction
above 19 square miles, while that of St. Thomas is 32 and that
of St. Croix is 84. St. John is nearly 8 miles long on its east-west
axis and 4 miles wide. The landscape features of this island are
those of high mountains in the western and central portions (sum-
mit at 1,277 feet) dropping down to 500 foot high hills on the
eastern peninsula. The coast is a series of small bays at the foot
of steep mountain valleys, and each bay is generally divided from
the next by prominent headlands against which the ocean pounds
with waves and swells (Plate I). Like the claw of a crab, a narrow,
angular peninsula arcs from the northeastern portion of the
island to form within its southerly and westerly shores Coral Bay,
the largest semi-protected bay on St. John. Viewed from the sea
or the air, St. John usually presents an overall dusty green cast as
a result of moderate stands of trees, brush and grasses. Easily visible
from St. John is the island of St. Thomas 1% miles to the west
across Pillsbury Sound. Tortola stands 3 miles to the north across
Drake's Passage, and St. Croix is barely visible 32 miles west of
south beyond the Anegada Passage.
 To appreciate aboriginal response to the environmental po-
 tential as presented by the islands of the West Indies and the
 Virgin Islands in particular, we must gain a clear understanding of
 the total environmental scheme. To interpret the culture and
 settlement of any region, it is essential that we think of man in
 his environmental setting if we are to appreciate the way of life
 he maintained. The archaeological survey in question cannot view
 the pre-Columbian peoples of the Virgin Islands solely through