bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Promises and Challenges of Scaffolded Instruction
Authors: Winn Judith A.
Published: April 2006

Scaffolded instruction refers to teachers (a) challenging students to engage in tasks that they are unable to complete independently and (b) providing the support needed to enable students to share the teachers' understanding of the tasks and successfully carry them out. This article addresses the potential and the challenges of scaffolded instruction within the context of an exploratory study of the implementation of mediated collaborative problem solving. This model of instruction for self-regulation was implemented by the author with two groups of students, most of whom were experiencing reading difficulties. The model and its implementation are described and suggestions for making scaffolded instruction manageable are made in the areas of planning, attention to student characteristics, and use of a routine or metascript.
Early Reading Intervention for English Language Learners At-Risk for Learning Disabilities: Student and Teacher Outcomes in an Urban School
Authors: Haager Diane , Windmueller Michelle P.
Published: April 2006

Student and teacher outcomes following the first year of implementation of an early reading intervention project designed to improve literacy outcomes in one urban school are described. The intervention was delivered through ongoing supplemental reading instruction for English language learners (ELLs) at-risk of reading failure. Students at-risk for reading-related learning disabilities were identified using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), a performance-based reading assessment. Students at-risk and students with learning disabilities (LD) received supplemental small-group reading instruction provided by the classroom teacher and support personnel implementing an inclusive special education program. Results indicated positive growth for ELLs, with a disproportionately large percentage of students falling into the risk range. At-risk and LD students showed steady improvement, supporting the coupling of an inclusive special education program with reading intervention in the primary grades. Teacher reports indicated that professional development should be grounded in the reality of classroom experience.
The Effects of Professional Development for Middle School General and Special Education Teachers on Implementation of Reading Strategies in Inclusive Content Area Classes
Authors: Bryant Diane Pedrotty , Linan-Thompson Sylvia , Ugel Nicole , Hamff Allison , Hougen Marty
Published: April 2006

Ten sixth-grade middle school teachers, including general and special education teachers, participated in a four-month professional development and intervention program to enhance the reading outcomes of struggling students in inclusive content area classes. The professional development program consisted of an examination of teachers' personal knowledge of struggling readers and reading instruction, and staff development and support to help the teachers integrate three reading strategies, which focused on word identification, fluency, and comprehension skills, into their content area instruction. Implementation of the strategies was monitored and teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the reading strategies for their students were obtained.
Preparing General Educators to Work Well with Students Who Have Disabilities: What's Reasonable at the Preservice Level?
Authors: Ford Alison , Pugach Marleen C. , Otis-Wilborn Amy
Published: April 2006

The restructured teacher education program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is described specifically with regard to its commitment to prepare general educators to work effectively and responsibly with students with disabilities. Background information is provided about the program, including the features that support a strong relationship between special and general educators. The authors discuss reasonable outcomes for initial teachers in general education and highlight some of the challenges in program implementation.
The Use of Process Mnemonics in Teaching Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities
Authors: Manalo Emmanuel , Bunnell Julie K. , Stillman Jennifer A.
Published: April 2006

This study investigated the effects of process mnemonic (PM) instruction on the computational skills performance of 13- to 14-year-old students with mathematics learning disabilities. Two experiments are described. In Experiment 1, 29 students were randomly assigned to one of four instruction groups: PM, demonstration-imitation (DI), study skills (SS), or no instruction (NI). In Experiment 2, instructors with no vested interest in the outcomes of the study were employed to teach 28 students who were assigned to PM, DI, or NI groups. Both PM and DI students made significant improvements in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However, improvements were often greater for PM students. More importantly, the improvements made by PM students maintained better than those of DI students over six-week (Experiment 1) and eight-week (Experiment 2) follow-up periods.
Computers as Aids in the Prevention and Remediation of Reading Disabilities
Authors: Torgesen Joseph K. , Barker Theodore A.
Published: April 2006

This article provides examples of ways that computer-assisted instruction can help children with learning disabilities (LD) learn to read more effectively. Computer-assisted instruction and practice in reading is fit within an instructional model for LD children that recognizes their special needs for assistance in acquiring accurate and fluent word identification skills. The theory that reading disabilities are phonologically based is discussed as a context for focusing instruction on alphabetic reading skills. Computer programs that provide training in phonological awareness, specific context-free word identification skills, and reading of connected text are described, and preliminary evidence about their instructional effectiveness is presented.
Learning Disabilities Definitions and Criteria Used by State Education Departments
Authors: Mercer Cecil D. , Jordan LuAnn , Allsopp David H. , Mercer Ann R.
Published: April 2006

This article reports the results of a survey of the 51 state departments of education (including Washington, DC) regarding their definitions of learning disabilities, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures. A conceptual framework consisting of eight components was used in analyzing the definitions and identification criteria. Results show the continued effect of the 1977 federal definition and criteria while revealing variations in state definitions and criteria. For example, several state definitions now include the neurological component, and use of discrepancy criteria is increasing. To determine current trends, the data are compared with those from a similar survey published in 1990. Findings are discussed in terms of trends, prereferral interventions, and noncategorical identification.
Comparisons of Beginning Literacy Programs: Alternative Paths to the Same Learning Outcome
Authors: Traweek Dean , Berninger Virginia W.
Published: April 2006

University-based researchers consulted with first-grade teachers in a comparison of Integrated Reading-Writing (IR-W) and DISTAR programs in comparable urban schools with students “at risk” for literacy problems. Students in the two programs made comparable relative gains in achievement outcomes in word recognition from the beginning to the end of first grade. Level of orthographic and phonological awareness at the end of the first grade, but not instructional program, predicted level of reading achievement at the end of first grade. However, differences in processes underlying end-of-year achievement outcome were observed. Children in Integrated Reading-Writing tended to acquire orthographic-phonological connections at the whole word and subword levels, whereas children in DISTAR tended to acquire only subword connections. No differences were noted in developmental level of composition between the two instructional programs at the middle or end of first grade when coded compositions were available. The results are consistent with the notion that there is more than one way to learn to read and write.
Improving the Reading and Writing Skills of America's Students
Authors: Riley Richard W.
Published: April 2006

We have learned a great deal about the academic challenges that children with learning disabilities face in school. The National Longitudinal Transition Study (Valdes, Williamson, & Wagner, 1990) data show, for example, that grade point averages of children with learning disabilities are lower than those of other students, that children with learning disabilities frequently receive failing grades, and that they are more likely to drop out of school entirely. Only 61% of out-of-school youth with learning disabilities graduated from high school compared to 76% for the general population of youth. The group of students ages 6 to 21 who are identified as having specific learning disabilities and served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the largest among all disability groups served — around 2.5 million students, representing more than half of all students with disabilities. This number continues to grow.

We have learned some promising practices for teaching reading and writing to children with learning disabilities. The practices involve beginning early and working with the children on a daily basis, including the summer months. Most children who are classified as having learning disabilities in public schools have reading disabilities (Kavale & Forness, 1985).
Views of Students with Learning Disabilities of their Homework in General Education Classes: Student Interviews
Authors: Sawyer Valerie , Nelson Janet S. , Jayanthi Madhavi , Bursuck William D. , Epstein Michael H.
Published: April 2006

This study examined the experiences and views of students with learning disabilities regarding the homework they receive in their general education classes and identified ways that teachers and parents might positively affect students' performance. Subjects were 10 high school students identified as having learning disabilities. Individual interviews were conducted to elicit information from each student. An analysis of the interviews resulted in the emergence of three themes: (a) factors that make homework easy, (b) factors that make homework difficult, and (c) recommendations for teachers, students, and parents. The results, limitations of the study, and future research needs are discussed.
Self-Concept and Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Scholastic Competence Subgroups
Authors: Hagborg Winston J.
Published: April 2006

Three subgroups of middle school-age students with learning disabilities were formed on the basis of their self-reported ratings on the Scholastic Competence subscale of Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children. Findings indicated significant differences between the low and both the medium and the high subgroup on three measures: internal locus of control for positive events, school attitudes, and global self-worth. Notably, the subgroups did not differ in the areas of socioeconomic status, intelligence, achievement, grades, age at classification, and extent of participation in special education. Hence, the most commonly regarded markers of school success were not found to be associated with differing scholastic competence subgroups for students with learning disabilities. Findings are interpreted as supporting the compensatory hypothesis for positive self-concept development among students with learning disabilities.
The Role of Chance in the Career Development of Individuals with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Rojewski Jay W.
Published: April 2006

Everyone experiences the influence of chance events, or happenstance, in their career development. This influence can be positive or negative. Given the unique learning characteristics and experiences of persons with learning disabilities, chance may play a more negative role in their career development, vocational preparation, and occupational attainment. Key ideas from Bandura's (1982) explanation of how chance affects individual life paths—personal and social determinants of reactions to chance events—are contrasted with the personal and social characteristices often attributed to persons with learning disabilities. A general model of the response options to career-related cnance events is also provided and discussed.
Coordinating Transcription and Text Generation in Working Memory during Composing: Automatic and Constructive Processes
Authors: Berninger Virginia W.
Published: April 2006

Research evidence is reviewed to show (a) that transcription and working memory processes constrain the development of composition skills in students with and without learning disabilities; and (b) that in turn other processes constrain the development of transcription and working memory skills. The view of working memory as a resource-limited process is contrasted with a view of working memory as a resource-coordination process that integrates transcription and constructive processes, which may be on different time scales, in real time. Theory-driven, research-validated interventions for transcription are discussed with a focus on how training transcription transfers to improved composition. Five theoretical explanations for why the spelling component of transcription is more difficult to learn than the word recognition component of reviewing are also considered with a focus on the instructional implications of each for improving spelling. Finally, a rationale is presented for directing writing instruction to the simultaneous goals of (a) automaticity of low-level transcription and (b) high-level construction or meaning for purposeful communication.
Algebra Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities: Implications from a Research Review
Authors: Maccini Paula , McNaughton David , Ruhl Kathy L.
Published: April 2006

A review of six published studies on algebra interventions for students with learning disabilities (LD) revealed that successful interventions included instruction on domain-specific knowledge, as well as general problem-solving and self-regulation strategies. Promising practices include sequential introduction of word problems through concrete, semi-concrete, and abstract phases, and peer feedback. Use of selected computer-assisted programs also may hold promise. These findings are discussed in the context of the requirements of successful algebra performance, developmental problem-solving literature (Mayer, 1989; Schoenfeld, 1992), and characteristics of students with LD.
Making Science Accessible to All: Results of a Design Experiment in Inclusive Classrooms
Authors: Palincsar Annemarie Sullivan , Magnusson Shirley J. , Collins Kathleen M. , Cutter Jane
Published: April 2006

Recent science reform documents call for students to develop robust understandings of scientific concepts and reasoning through inquiry-based instruction. The challenge of this goal is increased in heterogeneous inclusive classroom settings with students identified as having learning disabilities and emotional impairments. This article describes a design experiment conducted over two school years in which we investigated the experiences and outcomes for special needs students in guided inquiry science instruction in upper-elementary grade classrooms ( n = 4). Phase 1 (′97-′98) of the design experiment utilized qualitative and quantitative data to construct case studies of individual learners with special needs. Patterns across the cases informed the identification of advanced instructional strategies hypothesized to support special needs students relative to language/cognition, print literacy, attention, and social relations challenges. In Phase 2 (′98-′99), we studied learning outcomes from instruction including the advanced strategies (same teachers, topics as Phase 1). Our findings indicate that in Phase 2 (with the advanced strategies) all students demonstrated significant learning gains over Phase 1 and that special needs and low-achieving students in three of four classes showed changes in understanding comparable to those of normally achieving students. We conclude by identifying implications of these findings for the roles of general and special educators.
Building a Deep Understanding of Literature with Middle-Grade Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Morocco Catherine Cobb , Hindin Alisa , Mata-Aguilar Cynthia , Clark-Chiarelli Nancy
Published: April 2006

State frameworks emphasize literacy goals such as understanding literary concepts and understanding how to read and compose texts with varied purposes. Students with learning disabilities need to engage in instruction that addresses these goals and takes into account the special literacy challenges these students face. This article describes a study of how middle-school teachers in general education classrooms implemented a Supported Literacy approach and how students with disabilities performed in relation to their peers. Supported Literacy engages students in integrated thematic units in which they read, discuss, and write about a shared, age-appropriate text. Findings indicate that teachers provided students with disabilities access to the full range of challenging reading and writing activities in the unit. Students with disabilities performed similarly to normally achieving and honors students in one of the most challenging comprehension and writing activities, writing persuasively about their interpretation of a text. Results also indicate that all students need a fuller understanding of the process of developing a persuasive argument and that teachers need more skill in assessing students' work to determine and respond to students' levels of understanding. The article discusses implications of these findings for studying complex literacy interventions.
Reflective Spelling Strategies for Elementary School Students with Severe Writing Difficulties: A Case Study
Authors: Mäki Hanna S. , Vauras Marja M. S. , Vainio Seppo
Published: April 2006

A case study with two Finnish 10-year-old boys evaluated an intervention designed to promote the spelling skills of elementary school students with severe writing difficulties. The intervention comprised strategy instruction, procedural facilitation, and computer-assisted tutoring. Transfer was facilitated by involving teachers and parents. The results showed gains in spelling accuracy, spelling revision skills, decoding accuracy, and knowledge about the writing process from baseline to post-treatment phase. Transfer, parents' and teachers' participation, and the stability of intervention effects over a six-month follow-up period are discussed.
Improving Reasoning and Recall: The Differential Effects of Elaborative Interrogation and Mnemonic Elaboration
Authors: Scruggs Thomas E. , Mastropieri Margo A. , Sullivan G. Sharon , Hesser L. Susan
Published: April 2006

This investigation sought to determine whether elaborative interrogation techniques would facilitate recall of information relevant to, but not included in, mnemonic and representational pictures. Fifty-three adolescents with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation were taught information about nine reasons for dinosaur extinction, ranked in order of plausibility. In the direct teaching condition, students were provided with each ordered reason and an explanation for why that reason may have resulted in dinosaur extinction. In the elaborative interrogation condition, students were provided with each ordered reason and prompted and questioned to provide an explanation for each. In the mnemonic elaborative interrogation condition, students were provided with mnemonic peg-words to facilitate recall of the ordered reasons for dinosaur extinction and also coached and prompted to provide explanations.

Students' recall of ordered reasons was higher in the mnemonic elaborative interrogation condition, and students in the two elaborative interrogation conditions recalled more explanations than did students in the direct teaching condition. Further, students in both elaborative interrogation conditions more accurately linked reasons with explanations for those reasons. Findings are discussed with respect to previous findings of mnemonic instruction. Implications for teaching students with mild cognitive disabilities are provided.
Sociocultural Aspects of Language and Literacy: Issues Facing Educators of Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Poplin Mary , Phillips LeRae
Published: April 2006

This article explores differences in language development, experience, and use by various cultures. The authors propose that some of the characteristics we identify as disabilities are actually language differences. A lack of understanding of multiple views and the characteristics of various languages can result in both misdiagnosis and inappropriate instruction for many individuals we call “learning disabled.” The authors also suggest that our culture's unselfconscious assumptions about oral and written language and its preference for written language intelligence have, in part, created the category of learning disabilities as a handicapping condition.
“School-Based Epistemologies”?: Exploring Conceptions of How, What, and Why Students Know
Authors: Bryson Mary
Published: April 2006

The research reported here is concerned with children's relations both to knowledge and to learning. How are these relations constructed within the context of formal schooling? What is their significance for school success? And in particular, how might such relations be enhanced for students who manifest longstanding academic difficulties? These questions are addressed from a theoretical standpoint that construes such relations as situated “school-based epistemologies” which, furthermore, are continually construed and, therefore, sensitive to interventions aimed at ameliorative re/mediation. The methodology involved obtaining descriptive information contrasting children (grades 5/6) with varying learning histories in terms of their beliefs about knowledge and its enhancement. Additionally, children's actual on-task strategy use and the characteristics of resultant knowledge acquisition and organization were contrasted under two goals conditions (learning goals versus performance goals). Findings suggest that: (a) children with varying learning histories mediate in-school learning with qualitatively distinct epistemologies and (b) irrespective of actual achievement level, the “learning goals” task instructions significantly enhanced students' thinking.
Engagement and Disengagement between Special and General Educators: An Application of Miles and Huberman's Cross-Case Analysis
Authors: Marks Susan Unok , Gersten Russell
Published: April 2006

This article reports on a cross-case analysis using Miles and Huberman's framework to examine and describe issues related to teacher engagement and disengagement with receiving “coaching,” or expert consultation, on effective teaching strategies. Results were gleaned from two research studies that implemented a coaching model and a series of earlier data analyses. The focus of the current analysis was to identify factors that led to high levels of impact on teaching as well as high levels of engagement on the part of general education teachers working with special educators.
Specialized Ground Stone Production in the Casas Grandes Region of Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Authors: VanPool Todd L. , Leonard Robert D.
Published: April 2006

Previous research has identified specialized production of prestige goods during the Medio period (A.D. 1200-1450) in the Casas Grandes region of northwestern Mexico and the American Southwest. We evaluate the organization of production of two functionally equivalent types of trough metates from Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico, using the standardization hypothesis, i.e., the premise that products produced by specialists have less variation than those manufactured by less-specialized producers. We find that the morphology of one of the metate types (Type 1A metates) is statistically more standardized than the other (Type 1B metates). We then compare the Paquimé metates to those manufactured by generalized producers from the Mimbres Valley region of New Mexico. We find that Mimbres through-trough metates and the Type 1B metates from Paquimé have a similar degree of morphological variation, but that the Type 1A Paquimé metates are morphologically more standardized, indicating that specialists produced them. We conclude that specialized production in the Casas Grandes region was not limited to prestige goods but was instead a fundamental organizing principle of the Medio period economic system, reflecting the presence of a well-established social hierarchy and exchange system.
Questions of Evidence, Legitimacy, and the (Dis)Unity of Science
Authors: Wylie Alison
Published: April 2006

The recent Science Wars have brought into sharp focus, in a public forum, contentious questions about the authority of science and what counts as properly scientific practice that have long structured archaeological debate. As in the larger debate, localized disputes in archaeology often presuppose a conception of science as a unified enterprise defined by common goals, standards, and research programs; specific forms of inquiry are advocated (or condemned) by claiming affiliation with science so conceived. This pattern of argument obscures much that is most creative in archaeological practice. Archaeologists routinely exploit both integrating and fragmenting relations among the sciences, especially in establishing evidential claims. I will argue that the credibility of these claims is a function, not of scientific status acquired by corporate affiliation, but of the substantive trade in tools and techniques, empirical insights, models, and theories that is made possible by local interactions between archaeology and a wide range of other disciplines. There is much more to be gained by developing a rich critical understanding of the interfield relations that make this trade possible than by appealing to generic ideals of science.
Conquistadors, Excavators, or Rodents: What Damaged the King Site Skeletons?
Authors: Milner George R. , Larsen Clark Spencer , Hutchinson Dale L. , Williamson Matthew A. , Humpf Dorothy A.
Published: April 2006

It has been claimed that many Native American skeletons from the King site in Georgia show evidence of wounds from sharp-edged metal weapons that were wielded by members of the sixteenth-century de Soto expedition (Blakely and Mathews 1990). The supposed massacre of these villagers has caught the attention of the public and scholars alike. But we failed to find any evidence of damage caused by sixteenth-century Spanish weapons in our examination of the King site skeletons. Our finding-there is no evidence for a massacre-eliminates a major discrepancy between historical and archaeological information used in reconstructions of the de Soto route.
Competitive and Cooperative Responses to Climatic Instability in Coastal Southern California
Authors: Kennett Douglas J. , Kennett James P.
Published: April 2006

Archaeological data indicates that socially and politically complex hunter-gatherer societies had become well established on the southern California coast by A.D. 1300. Major developmental changes in sociopolitical complexity are generally considered to have taken place rapidly between AD 1150 and 1300. Recently, two hypotheses have been proposed to account for this rapid cultural evolution, both invoking stressful climatic conditions as an important trigger for cultural change. One suggests that the sociopolitical development was stimulated, in part, by multiple marine and terrestrial subsistence stresses, particularly low marine productivity resulting from regional warming. The other suggests that these developments were largely driven by decreases in terrestrial productivity and water availability linked to drought. Resolution of this debate has been hampered by insufficient paleoclimatic and archaeological data. We present a well-dated, relatively high resolution (25-year intervals) oxygen isotopic marine climate record and new archaeological data from the Northern Channel Islands for the last 3,000 years. These data strongly suggest that changes in human behavior associated with increasing cultural complexity: 1) accelerated after A.D. 500 and became dominant by A.D. 1300, 2) occurred during one of the coldest and most unstable marine climatic intervals of the Holocene (A.D. 450-1300), and 3) coincided with cool, dry terrestrial conditions. Incipient cultural complexity emerged during an interval marked by inferred high marine productivity, reduced terrestrial food and water availability, and large, unpredictable variations in terrestrial resource availability. Our records suggest a strong relationship during this time between climatically induced changes in environmental conditions and social, political, and economic responses, including the emergence of more intensified fishing, and increased sedentism, violence, and trade.
The Rio Rancho Phase: A Preliminary Report on Early Basketmaker Culture in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico
Authors: Reinhart Theodore R.
Published: April 2006

A Basketmaker II manifestation is defined from the excavation of an open site northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, containing two surface dwellings and a large outside cooking pit. Designated the Rio Rancho phase, this culture is found to have had had affinities to Basketmaker II cultures in the San Juan area and to late Cochise and early Mogollon cultures in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The Alameda phase, an early Basketmaker III manifestation in the same area, is believed to have developed out of the Rio Rancho phase with accretions coming primarily from the San Juan area.
Seasonal Dating of Burials from the Presence of Fly Pupae
Authors: Gilbert B. Miles , Bass William M.
Published: April 2006

During the excavation of Arikara burials which were 130 to 160 years old, the author discovered the chitinous exuvia of fly pupae with many of the burials. The pupae of these scavenger flies seasonally date the burials from late March to mid-October, corresponding to the year's arrival and disappearance of these flies in South Dakota.
A Comment on Emery and Edwards’ “Archaeological Potential of the Atlantic Continental Shelf”
Authors: Salwen Bert
Published: April 2006

After expressing general agreement with the major conclusions reached by Emery and Edwards, the author comments on two points. 1. He takes issue with the oft repeated assertion that Archaic peoples of the Northeast coast did not “learn to eat marine mollusks,” and suggests, instead, an environmental explanation for the absence of shellfish debris from some Archaic sites. 2. He adds to the list of archaeological sites now under water, points out that, at some of these, artifactual materials seem to have been protected from scattering by the development of peat layers over the occupation areas, and he suggests that this fact may hold out hope for the future discovery of relatively undisturbed drowned sites in the waters off the Atlantic Coast.
Public Opinion and Archaeological Heritage: Views from Outside the Profession
Authors: Pokotylo David , Guppy Neil
Published: April 2006

A survey of public opinion on archaeological heritage in British Columbia, Canada, focused on five main areas: knowledge of archaeology, interest and participation in archaeology, the role of archaeology in modern society, awareness and support of heritage conservation initiatives, and Aboriginal stewardship of the archaeological record. Public opinion data collected from a random sample of 963 residents of the greater Vancouver metropolitan area indicate a high level of interest and support for archaeology and heritage conservation, but also a high level of misunderstanding about the archaeological record and current legislative measures to protect it. In contrast to recent changes in legislation and initiations within the discipline, public attitude towards Aboriginal stewardship of archaeological resources is generally negative. Education, age, and gender are significant factors affecting differences in opinion.
Paleocoastal Marine Fishing on the Pacific Coast of the Americas: Perspectives from Daisy Cave, California
Authors: Rick Torben C. , Erlandson Jon M. , Vellanoweth René L.
Published: April 2006

Analysis of over 27,000 fish bones from strata at Daisy Cave dated between about 11,500 and 8500 cal B.P. suggests that early Channel Islanders fished relatively intensively in a variety of habitats using a number of distinct technologies, including boats and the earliest evidence for hook-and-line fishing on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. The abundance of fish remains and fishing-related artifacts supports dietary reconstructions that suggest fish provided more than 50 percent of the edible meat represented in faunal samples from the early Holocene site strata. The abundance and economic importance of fish at Daisy Cave, unprecedented among early sites along the Pacific Coast of North America, suggest that early maritime capabilities on the Channel Islands were both more advanced and more variable than previously believed. When combined with a survey of fish remains from several other early Pacific Coast sites, these data suggest that early New World peoples effectively used watercraft, captured a diverse array of fish, and exploited a variety of marine habitats and resources.
Mississippian Chiefdoms and the Fission-Fusion Process
Authors: Blitz John H.
Published: April 2006

In the American Southeast, the simple-complex chiefdom cycle is the predominant model of sociopolítical development applied to the Precolumbian ranked societies known as Mississippian. In this paper, mound-center settlement patterns in the South Appalachian area are reviewed. Most of these distributions fail to conform to the hierarchy of centers predicted by the simple-complex chiefdom model. Contrary to the model, an absence of primary-secondary center hierarchies implies that extension of regional administrative control was not the primary determinant of mound-center distributions. A review of ethnohistorical sources suggests that another sociopolitical mechanism, the fission-fusion process, created the majority of mound-center settlement patterns through the aggregation or dispersal of basic political units. The fission-fusion process was the product of efforts by factional leaders to resolve the conflicting values of autonomy and security. Unlike the simple-complex chiefdom dichotomy, the fission-fusion model encompasses a greater diversity of Mississippian political forms and provides an alternative explanation for changes in mound center size, complexity, and location.
Techniques for Assessing Standardization in Artifact Assemblages: Can We Scale Material Variability?
Authors: Eerkens Jelmer W. , Bettinger Robert L.
Published: April 2006

The study of artifact standardization is an important line of archaeological inquiry that continues to be plagued by the lack of an independent scale that would indicate what a highly variable or highly standardized assemblage should look like. Related to this problem is the absence of a robust statistical technique for comparing variation between different kinds of assemblages. This paper addresses these issues. The Weber fraction for line-length estimation describes the minimum difference that humans can perceive through unaided visual inspection. This value is used to derive a constant for the coefficient of variation (CV = 1.7 percent) that represents the highest degree of standardization attainable through manual human production of artifacts. Random data are used to define a second constant for the coefficient of variation that represents variation expected when production is random (CV = 57.7 percent). These two constants can be used to assess the degree of standardization in artifact assemblages regardless of kind. Our analysis further demonstrates that CV is an excellent measure of standardization and provides a robust statistical technique for comparing standardization in samples of artifacts.
Production and Consumption in a Sacred Economy: The Material Correlates of High Devotional Expression at Chaco Canyon
Authors: Renfrew Colin
Published: April 2006

The role of production, exchange, and consumption in Chaco Canyon can be analyzed successfully only when the system as a whole is considered. A cognitive-processual approach is used here to develop a model of Chaco as an essentially egalitarian society, centered on the Canyon as a Location of High Devotional Expression. The production and consumption of goods is understood in the context of an ideational/devotional significance of the great houses and great kivas of Chaco and of periodic visits made to them for devotional purposes (i.e., pilgrimages). Consideration is given to the structure of regional pilgrimages and the function of the multiple great houses in Chaco Canyon. This model is compared with two others: Chaco as a secondary trading center and Chaco as an elite power base. Production and consumption in both sacred and profane contexts are examined in order to distinguish among the three models.
The Barnes Site: A Fluted Point Assemblage
from the Great Lakes Region
Authors: Wright Henry T. , Roosa William B.
Published: April 2006

A collection from a small Late Wisconsin site is described. This assemblage exhibits a distinctive coreworking technique and a distinctive variety of fluted points. It is dated on geological grounds to between 11,000 B.C. and 9000 B.C. at a time when spruce stands were probably becoming established in the area. The contrasts between this assemblage and others described from Northeastern North America suggest a number of hypotheses not testable with the available data.
Stone Raw Material Availability and Early Archaic Settlement in the Southeastern United States
Authors: Daniel I. Randolph
Published: April 2006

The band-macroband Early Archaic settlement model has had widespread use in Southeastern North American archaeology since its introduction some ten years ago (Anderson and Hanson 1988). Nevertheless, the model has undergone little critical testing. New data from Early Archaic assemblages in North Carolina and South Carolina are used to test the model's posited settlement range and site types. At issue is the role played by the limited distribution of high-quality knappable stone in Early Archaic adaptations. Contrary to the band-macroband model, it is suggested that high-quality tool stone played a more significant role in settlement adaptations than previously recognized. In particular, group mobility incorporated the geological occurrence of preferred tool stone. Moreover, it is argued that the level of tool curation in Early Archaic assemblages is telling us less about forager or collector site types than it is about the differential use of stone raw material. Last, a new settlement model is proposed whereby settlement ranges were not restricted to particular watersheds along the South Atlantic Slope; rather, settlement ranges “mapped on” to an area that varied annually across the landscape according to food availability but generally included regionally significant stone quarries.
Analysis of Ceramic Color by Spectral Reflectance
Authors: Giardino Marco , Miller Richard , Kuzio Rachel , Muirhead Dean
Published: April 2006

Radiometric and visual techniques are compared as quantitative methods for determining pottery color. An analysis of 52 prehistoric sherds selected at random from a multicomponent site indicates an increase in the accuracy and efficiency in determining color using a spectroradiometer over subjective visual observations. Further, radiometric data can be transformed to CIE chromaticity coordinates and Munsell color from spectral reflectance curves and analyzed directly to access quantitative accuracy. The color, or spectral reflectance, of filter paper samples and a subset of the sherds measured by a standard field radiometer were strongly correlated with measurements of color derived from a low-cost, PC-based color sensor traditionally used in graphic arts applications. Radiometric data were compared with visual observations of Munsell color conducted by two archaeologists. The two methods were most similar in estimates of value and chroma. The human observers differed widely in their estimates of hue. The radiometric approach provides more consistent and exact measurements of color than does visual observation, providing archaeologists with an efficient, effective, and a potential low-cost method to determine an important common attribute of artifacts.
A Three-Dimensional Method for Rapid Reproduction of Small Artifacts
Authors: Weber T. J.
Published: April 2006

A recent toy that utilizes heated plastic and a partial vacuum to produce a form likeness is applicable to three-dimensional artifact reproduction. Mobility, speed, low cost, and simplicity of operation enhance its possible value to a variety of workers.
Tools Underfoot: Human Trampling as an Agent of Lithic Artifact Edge Modification
Authors: McBrearty Sally , Bishop Laura , Plummer Thomas , Dewar Robert , Conard Nicholas
Published: April 2006

A series of eight replication experiments tests the proposition that human trampling of stone flakes can produce edge damage that mimics deliberate retouch. Retouchlike edge damage, breakage, and other forms of macroscopic mechanical damage were observed on large numbers of pieces in all trampled sets. Experiments measured the relative contributions of three variables-raw material, artifact density, and substrate-in generating damage. Results indicate that while all three factors contribute to some degree, substrate plays the most decisive role, and that artifacts are more likely to exhibit damage if trampled on an impenetrable substrate. It was further found that trampling transforms flakes into pseudo-tools that can be classified as formal tools using a standard typology. Many of these are notched and denticulate pieces, indicating that special caution is needed in behavioral interpretations based on these tool types, and that the European Paleolithic Denticulate Mousterian industry requires critical reassessment.
Inferences about Prehistoric Ceramics and People in Southeast Missouri: Results of Ceramic Compositional Analysis
Authors: Lynott Mark J. , Neff Hector , Price James E. , Cogswell James W. , Glascock Michael D.
Published: April 2006

Ceramic compositional studies using Instrument Neutron Activation Analysis indicates that it is possible to distinguish between ceramics manufactured from clays originating in the Central Mississippi River valley and clays originating in the Eastern Ozarks. The study also documents that shell-tempered ceramics were being made from Eastern Ozark clays during the period A.D. 700 to A.D. 1000. Shell-tempered ceramics made from clays originating in the Western Lowlands also are found at sites in the Eastern Ozarks during this time period, providing evidence for interaction between the Eastern Ozarks and Central Mississippi River valley.
A Method for Determining the Texture of Pottery
Authors: Hargrave Lyndon L. , Smith Watson
Published: April 2006

Most students of pottery types have met with difficulties in selecting descriptive terms which would convey the intended idea. Particularly is this true where varying degrees of differences or similarities were being discussed. Since description embraces all characters of pottery, relative terms are unavoidable. One important character of pottery, namely texture, even when description thereof has been attempted, has been inadequately described, the terms used being wholly meaningless to persons unfamiliar with the character in question, and having little value even to those more familiar with the pottery. This is because relative comparative terms have been used. A method is here submitted for standardizing the descriptive terms of texture so as to leave no doubt regarding the exact meaning of the term employed.
A Corner-Tang Artifact from Oregon
Authors: Stephenson Robert L.
Published: April 2006

During the cataloging of a collection of some 650 tiny projectile points from the banks of the Columbia River in Columbia County, Oregon, an unusual specimen was brought to light. All but five of the points in the collection are under 3/4 inch in length and are proportionately narrow and thin. The five larger specimens were, then, immediately outstanding. Of these, one is of the corner-tang variety. It is 2.13 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 0.36 inch thick. It is made from a tan, slightly opalitic chalcedony,8 a material which is quite common in the collections of chipped stone artifacts from the lower Columbia River area.

The specimen is of the type that Patterson has called “diagonal corner-tang” and possesses a small crescent notch on the side opposite the tang. The tang is quite narrow and pointed. The chipping is somewhat rough and uneven, and on one side there appears to be something of a channel groove running approximately two-thirds the length of the specimen. This is, in all probability, quite accidental.
Was Tobacco Smoked in the Pueblo Region in Pre-Spanish Times?
Authors: Jones Volney H.
Published: April 2006

In discussing recently the modern cultivation of tobacco among the Pueblo Indians, Leslie A. White remarked that “archaeologists have no evidence of the use of tobacco among the Pueblos in prehistoric times.” He further added that it seems that “tobacco was not used among the Pueblos prior to the advent of the white man.” These statements are counter to the rather firmly established opinion that tobacco must have been smoked in the pipes which are found in archaeological sites in the Southwest. As rumblings of consternation and dissent have been provoked by White's remarks, it seems in order to review briefly some of the data relative to this question.

Less surprise might have been occasioned had White worded his remark to read that no direct or tangible evidence of tobacco has come from archaeological sites in the area.
Absolute Chronology in the Andean Area
Authors: Rowe John Howland
Published: April 2006

Although a reliable relative chronology, based chiefly on the sequence of pottery types, is rapidly being built up for the Andean area, no method has so far been devised for turning the relative dates into absolute ones. As far as we know at present, no permanent method of dating, comparable to the Maya Long Count or even to the Mexican fifty-two-year cycle, was in use in any part of South America, and no one has yet investigated the possibility of building up a tree-ring sequence, even in the drier regions of Peru. Furthermore, the distances that separate the Andean area from the Maya area have so far prevented any correlation of the early pottery types of the two areas, so that we cannot even estimate the age of Peruvian remains in terms of the insecurely correlated Maya calendar.
Archaeological Problems in the Southern California Deserts
Authors: Campbell Elizabeth W. Crozer
Published: April 2006

During years of painstaking work in the California Desert certain types of flint implements seem to have occurred again and again. Our work is now carried on with two main objectives: one to cover all likely areas where sites might be found, the other to try to discover if cultural groups follow certain geologic formations and if so, to place these types in their proper sequence, all of which is no very simple task. With these two main objectives in view, it is proposed to scour the more arid region of southern California, with the idea that any solution of the problems connected with this territory may prove a possible clew towards unraveling the story of prehistoric man in wider portions of the Great Basin, which we hope to explore in the future.