bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fluted Points on the South Carolina Coast
Authors: Waring A. J.
Published: April 2006

Four points of Eastern Clovis type, found in Beaufort and Jasper counties at sites which also produce points of the Savannah River Archaic, are the first occurrence of fluted points on the southern Atlantic coast. The flint source was apparently the extensive quarries along Briar and Buckhead creeks located chiefly in Screven and Burke counties, Georgia. Other finds of fluted points along these streams indicate a paleo-Indian occupation within the drainage, but no sites are yet known.
A Ball Court at Point of Pines, Arizona
Authors: Johnson Alfred E.
Published: April 2006

A Casa Grande type ball court at the Stove Canyon site was probably constructed during the Reserve phase, A.D. 1000-1150. The only ball court in a Mogollon region, it constitutes further evidence of extensive early influence at Point of Pines from the Hohokam of the Gila Basin.
An Olmec “Were-Jaguar” from the Yucatan Peninsula
Authors: Metcalf George , Flannery Kent V.
Published: April 2006

A feline sculpture in serpentinite from Dsibalchen on the Yucatan Peninsula (probably in the northeast part of the state of Campeche) was found by Teobert Maler in 1887. Its half-human face shares characteristics of the Olmec "were-jaguar" sculptures of Veracruz and Tabasco.
Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica
Authors: Stone Doris , Balser Carlos
Published: April 2006

Slate backs of iron-pyrite mirrors have been found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. Three engraved slate disks were recently excavated at two sites in Costa Rica, one at La Fortuna and two at Guácimo. Slate disks in this region are not unusual. Many have traces of the gum that was used for glue, and at least one fragment bears traces of the wooden frame. The significance of these three plaques lies in the designs they bear. These designs indicate that the disks were made betweenA.D.435 and 500 in an area remote from lower Central America. Grave objects associated with the mirror backs include reworked jades; gold objects in Coclé, Quimbaya, and Guayas styles; and Incised Zoned Bichrome and Negative Painted Bichrome Incised wares. These disks and the objects associated with them provide insight into pre-Columbian interchange and trade routes in lower Central America, and they suggest that slate disks were important in commerce and perhaps served as ceremonial objects.
The Inscription of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque
Authors: Berlin Heinrich
Published: April 2006

A fresh examination of the chronological data of the inscription serves as a framework for analysis of the undeciphered or text glyphs. The undeciphered glyphs have been grouped into categories. The main category, which consists of glyphs related to the up-ended frog glyph, the flat hand, and Thompson's Jog glyph, is interpreted as referring to local history. Another category is composed of glyphs or clauses that are common at other Maya sites and shows ideas not limited to a particular town but common to many of them. Another category of glyphs is restricted to a phenomenon, the Triad, which so far has been identified with certainty only at Palenque. In an appended section definite readings for hitherto floating dates of two other Palenque inscriptions are proposed, and it is suggested that the 819-day count originated at Palenque, from which it spread as far as Copan. These readings may facilitate future glyphic research at Palenque.
A Skeptic Views the Billet Flake
Authors: Mewhinney H.
Published: April 2006

Although noted authorities contend that percussion flakes made with a wooden billet are thinner and shapelier than those made with a hammerstone, this experimenter wishes to report that he can see no difference, even when he strikes off the flakes himself. He begins to doubt that anybody else can tell the difference.
Use of Automated Tools in Archaeology
Authors: Sorenson John L.
Published: April 2006

A device now being used in industry is suggested as a way to automate much of the labor of artifact description and comparison. This is a numerically controlled machine tool, and some problems and possibilities connected with its use are discussed.
Laws, Systems, and Research Designs: A Discussion of Explanation in Archaeology
Authors: Tuggle H. David , Townsend Alex H. , Riley Thomas J.
Published: April 2006

Archaeology must come to grips with the basic philosophical problems of science. With this premise in mind, we welcome the recent article on explanation by Fritz and Plog (1970) and offer a review and critique of it with the following points: (1) The D-N model of explanation is not the exclusive explanatory system in science and is in fact subject to extensive discussion and criticism in several areas of science; (2) archaeologists have not employed laws commonly in the past but rather deductive reasoning based on assumed premises; (3) the use of laws in explanation may reduce archaeology to a science of historical exemplification; (4) the research design presented by Fritz and Plog may be modified to include concern for hypothesis formulation, variable identification in the archaeological context, and the interplay of hypotheses and data throughout excavation and analysis; (5) the Meehan system paradigm explanatory model is presented as an alternative to the D-N model; (6) what archaeologists try to explain is relevant to the nature of the explanation.
Cultivated Plants as Evidence for Cultural Contacts
Authors: Pickersgill Barbara
Published: April 2006

Cultivated plants are sometimes considered good indicators of cultural contact because the same plant cannot be invented independently in distinct regions. Some crops no doubt did spread from a single center, but other, more complex, histories have also to be considered. In some groups different species were domesticated in different areas, so before the archaeological record can be interpreted, it is important that the specimens be securely identified to species. Other crops have differentiated further under cultivation so that distinct races are characteristic of different parts of the total area. Another possibility is independent domestication of the same crop in different areas. If this is demonstrated, then presence of this crop in sites in these areas does not constitute evidence of contact. Only after these possibilities have been eliminated may presence of the same crop in different cultures suggest contact between them.
Two Ethnographic Functions of Bird-Form Pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Varner Dudley M.
Published: April 2006

Two functions of contemporary bird-form pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico are described. It is suggested that comparable functions may have existed elsewhere for similar vessels, whose effigy forms are simply elaborations of utilitarian shapes.
Palaeolithic Mammalian Faunas and Parietal art in Cantabria: A Comment on Freeman
Authors: Hammond Norman
Published: April 2006

The economic basis of the Cantabrian Upper Palaeolithic as reported by L. G. Freeman is compared with the coeval parietal art, and a motivational basis for the latter suggested.
An Anthropocentric Perspective for Eastern United States Prehistory
Authors: Hall Robert L.
Published: April 2006

Traditional cultural ecology, with its "geocentric" perspective, is most concerned with technological and related social aspects of economic adaptation to the material world. To supplement and qualify this view, an "anthropocentric" perspective with an emphasis on symbolic systems and modes of adaptation to the world as perceived by humans is offered. The cognitive core of culture is expressed in behavior that embodies certain principles underlying figurative expression in language and aspects of magic and taboo, curing practices, mythology, ritual, art, and innovation. An example of the cognitive approach is provided by an analysis of the symbolic systems in which the calumet, atlatl survivals, initiation weapons, and kinnikinnick functioned in historic times. This analysis suggests the possible origin and function of the Hopewellian platform pipe and offers insights into other prehistoric ceremonialism and the process of innovation.
Isotopic Evidence for Early Maize Cultivation in New York State
Authors: Vogel J. C. , Van Der Merwe Nikolaas J.
Published: April 2006

Plants metabolize carbon dioxide photosynthetically either through a 3-carbon (Calvin) or 4-carbon pathway. Most plants are of the C-3 type; C-4 plants are primarily grasses adapted to hot, arid environments. Since C-4 plants have a higher 13C/12C ratio than C-3 plants, animals and humans with a significant C-4 plant food-intake will have higher 13C/12C ratios as well. Maize is a C-4 plant, hence maize cultivators living in predominantly C-3 plant environments should show significant isotopic differences from local hunter-gatherers in their skeletal remains; the importance of maize in their diet should also be measurable. The practicability of this method is demonstrated for New York State archaeological materials and wider implications are mentioned.
The Quantitative Analysis of Soil Phosphate
Authors: Woods William I.
Published: April 2006

Developments in environmental quality testing have revealed the need for a reappraisal of the methods of phosphate determination employed by archaeologists. The results of such a reappraisal are presented with recommendations for the implementation of a new technique of quantitative phosphate determination called sequential fractionation. With this technique three discrete fractions are determined by differential solubility criteria. These fractions closely approximate in amount the major types of inorganic phosphate known to be retained by soils. Sample analyses are presented which indicate that the method can be employed to distinguish between natural and human deposited phosphate and to identify features.
Thermoluminescent Dating and the Monsters of Acambaro
Authors: Carriveau Gary W. , Han Mark C.
Published: April 2006

Thermoluminescent dates for the Julsrud collection, excavated near Acambaro, Guanajuato, Mexico, are shown to be invalid. Evidence is offered showing that these figurines were fired shortly before they were found.
Prismatic Blade Replication
Authors: Sollberger J. B. , Patterson L. W.
Published: April 2006

A series of experiments to replicate prismatic blades with use of direct percussion, indirect percussion, and pressure techniques are discussed. Similar prismatic blades can be produced by a number of techniques and comparison is made with blades from some archaeological sites in Texas. It is suggested that Paleoindian blade technology employed direct percussion exclusively, and later small blade technologies used other techniques as well.
A Preliminary Analysis of Antemortem Tooth Loss Among the Fremont
Authors: Graham Edward E. , Burkart John
Published: April 2006

A small sample of Fremont skeletal material was examined for antemortem tooth loss. Females were found to have a statistically significant higher antemortem tooth loss than males. Although the exact reasons for this finding are unknown at this time, it is hypothesized that an unidentified cultural factor put additional strain on the female masticatory system resulting in an increased tooth loss during life.
“Significance” in Contract Archaeology
Authors: Sharrock Floyd W. , Grayson Donald K.
Published: April 2006

“Significance” is evaluated from the perspective of federal agency land management practices and compared with the perspective of significance as a measure of research value.
Evidence for Interregional Relationships during the Middle Horizon on the North-Central Coast of Peru
Authors: Shady Ruth , Ruiz Arturo
Published: April 2006

A burial at Vegueta on the central Peruvian coast contained pottery assignable to two regional styles. This association supplements other evidence for widespread interaction during the Middle Horizon. These distributional patterns are compatible with the hypothesis that several powerful commercial centers existed at this time, rather than the kind of political integration implied by the Huari Empire.
A Response to Casteel
Authors: Yellen John E.
Published: April 2006

A recalculation of the regression and correlation with which Casteel finds fault shows that it is Casteel who is incorrect. He goes astray because he does not understand what "LS:NA" means, and consequently all of the X values on his graph are wrong.
The Distribution and Development of Fremont Maize Agriculture: Some Preliminary Interpretations
Authors: Winter Joseph
Published: April 2006

This study concentrates upon the distribution and possible developmental sequence of maize agriculture in the northern Southwest, and its significance for Fremont cultural dynamics. Attention is focused upon the corn known as Fremont Dent, which was one of the main forms of maize raised by the peoples of the Fremont culture. Of particular interest is maize material from the Evans Mound, Grantsville, and Nine Mile Canyon Fremont sites, which demonstrates a pattern of regional distribution within the Fremont culture area. Also of importance is the corn from Clydes Cavern, a well-stratified dry cave in east-central Utah. A large collection of corn was recovered from this site which broadens our knowledge of the forms, origins, and economic relations of the Fremont corn complex.
The Status of Archaeological Research Design in Cultural Resource Management
Authors: Goodyear Albert C. , Raab L. Mark , Klinger Timothy C.
Published: April 2006

The recent research activity of contract archaeology is reviewed from the perspective of research design and its essential features. Some of the difficulties currently encountered in contract research are attributed to vague notions of research design, lack of general models and methods in the science of archaeology, and ineffective research organizations. It is argued that American contract research offers an unprecedented opportunity to test theories of human behavior, provided the profession can make the necessary organizational shifts in research orientation and structure. Some examples of various applied research designs are examined to indicate the kinds of successful adaptations being made in the contract sphere, as well as outright scientific contributions to the discipline. We conclude that contract archaeology has already provided at least three benefits to the profession (1) by forcing researchers to cope theoretically and methodologically with heretofore unexplored and unexplained archaeological remains, (2) by promoting a scientific merging of historical and prehistoric archaeology, and (3) by stimulating archaeologists to probe the resource base in new and explicit ways for all possible dimensions of significance.
Sampling in Archaeological Surveys: A Critique
Authors: Plog Stephen
Published: April 2006

Some of the conclusions reached by Mueller (1974) in his study of sampling techniques for archaeological surveys must be disregarded because of the use of inappropriate formulas. In addition, his use of the concept of economy in comparing sampling techniques is questioned, as is his suggestion that the utility of probability sampling in archaeology must be tested.
Changing Aims of Americanist Archaeology: A Citations Analysis of American Antiquity. 1946-1975
Authors: Sterud Eugene L.
Published: April 2006

Citations analysis, which has become a standard research tool in a growing number of scientific fields, provides the basis for a study of changes in research orientations in Americanist archaeology. In a preliminary report, several trends recognizable in citations from American Antiquity are indicated. Especially apparent are those studies that deal with processual issues.
State Support for Archaeological Research Programs in the Early 1970s
Authors: Klinger Timothy C.
Published: April 2006

Data provided by 42 COPA (Committee on Public Archeology) representatives are provided as a synthesis of current status of state support for archaeological research programs. Trends indicative of increasing support are documented. Eight states have not been updated.
A Reassessment of the Precolumbian Obsidian Industry of El Chayal, Guatemala
Authors: Sheets Payson D.
Published: April 2006

M. Coe and K. Flannery (1964) a decade ago presented an account of their brief reconnaissance of a portion of the massive El Chayal obsidian quarry and workshop near Guatemala City. Noting the lack of ceramic artifacts and obsidian prismatic blades, Coe and Flannery reasoned that the workshop materials likely predated the Formative, and concluded that a date in the Archaic was the most probable. Their reasoning evidently was based on two fallacious assumptions, which, considered in the light of new data from Chalchuapa, El Salvador, indicates that the majority of the El Chayal artifacts described and illustrated actually date to the end of the Late Classic and particularly to the Postclassic (ca. A.D. 800-1500). Comments on technological analysis and basic illustration standards are included.
El Chayal, Guatemala: A Chronological and Behavioral Reassessment
Authors: Michels Joseph W.
Published: April 2006

In 1964 M. Coe and K. Flannery reported on the existence of a major obsidian chipping station, El Chayal, in highland Guatemala some 15 km northeast of the large administrative and ceremonial center known as Kaminaljuyu. In that report they introduce arguments supporting their belief that the chipping station exhibited a preceramic industry, belonging either to the Archaic period or to the Paleo-Indian period, or to both. New evidence, resulting from obsidian dating, unequivocally contradicts their conclusions and thus calls into question their basic line of reasoning. Obsidian dating results suggest that the El Chayal chipping station probably dates to the Early Post Classic period IA.D. 1000-1200) and certainly no earlier than A.D. 900.
Discovering Architectural Patterning at a Complex Site
Authors: Redman Charles L. , Anzalone Ronald D.
Published: April 2006

To enable systematic interpretive studies of community organization and population, two techniques are advocated: (1) a probability sampling technique for the selection of at least a portion of a site's excavation units and (2) the systematic recording of architectural space. A substantive example is drawn from the investigations of a historic period town in northern Morocco, Qsar es-Seghir. Analyses of architectural remains produced information on the overall nature of land use, general layout of the community, and two alternative methods of estimating population.
Activation Analysis Study of Ceramics from the Capacha (Colima) and Openo (Michoacan) Phases of West Mexico
Authors: Harbottle Garman
Published: April 2006

Neutron activation analysis of stylistically similar pottery sherds from the Capacha (Colima) and Opeño (Michoacán) phases gives no evidence for trade or interchange of vessels, either from Openo to Colima, or vice versa, or from a third source to both.
The Localization of the Sixteenth Century Map Called the Maguey Plan
Authors: Calnek Edward E.
Published: April 2006

Sanders (1970) has recently attempted to analyze settlement pattern and demography at the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, on the assumption that an early map called the Maguey plan represents a part of the city. A careful analysis of the physical layout of the community shown on the map, and of several written and pictographic glosses added sometime after the original map was completed, supports the view that the Maguey plan actually shows an island settlement located in a region which had been expropriated by Tenochtitlan following that city's conquest of Azcapotzalco in the early fifteenth century.
The Life Style of El Tajin
Authors: Krotser Paula H. , Krotser G. R.
Published: April 2006

Invited by José García Payón of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia to map the central part of El Tajin and to excavate stratigraphic pits for a ceramic sequence, the authors were able also to make considerable progress toward understanding the settlement pattern of this large site. Based on surface survey, intimate knowledge of the mapped area, and the excavations, it is proposed that El Tajin was a city as well as a religious center, with a large stratified population that included skilled artisans, merchants, priests, and administrators. Judging by sherd cover and stratigraphy, the city occupied at least 5 km2 during its maximum period, probably between A.D. 600-900.
Recent Data Bearing on the Question of a Hiatus in the Eastern Great Basin
Authors: Madsen David B.
Published: April 2006

Following suggestions of an occupational hiatus in the eastern Great Basin [Madsen and Berry 1975], a continuous-development concept was reiterated [Aikens 1976]. The controversy can only be resolved through the recovery of new data. Newly derived data from 7 sites support the concept of a hiatus.
Manifestations of a Conceptual Artistic Ideal within a Prehistoric Culture
Authors: Gill George W.
Published: April 2006

Excavation of 19 prehistoric burial mounds at ten archaeological sites of coastal West Mexico produced 245 human skeletons during the summers of 1968-74. These archaeological sites are situated within a coastal swamp known as the Marismas Nacionales which encompasses parts of southern Sinaloa and northern Nayarit. Seventy-nine of the 245 specimens unearthed possess complete or nearly complete crania. Examination of these skulls in addition to 25 crania from the nearby sites of Guasave, Sinaloa and Amapa, Nayarit, reveals four varieties of cranial deformation. The skull shapes closely resemble motifs found among figurine heads from the same region and time period in Mexico, suggesting that a single conceptual ideal was held in common by those artificially shaping the infants’ skulls and those manufacturing the clay figurines.
Floods and Archaeology
Authors: Turnbaugh William A.
Published: April 2006

This study contends that flooding and related stream-flow phenomena have had an extensive impact on archaeological resources. An analysis of 1972 flood damage on 226 aboriginal sites in a portion of the Susquehanna River drainage indicates a need for special concern about differential preservation, discovery techniques, and interpretation of archaeological data in stream valley areas. Unless archaeologists and cultural resource managers take into account the natural and/or man-induced events and processes which may have affected the fluvial history of a region under study, their prediction and detection of sites-and their description, analysis, and interpretation of those that have been discovered-may be hampered seriously.
Middle Mississippi Exploitation of Animal Populations: A Predictive Model
Authors: Smith Bruce D.
Published: April 2006

A model consisting of a sequence of 4 interrelated hypotheses is presented as a framework within which exploitation of animal populations by Middle Mississippi groups can be considered. Faunal data recovered from a series of 7 Middle Mississippi sites is presented to facilitate the development of the model. The model proposes that Middle Mississippi exploitation of animal populations was selective, was seasonally oriented, and was concentrated on those sections of the biotic community that would provide a maximum meat yield with a minimum of effort.
A Functional Estimator of Population from Floor Area
Authors: Wiessner Polly
Published: April 2006

This paper presents an alternative to Naroll's formula for estimating population size from settlement area. It uses an allometric model modified for hunter-gatherer camps. In this model, the parameters are derived theoretically to describe mean area per person and the geometric properties of population distribution. The proposed model is then tested on 16 !Kung Bushmen settlements.
History and Archaeology of the Northern Fur Trade
Authors: Ray Arthur J.
Published: April 2006

The economic behavior and specialization of Indian groups involved in the fur trade of western Canada before 1763 are examined, and a spatial model of the fur trade is developed. The implications of Indian economic behavior and the spatial structure of the fur trade for current archaeological research in the sub-Arctic and northern Plains areas are then considered. It is posited that the nature of the early fur trade would lead archaeologists to underestimate the importance of the protohistoric period as a time of rapid culture change, and indeed, make it difficult to identify this period archaeologically.
Transect Interval Sampling in Forests
Authors: Chartkoff Joseph L.
Published: April 2006

Sampling design in excavation calls for previous estimates of site dimensions, artifact variability, and density. Sites covered by forest cannot be surface-collected to gain such data. Transect interval sampling provides the data at an early stage of research, at low cost with the collection and processing of soil samples of standard volume taken along a series of transects at regular intervals when the transects extend outward from the known area of the site. The screening of standard-volume soil samples provides a measure of artifact density across space, and empirically discoverable density values can be plotted to create an artifact density contour interval display. An adopted value of artifact density can be used to define site limits for sampling purposes (for example, 0.04 artifacts/liter). Use of such a measure would add to the precision and validity of sampling designs that frequently use more casual ways of estimating site dimensions.
Minimum Numbers and Sample Size in Vertebrate Faunal Analysis
Authors: Grayson Donald K.
Published: April 2006

Of the measures currently available for quantifying the abundance of taxa within archaeological and paleontological vertebrate faunas, the minimum number of individuals per taxon is most frequently employed. This paper explores the relationship between the minimum number of individuals (MNI) calculated for a given taxon and the number of specimens (E) from which these values were calculated. Several approaches for controlling for the complex interrelationships between MNI and E are advanced and discussed.
Consistency in Archaeological Measurement and Classification: A Pilot Study
Authors: Fish Paul R.
Published: April 2006

Little attention has been paid by archaeologists to the important problem of replicability of observational units. The studies presented in this paper involve examinations of discrepancy occurring at various levels in lithic and ceramic classification. Standardized typologies, as well as qualitative and quantitative attributes are considered. The results are discussed in terms of observer bias, influence of training, measurement error, and the implications for the statistical treatment of data.
Lowland Maya Subsistence: Notes from Ethnohistory and Ethnography
Authors: Reina Ruben E. , Hill Robert M.
Published: April 2006

Recent ethnohistorical investigations by the authors as part of a larger research effort focusing on Highland Maya ethnohistory have produced information on settlement patterns and subsistence activities for the Maya of the Alta Verapaz region. The environmentally transitional nature of this area—from tropical highlands to lowlands—makes this information of potential interest to Mayanists concerned with lowland civilization. Parallel subsistence activities known ethnographically from the present-day Itza of the Peten strengthens the applicability of this ethnohistorical information.
Population-Resource Balances in Period I of Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Kowalewski Stephen A.
Published: April 2006

The implications of speculative "population pressure" models are checked against the archaeological record in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by means of a detailed comparison of maize potentials and ancient populations, as both change over time. There is virtually no fit. Santley's evolutionary model, inasmuch as it is operationalizable, should therefore be drastically rethought.
A New Obsidian Hydration Rate for Certain Obsidians in the American Southwest
Authors: Findlow Frank J. , Bennett Victoria C. , Ericson Jonathon E. , De Atley Suzanne P.
Published: April 2006

A new hydration rate is presented for the Government Mountain-Sitgreaves Peak obsidian source in Arizona. It is based on an analysis of hydration measurements from a series of independently dated obsidian artifacts from that source. Since obsidian obtained from Government Mountain-Sitgreaves Peak was widely traded in the prehistoric Southwest, the new hydration rate should provide archaeologists working in many parts of the Southwest with a reliable and inexpensive absolute dating technique.
Statistical Tests of Spatial Association in the Locations of Tool Types
Authors: Dacey Michael F.
Published: April 2006

Maps showing the locations of end-scrapers, carinated scrapers, and burins at the Sde Divshon site of the Avdat area are examined by statistical tests for evidence of spatial association in the co-occurrences of pairs of tool types. Contingency table and contiguity ratio tests do not detect the presence of spatial association. Substantial detail is provided on the application of these tests.
Discard Location: The Ethnographic Data
Authors: Murray Priscilla
Published: April 2006

Site formation processes must be understood before the goals of archaeology can be attained. Modern and historical populations are examined here to construct a partial model of discard behavior, one formation process. Findings indicate that both sedentary and migratory populations discard materials outside their use location and that only some migratory peoples discard material elements at their use location.
Archaeological Significance and the National Register: A Response to Barnes, Briggs and Neilsen
Authors: Klinger Timothy C. , Raab L. Mark
Published: April 2006

Barnes et al. raise a number of points relating to the National Register of Historic Places, only some of which are relevant to our initial discussion of archaeological significance in 1977. Archaeological significance can be supported by any of the four Register criteria, not only by the single criterion presented by Barnes et al. The role and initiative of all archaeologists in the decision-making process leading to significance determinations cannot be underestimated.
Linguistic Adaptation and the Great Basin
Authors: Shaul David Leedom
Published: April 2006

It has been proposed that the spread of the Numic languages (and peoples) across the Great Basin from their California homeland correlates with a shift archaeologically in the area from a hunting focus to a seed-gathering focus, and that this shift may represent a Numic replacement of the non-Numic hunters. The actual linguistic adaptations of attested foraging groups contradict this idea: linguistic homogeneity will persist over large areas where a foraging economy is practiced. This is due partly to the incest taboo (the local social organization is a form of biological family) and partly to the adaptive advantage a mutually intelligible language gives foragers when food resources fail and the local group is dispersed among kin. Linguistic diversification among foragers is maladaptive, and dialect chains among foragers may persist through millennia over vast areas. Technological shifts could easily diffuse through such networks.
The Distribution and Contents of Inca State Storehouses in the Xauxa Region of Peru
Authors: D'Altroy Terence N. , Hastorf Christine A.
Published: April 2006

The activities of the Inca state in the Xauxa region of the Peruvian central highlands were partially supported by the stockpiling of agricultural, gathered, and craft goods in over 2,000 storehouses, distributed among 52 architectural complexes. The spatial organization and architectural standardization of the storage facilities suggest that the accumulation and disbursement of these goods within the province was centrally managed, but that material support for state projects was somewhat dispersed. Documentary sources indicate that the native Huanca population produced the goods stored and played a role in managing the storage system. Test excavations in six storehouses recovered all major prehistoric highland crop taxa–including maize, quinoa, potatoes, and lupine–and fragments of Inca storage vessels.
A Comparison and Differentiation of Phytoliths from Maize and Wild Grasses: Use of Morphological Criteria
Authors: Piperno Dolores R.
Published: April 2006

Phytolith analysis in archaeology suffers from a lack of taxonomic data on silicified forms in plant domesticates and related wild species. This study presents the results of a comparative analysis of phytolith size and morphology in maize (Zea mays L.) and wild grasses. Grass phytolith morphology is highly diverse. By combining the criteria of size and three-dimensional form of cross-shaped phytoliths, one can discriminate between maize phytoliths and those of wild grasses, including teosinte. This method for identifying archaeological maize was tested by analysis of samples from four sites in the Pacific watershed of central Panama. Phytolith spectra from deposits dated by radiocarbon to the early fifth millennium B.C. indicate the presence of maize. The interpretation of the phytolith data is supported by pollen studies.
Some Additional Perspectives on Appropriate Models and Analogs for Hunter-Gatherer Populations
Authors: Odell George H.
Published: April 2006

Criticisms by Sabo and by Yacobaccio and Borrero on tool utilization and the use of ethnographic analogy are discussed and evaluated.
Plumbate Origins Revisited
Authors: Bruhns Karen Olsen
Published: April 2006

Plumbate, a distinctive ceramic of the Early Postclassic, has been thought to have been manufactured in the Pacific region of Guatemala and traded throughout Mesoamerica and Central America. Two aberrant types of Plumbate found in Late Classic contexts in Veracruz and Early Postclassic contexts in central El Salvador suggest that the origins and spread of Plumbate or Plumbate techniques may be more complex.
Diet and Parasitism at Dust Devil Cave
Authors: Reinhard Karl J. , Ambler J. Richard , McGuffie Magdalene
Published: April 2006

Analysis of 100 desiccated feces of the Desha Complex (6800–4800 B.C.) from Dust Devil Cave near Navajo Mountain in southern Utah shows high proportions of Chenopodium seed and an absence of parasitic round-worms. Conversely, fecal remains from other sites in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau show high incidences of parasite infection and low frequencies of Chenopodium. The implications of Chenopodium as a vermifuge are discussed.
Tomato Springs: The Identification of a Jasper Trade and Production Center in Southern California
Authors: Cottrell Marie G.
Published: April 2006

In this report I present evidence of a prehistoric trade network that operated between the inland desert and coastal regions of southern California. Jasper, a nonlocal commodity from sources in the inland deserts, was found in large quantities at the Tomato Springs site, a prehistoric coastal village. This lithic material appears to have been of some value to the inhabitants of the coastal region, as evidence indicates that it was procured in quantity for a period of approximately 4,500 years over distances in excess of 175 km. The available data indicate that jasper trade between the inland deserts and the coast does not fit any distance-decay models proposed for trade in spite of the distances under consideration.
Functional Variation of Maya Spiked Vessels: A Practical Guide
Authors: Deal Michael
Published: April 2006

Ethnoarchaeological research has made valuable contributions towards our understanding of the functional variation of specific artifacts and features. The use of spiked vessel-forms among modern Maya groups, as well as the depictions of spiked vessels in the surviving Maya codices, suggest that spiked vessels have served a relatively wider range of functions (although invariably in a ritual context) than most Mesoamericanists have suspected. A critical review of the spiked vessel phenomenon, using the codices, the archaeological literature, and recent ethnographic data is presented as a guide for future archaeological interpretation.
The Empiricist Strikes Back: Reply to Binford
Authors: Gould Richard A.
Published: April 2006

A reply to Lewis Binford's criticism concerning my views on archaeological inference and the relationships of such inferences to various kinds of ethnoarchaeology, with special reference to the Australian data included in Binford's critique.
Style and Social Information in Kalahari San Projectile Points
Authors: Wiessner Polly
Published: April 2006

The results of a study on the relationship between stylistic variation in Kalahari San projectile points and aspects of San social organization are summarized. Five issues relevant to archaeology are discussed in light of the San data: (1) stylistic behavior and the different aspects of style, (2) which items of material culture carry social information and why, (3) which attributes on San projectile points carry social information, (4) what the results of the analysis of stylistic variation in projectile points imply for current methods of stylistic analysis and interpretation, and (5) the correspondence between style in San projectile points and San organization.
A Recently Discovered Amber Source near Totolapa, Chiapas, Mexico
Authors: Bryant Douglas Donne
Published: April 2006

A second amber source has been discovered in Chiapas, which is important for considerations of prehistoric exchange. Source analysis is discussed as a possible means of distinguishing prehistoric amber from the two known sources.
Federal Aid to Archaeology in the Southeast, 1933-1942
Authors: Haag William G.
Published: April 2006

Interest in the prehistory of America is hardly more than two centuries old, but it is within the last half-century that our concern for preservation and salvage has bloomed. Prior to that time there were individual voices urging study and protection of archaeological sites, but no grass-roots sentiment for protection. This may be largely because most of our antecedents came from the Old World; New World archaeology concerned our past not at all.
Pathologies Relative to Subsistence and Settlement at Casas Grandes
Authors: Corruccini Robert S.
Published: April 2006

Contrary to Weaver's conclusion, no trend in either nutritionally related or infection-related pathologies can be demonstrated in skeletons from different time periods at Casas Grandes.
Ritual Continuity and Transformation in Mesoamerica: Reconstructing the Ancient Maya Cuch Ritual
Authors: Pohl Mary
Published: April 2006

The use of ethnohistoric and ethnographic data in interpreting evidence for prehistoric ritual activity is highly controversial in Mesoamerican circles. This paper traces the long history of a Maya ceremony identified as the cuch rite. Although transformations in characters and symbols have occurred, continuity is also evident. Application of the ethnohistorical approach has suggested that a large corpus of ancient art depicts fertility and accession ceremonies. The stag appears to have been a major agricultural supernatural in Maya religion.
The Location of Tayasal: A Reconsideration in Light of Peten Maya Ethnohistory and Archaeology
Authors: Jones Grant D. , Rice Don S. , Rice Prudence M.
Published: April 2006

An earlier article in this journal suggested that Tayasal, the island capital of the late Postclassic and historic period Itza Maya, was located at Topoxte on Lake Yaxha in the Department of Peten, Guatemala. Study of ethnohistorical sources for the Peten Itza and their neighbors leads us to conclude, however, that Tayasal was in fact in Lake Peten Itza, the location long favored by earlier writers. These sources are reviewed here, and Tayasal is positively located on the island of Flores; tentative locations for other contemporary settlements in the central lakes region of Peten are offered. The current status of Postclassic period central Peten archaeological research is reviewed in light of the known ethnohistory of the region. The need for continuing interaction between archaeological and ethnohistorical research is stressed.
Reply to Davis
Authors: Hodder Ian
Published: April 2006

Davis's comments have evoked a clarification of earlier work, and a discussion of more recent insights into the complexities of boundary signalling and the role of material culture in such behavior.
Style and Ethnicity in the Kalahari: A Reply to Wiessner
Authors: Sackett James R.
Published: April 2006

Wiessner's analysis of stylistic variation in San arrows entails valuable ethnoarchaeological observation and insight. But her evidence contradicts the iconological theory she imposes upon it, whereby San artisans are thought to purposefully invest their products with ethnic symbolism in order to transmit social information to various target populations. However, an alternative view, according to which the arrows simply exhibit the ethnic style latent in all isochrestic behavior (see Sackett 1982), is consistent both with their formal variation and with the commonplace ethnic symbolism that the San themselves are reported to read into them. This view also provides a more reasonable explanation than does the iconological theory of why stylistic distinctions fail to emerge among San bands engaged in risk-sharing strategies. In any event, isochrestism is the basic source of ethnic style in material culture. Iconicism is a special case and ought not be invoked unless specific expectations are met by the evidence.
Model Life Tables as a Measure of Bias in the Grasshopper Pueblo Skeletal Series
Authors: Paine Richard R.
Published: April 2006

In their article, Cordell et al. (1987:571) assert that the Grasshopper Pueblo skeletal series is an "obviously biased sample." This paper criticizes that position as an incorrect interpretation of the Coale and Demeny (1983) model life tables. An alternative interpretation is offered using a modeling procedure based on the Coale and Demeny regressions and pattern-fitting-by-maximum-likelihood techniques. The present author agrees with Cordell et al.'s theoretical position; uniformitarian assumptions should play an important role in archaeological interpretation, especially where the questions addressed are rooted in human biology. The analysis presented, however, indicates that they overestimate problems with the Grasshopper series, and supports the validity of studies based upon it.
Resource Specialization, Population Growth, and Agricultural Production in the American Southwest
Authors: Leonard Robert D.
Published: April 2006

The prehistoric period of the northern American Southwest is characterized by increased population, increased agricultural production, and regional depopulation. Most current models of evolutionary change that attempt to explain these phenomena are defined at the scale of "culture" or of a specific adaptation, e.g., "Anasazi adaptive system." I suggest that for most purposes these are not productive constructs, and that their application makes useful explanations difficult, if not impossible to formulate. As a further liability, these models ignore the role of natural selection as an explanatory mechanism, preferring instead to seek explanation through the premature application of the concept of adaptation. The application of a selectionist perspective, as opposed to the more popular adaptationist model, leads to the conclusion that the operation of natural selection favoring productive specialization accounts for the characteristics noted above for the prehistoric American Southwest.
Ceramics and Temper: A Response to Feathers
Authors: Bronitsky Gordon
Published: April 2006

Feathers is critical of the selection of materials and the use of commercial clay in our earlier research. The use of shell temper from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico suggests that the properties of this material were considered useful regardless of the specific clay source. Furthermore, Feathers’s comments indicate the need for further discussion and understanding of the role of simulated use testing of archaeological materials.
Comments on “A Reconsideration of Aboriginal Fishing Strategies in the Northern Great Lakes Region” by Susan R. Martin
Authors: Cleland Charles E.
Published: April 2006

Martin's suggestion that there is great continuity in subsistence strategy through the Middle and Late Woodland periods of the Northern Great Lakes is rejected. She fails to produce convincing evidence for the use of gill nets during Middle Woodland times and to account for the difference in fish fauna on sites of these two periods. Also addressed here is the possible consequence of economic specialization on population size and fluctuation. It is concluded that unlike Middle Woodland populations, those of the Late Woodland fluctuate rather dramatically. Finally, it is suggested that whatever the cause of the population loss and mechanisms of replacement, these shifts likely have important implications for periodicity in ceramic style change.
Operations Research and Archaeology
Authors: Bleed Peter
Published: April 2006

Operations research is the systematic study of resource utilization through the manipulation of conceptual models. Used most often by engineers and managers, these models also have potential application in archaeology. Event tree analysis, which models multipart systems with a number of potential consequences resulting from a series of events, makes it possible to analyze artifact-production processes or the operation of complex economic activities such as hunting. Fault tree analysis models the interactions of factors that can cause a technological system to fail. It offers a framework for the interpretation of archaeological remains such as flintlock firearm parts at Indian and Euroamerican sites of the Great Plains.
Coring and the Identity of Cultural-Resource Environments: A Comment on Stein
Authors: Schuldenrein Joseph
Published: April 2006

Stein (1986) presents a very timely contribution on the history and utility of archaeological site coring that has major implications for the detection and retrieval of subsurface archaeological data. My purpose in this comment is threefold. First, I would extend her history of coring to include three periods instead of two. More importantly, in so doing, I would stress the need to modify Stein's observations to cultural-resource-management (CRM) settings. This would expand the applications of subsurface probing to broader sets of sedimentary environments and site contexts, specifically those where preservation conditions are less than ideal. Finally, I propose a versatile coring strategy that is amenable to both research and applied cultural-resource-management (CRM) situations in a cost-efficient manner.
Content, Provenience, and Significance of the Codex Vergara and the Códice de Santa María Asunción
Authors: Williams Barbara J. , Harvey H. R.
Published: April 2006

The Codex Vergara and the Codice de Santa Maria Asuncion are the most comprehensive census-cadastral native pictorial manuscripts that have survived from Central Mexico. Research reported here establishes that the documents record the household composition and landholdings of 17 localities in an area presently corresponding to identifiable barrios in and around the village of Tepetlaoztoc, located northeast of Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. Drawn within a generation of the Conquest, probably A.D. 1539-1543, these codices present a virtually unique quantitative record for the period and provide a firm basis for interpretation of Late Horizon archaeological remains in the zone. Decipherment has revealed the first examples from Central Mexico of the use of positional notation in numerical expression, the use of the "zero" concept, and derivation and recording of field areas as well as perimeter measurements. The archaeological and ethnohistorical importance of the codices is enhanced greatly now that their spatial context is known.