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INTRODUCTION The southern region encompasses the islands that lie off the coast of Venezuela . These include the Netherlands Antilles of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (“ABC” islands), Margarita Island to the east, and the small islands in between. We have not analyzed nor do we have references to comparable studies of faunal or botanical remains excavated from Margarita Island. Therefore, this chapter is concerned with studies of biological resource use as seen at sites on the “ABC” islands and the smaller offshore islands from Los Aves to La Blanquilla (Figure 5.1). The information on animal use on the offshore islands is based on the research of Andrzej Antczak (1999a, 1999b). Faunal studies of samples from the “ABC” islands are based on analyses made by several people, whereas all the botanical research was done by Lee Newsom. We allude to work on Trinidad, but we do not emphasize that island because it is essentially a continental island that has separated from the mainland in relatively recent times. Trinidad is large and has a diverse vegetation and land fauna. Detailed zooarchaeological research that considers both vertebrates and invertebrates has not been carried out on Trinidad, nor have archaeobotanical investigations been undertaken. Consequently, the work done on Trinidad is not comparable to that done on the other islands. Faunal studies from sites on Trinidad are, however, interesting from the standpoint of documenting the changes that took place after the island separated from the mainland, while remaining in proximity to the continent. Nutrient-rich waters with abundant and diverse marine resources surround the “ABC” and related offshore islands, but land resources are minimal to absent . Annual rainfall is very low and the terrestrial environments are very arid with sparse vegetation, as we describe below. Conversely, and compared with 5 Southern Caribbean Region Figure 5.1. Southern Caribbean region. (By Florence E. Sergile) the other West Indian islands, however, these are relatively close to the rich resources of the mainland. The focus of this chapter is the resources that attracted people to these islands despite the dangers inherent in the voyage from the mainland. That fact alone potentially can raise or enhance the functional carrying capacity of these southern Caribbean Islands. Fairly extensive and long-term settlements have been located archaeologically on the three “ABC” islands, even though freshwater and terrestrial vegetation are limited. T o what extent was contact with mainland culture maintained and were mainland resources used to satisfy physical and social needs of islanders? We might expect that people living on the smaller offshore islands depended more heavily on continental resources than did people living on the larger “ABC” islands. It has been suggested that these islands and settlements may have functioned together in a settlement/resource interaction sphere that included the mainland (Haviser 1987). Information from this southern Caribbean region provides insight into the strength of inter-island ties and those between island and mainland people, as well as control of resources by the occupants of these islands. ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS The islands from Aruba to Margarita lie parallel to the Venezuelan coast and are all relatively small and dry. The islands from Curaçao to La Blanquilla are oceanic and separated from the mainland by the Bonaire Trench, which is more than 1,000 m deep. Aruba and Margarita Islands, at the ends of the offshore chain, are on the continental shelf. Cold, nutrient-rich water wells up from the deep trench around these islands and nourishes abundant marine life. The islands themselves have low precipitation (e.g., 270–844 mm annually on Curaçao; as low as 150–200 mm on Aruba [Stoffers 1956]) and high evaporation accelerated by the trade winds. Thus, these semidesert islands support a xeric, thorn scrub and very dry forest vegetation. Many of the islands are fringed by mangrove forest. Although this climate does not promote dense vegetation, it does produce conditions for evaporation of seawater; the result is extensive salt deposits. The fauna is derived from northern South America either by natural dispersal or naturalized species brought to the islands by people (Eisenberg 1989; Husson 1960). As would be expected, the number of mammals on these islands corresponds roughly with the size of the island. The mammal fauna is most diverse (31 species) on Margarita, the largest (1,150 km2 ) island (Eisenberg 1989). The next largest island, Curaçao (443 km2 ), has 14 mammal species, excluding those introduced by Europeans. The smaller of these Venezuelan islands have no native mammals but do support...

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