Development of a prehistoric interaction sphere in the northern Lesser Antilles

[First paragraph] INTRODUCTION This paper identifies the development of a prehistoric interaction sphere among a specific cluster of northern Lesser Antillean islands, by examining physical geography, natural resources and archaeological remains. The islands used for this study are Anguilla, St. Martin-St. Maarten (hereafter to be referred to simply as St. Martin), Dog Island, St. Barthelemew (St. Baits) and their adjacent cays. It is suggested that the processes of divergent evolution and adaptive radiation increased the isolation of economic exploitation and social adaptations, thus allowing for the emergence of a cluster specific interaction sphere.