SUMMARY


offered little opportunity for sustained settlement, why were areas
such as Cruz Bay, Durloe Bay (including Turtle Point), Cinnamon
Bay, and Francis Bay settled and sustained successfully by the
native peoples of the islands? This is our third prime question
relating to settlement patterns and the natural environment. Again,
I believe the natural opportunities of the west and northwest
coasts tended to draw and concentrate occupation. The very con-
ditions that made settlement impractical in the opposite areas of
the island were reversed in the valleys and bays to the leeward.
The winds, acting under the mild convectional pattern, brought
rain, moisture, and occasional small fresh water stream and spring
features. Likewise, soils were relatively good in the bay valleys,
especially in the neighborhood of Cruz, Durloe, and Francis Bays.
By comparison, too, the bays of the northwestern coast are usually
calm and protected for small craft as used in prehistory. The
formation of the beaches and bays made for good landing facilities
and allowed for security. Although these waters would also be
subject to heavy swells and rollers, this face of the island has not
had the battering and sea action noted on the south and east. By
the same token that man found this region more acceptable, so has
vegetation taken a firmer stand on the summits and lee slopes of
the island. These and other features apparently contributed to
the satisfaction of the needs of this aboriginal island culture. The
location of a number of prime habitation areas in this region of
the island implies selectivity of settlement sites based on specialized
natural environmental controls.
 It might be argued that the environmental limitations and re-
sultant settlement history for the island of St. John in prehistory
was but a fortuitous situation. Likewise, some might say that this
is but an isolated case rendering little or no value to the reconstruc-
tion of aboriginal life and influences on that life. I would counter
such a contention, however, by saying the pattern cannot be a
matter of chance or accident when we note that site locations,
physiographic conditions, weather and seas are duplicated on the
island of St. Thomas, where our combined surveys of that island
have revealed a total of 14 sites, including two on Water Island.
Along the south and east coasts, islands, and valleys, 6 sites indi-
cated only one of an occupational nature, the Krum Bay Site, but
this midden accumulation represents very different temporal and