APPENDIX


 KEY TO FAUNAL INTERPRETATIONS

 Approximately 60% to 70% of the bone materials obtained from our tests
was unidentifiable, due to lack of comparative material. The majority of the
fish bones may be assumed to be parrotfish, because the majority of the identi-
fiable skull bones belong to members of this family.
 The following abbreviations were used in the identification listing above:

 acr. (acromial) peri. (peripherals)
 dn. (dentary) phal. (phalanges)
 fem. (femur) phg. pharyngeall)
 fg. (fragmentary) pl. (plate)
 M. ( ) pmx. (premaxillary)
 hum. (humerus)
 inci. (inor) pro. (process)
 inci. (incisor) r. (right)
 innom. innominatee) scap. (scapula)
 1. (left) tib. (tibia)
 mand. mandibularr) vert. (vertebra)



 Because of the apparent abundance of Isolobodan portoricensis in the test
excavations on St. John and St. Thomas, some further mention of this rodent
seems appropriate. Commonly called "hutia" in the Greater Antilles, this
relatively small animal is best adapted to forested regions and is semi-arboreal
in habit. The Capromyidae family (to which the hutia belongs) is composed
of two groups: the hutia of the Antilles and Venezuela and the nutria rat
of Brazil and Argentina.
 The hutia is observed as a harsh-haired and robust animal; however, of
 the 18 known species, only 7 or 8 remain today, and they are doubtless subject
 to near extinction as further deforestation results in the islands. This latter
 feature is best noted in such places as Cuba where only 3 or 4 species remain.
 Anthony (1926, 146) felt that the hutia might have been the last mammal
 to become extinct on Puerto Rico. He also was impressed by the finding of
 hutia bones in caves and shell-heaps, evidence that the animal may have
 been an important item of diet in aboriginal times. Anthony even suggested
 that the hutia was transported from island to island by Indians. Only when
 close attention is paid to the total content of archaeological sites throughout
 the West Indies will factors of range, dietary importance, and possible modes
 of distribution by clarified.
 Our test evidence from the Virgin Islands, however, does point to Isolobodon
 portoricansis as being an important food source during the time span covered
 by the tests.