The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern of Nevis,West Indies

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an intensive settlement survey of Nevis, a volcanic island of 132 sq km in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Twenty-one sites were discovered from three major periods—the aceramic in the last millennium B.C., the Saladoid in the first 600 years A.C., and the Ostionoid period dating from 600 A.C. until European contact. The implications of the distribution of settlements and their artifact assemblages for the prehistory of the Leeward Islands are discussed.