ST. JOHN


cultural data from anything else in the Virgin Islands (Bullen
and Sleight, 1963). The remaining sites of the south and east
cannot be classed as occupational in the true essence. On the
other hand, 8 sites on the west, northwest, and north of St. Thomas,
and 2 sites on the northwest coast of Water Island repeat a familiar
pattern, the same pattern demonstrated on St. John. The same
situation may also be present on the island of Tortola in the
British Virgin Islands, immediately north and east of St. John. We
were unable to conduct survey on Tortola; however, informants
from St. John and Tortola told me of seeing broken pottery at
several points along the northwestern and northerly bay-valleys
at Canegarden and Brewer's. They could not recall anything from
the south coast or east.
 On the island of St. John, the structure of the land, the nature
of the sea, the character of the climate, and a host of other in-
fluences established patterns of control over flora and fauna as
well as the physical structure of the land itself. Prehistoric man,
too, was governed by this environmental complex, a fact demon-
strated by the present archaeological survey. It is a well-known fact
of anthropology that environment does not dictate a culture, but
the study in question, along with similar observations in other
regions of the world, does demonstrate that environment will set
limitations. These limitations can be of a major character or of
minor import, depending on the pattern of the culture and how
the culture uses the natural setting.