ENVIRONMENT


the relatively few remaining scraps of stone, bone, shell and pot-
tery. Rather, we must attempt to know the man in his former
points of origin and the cultural pattern out of which he stemmed-
in our case, South America. We must also have a perceptive eye for
the physical and natural conditions that must have shaped and
controlled the aborigine and his daily life. We must observe how
well suited an island such as St. John might be from the viewpoints
of physiographic structure, climatic advantages and disadvantages,
availability of water, presence or lack of proper soils, protection
from the occasional wrath of the sea, and many other features.
 Thus, in the next several pages, I will outline some features of
the natural setting-the setting in which the Arawak economy and
tce hnolog) might either have adapted to, utilized in limited fashion,
or passed by in its migrations through the West Indies.

 ENVIRONMENT
 Our survey of the island of St. John revealed an aboriginal
occupation prior to discovery by European expeditions. To know
this culture, it is appropriate that we first know the basic feature
of the islands-the geologic structure and its origin.
 According to Schuchert (1935) the Greater Antilles form a geo-
logic region or unit including the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, His-
paniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and all of the smaller
contiguous islands and rocks. In contrast, Davis (1926) had drawn
the conclusion that "The Virgin Islands rise from the largest
bank of the Lesser Antilles," even though Vaughn (1919) had
recognized the Virgin Islands as standing on the same platform as
Puerto Rico.
 As Schuchert has explained, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico
and the Virgin Islands are an eastward extension of the Antillean
Geanticline, which has its western extremity in the southernmost
coastal strip of Mexico, the southern or highlands region of Guate-
mala, all of Salvador and Honduras, and the northern two-thirds
of Nicaragua. Like other islands of the Greater Antilles, the Vir-
gins are formed from continental rocks and were deformed by
orogenic means. On the other hand, the islands of the Lesser An-
tilles are oceanic and of volcanic character. Of passing interest,
too, is Schuchert's contention (p. 397, 1935) that "the most strik-
ing feature in the geomorphology of the Antilles (West Indies) is