SUMMARY


population. Two of the sites, Nos. 13 and 20, were of a petrogly-
phic character, and therefore beyond the scope of our immediate
interest. The two major sites of the earlier occupations are located
at opposite sides of the island: the Coral Bay Site, No. 10 on the
east, and the Cruz Bay Site, No. 19 on the west. The Coral Bay
Site appears from Hatt's findings and ours to antedate all other
settlements thus far observed. The Cruz Bay settlement overlaps
this initial period, but it may also extend further into later times.
We found indications at most of the northwest coast sites of this
earlier phase of settlement, although those sites do not appear to
have reached their maximum until later in prehistory.
 Without depth and breadth of details made possible by extend-
ed excavations, it is possible to arrive at various interpretations con-
cerning such settlement patterns. Bullen, for example, feels that
the shift of settlement from Coral Bay-Cruz Bay to the northwest
and north coastal strips came as a form of "expansion" (Bullen,
1962, 63-64) resulting from an increase in population. On the
other hand, he offers an alternative that new people arrived from
the south, a Barrancoid replacement of Saladoid cultural traditions.
 While these interpretations may be in part or whole according
to actual ha.ppenings, I am prone to believe that there was less of
a population expansion involved and more of a shift coupled with
a new Barrancoid influence. I believe that this shift is a reflection
of )pthylioa/Jhi< conditions as much as cultural influences and that
a review of the reconnaissance will throw light on this interpreta-
tion.
 Both Fewkes and de Hostos (Fewkes, 1914, and de Hostos,
 1924) were concerned with the factors of aboriginal culture in the
 West Indies and environmental influence, but seldom have the
 archaeological programs tested these concepts directly against their
 findings. As our reconnaissance progressed, I became impressed
 with the fact that the more important occupational sites of St.
 John were to the west, northwest, and north (with the exception
 of the Coral Bay Site) Conversely, those sites on the south and
east presented shallow or meager evidence and gave every indica-
tion of being either temporary or of passing character.
 Site 9 at Haulover on the eastern arm of St. John can hardly
justify the term "site," for it produced only 2 sherds. The location
is rocky, dry, and windswept. Hardly a settlement environment.