Certain Environmental Considerations in West Indian Archaeology

Abstract

Major migrations into the West Indies emanated out of South America. For the most part, tropical forest traditions were transplanted, but it is obvious that these traditions were influenced by a markedly different environment. People who had previously known a river-tropical forest habitat now encountered the sea with its currents, winds, swells, and expansive transportation potential. Islands, sometimes with limited fresh-water conditions, also presented new problems as well as new opportunities for settlement. Recent work in the Virgin Islands points to the strong influence of environment on the settlement patterns of pre-Columbian peoples. With the advent of extensive archaeological research in the Antillean area, new and valued interpretations must be sought in the cultural-environmental complex.