Faunal remains from the Tutu site

Numerous large samples of faunal remains recovered from the Tutu site provide the opportunity to examine many aspects of the exploitation of animal resources at this extensive and complex village site. Faunal samples from the site were studied from deposits of Ceramic Age occupation which date from approximately AD 65 to AD 1500. Major changes in the faunal assemblages during this time period were first noted by Rainey (1940) in Puerto Rican sites. The changes he described are a shift from what he called the crab culture to the shell culture. Since Rainey’s discovery, this faunal change has been observed in many West Indian sites in which deposits associated with Saladoid people contain abundant crab remains, followed by refuse left by Ostionoid or post-Saladoid people, in which mollusk shells predominate (Rouse, 1992: 94). The causes and timing of this change have been debated since Rainey’s description of this apparent shift in resource consumption (Wing, 1995). Multiple samples from this time range at Tutu allow further examination of this faunal change and other accompanying changes in the use of animal resources on St Thomas.