bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Atlatl from the Baylor Rock Shelter, Culberson County, Texas
Authors: Fenenga Franklin , Wheat Joe Ben
Published: April 2006

During the early spring of 1938, a collector from Van Horn, Gilbert Monk, carried on superficial excavations at the Baylor Rock Shelter twelve miles north of Van Horn in Culberson County, Texas. His digging yielded crude yucca sandals, fiber cordage, undecorated pottery sherds, fragments of compound darts, a tumpline forehead band, a cache of chipped flints including a drill, a projectile point, and three knives, and a complete atlatl.

It is the resemblance of this last specimen to the Cimarron atlatl, and the general emphasis on the atlatj-bow chronology that suggested to the writers the desirability of describing this implement in some detail, although a complete excavation of the Baylor Shelter and a description of the other artifacts is planned for the near future.

The atlatl is complete except for the finger loops (see Figure 9). I t is made of a hard, straight-grained wood, possibly mesquite, and is highly polished.
A Southern Maya-Peten Pottery Correlation
Authors: Longyear John M.
Published: April 2006

This paper represents an attempt to correlate, as far as is now possible, the ceramic sequence of the southern Maya area with that established in the Guatemalan Peten. The southern Maya region includes the Republic of El Salvador from its western border east to the lower Lempa River and the Republic of Honduras from its western border east to an arbitrary line slightly beyond the Ulua River and Lake Yojoa. Generally speaking, there have been defined in this region two principal ceramic phases, one stratigraphically below the other. The lower phase contains monochrome and bichrome wares and handmodeled figurines. The upper horizon consists of the polchrome pottery typical of the region, plus mould-made figurines and whistles.
The Mazatec Calendar
Authors: Weitlaner Robert J. , Weitlaner Irmgard
Published: April 2006

In the chapter on the Mazatec language of his “Zentral-Amerika” Dr. Walther Lehmann mentions the fact that Dr. Wilhelm Baur had found the tonalamatl among the Mazatec Indians, but he did not give the names of the twenty days.

During the months of January and February, 1936, while in Usila, a western Chinantec town, the junior author obtained information regarding a Mazatec calendar from Adalberto Gonzalez, a native ( Mazatec from Huautla Jimenez. This informant remembered names of twelve months, and meanings of some.
The Writing of American Archaeology
Authors: Harrison Margaret W.
Published: April 2006

At a Literary tea given by Robert Nathan's fictional firm of Laocoön Ltd., the company's imprint was thought by some to represent publishers struggling with a group of authors in the form of serpents. After a decade's editing of archaeological manuscripts, I have learned that this is what editors or publishers might think, but I also know how authors would interpret it. Thought of a blue pencil rises to apprehension as they submit a brainchild to the far from indulgent eye of a publisher-stepparent. But no manuscript is ever perfect, and by the constructive criticism of troublesome editors it is rescued from slips that escape the busy archaeologist.
Iroquoian Figurines
Authors: Carpenter Edmund
Published: April 2006

In early publications on the archaeology of central and western New York, references may be found to “dolls” and “effigies carved to represent the human figure.” The presence of these small, human effigies carved from bone and antler, in the graves of infants from early contact Cayuga and Seneca interments, excited the curiosity of early writers. It is not surprising, therefore, to find almost as many diverse and sundry opinions concerning their probable use and significance as there were figurines or writers. Unfortunately, but few figurines were excavated in a scientific manner, and only scattered records are left with which to work. Several amateur archaeologists, however, did keep accurate notes, and combining these with notes recorded on museum excavations, a small amount of data has been compiled from which conclusions may be drawn. In all, nearly a hundred figurines were located by my search in museums and private collections, and possibly many more exist.
A Note on the Maya Venus Table
Authors: Merrill Robert H.
Published: April 2006

To permit the entire six Dresden codex pages 24, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 to be seen within the purview of a single page, the Gates restoration is here photographed together with a partial translation (Fig. 7). This facilitates following the procedure detailed on pages 94–8 of “Maya Astronomy“ by Dr. John E. Teeple1 and on pages 209–13 of “Astronomical Tables of the Maya” by Dr. Maud W. Makemsen, for predicting the four Venus phase limits; and is intended to supplement the writer's discussion on pages 35–8 of American Antiquity (Vol. XII, July, 1946).

The English rendering of Maya day names and month names may assist the student unfamiliar with these particular hieroglyphs in the original manuscript.
Stone Disks as Treaty “Suns”
Authors: Abell Walter
Published: April 2006

One of the minor mysteries of American archaeology concerns the use made by the Indians of certain stone disks found in the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. According to Charles C. Jones, Jr., the first of these disks was “ploughed up in 1859, on the lower terrace of the large temple-mound on the Etowah River … near Cartersville,” Georgia. Other discoveries followed, and several scores of the disks are now in archaeological collections.
A Folsom Site in a Mountain Valley of Colorado
Authors: Hurst C. T.
Published: April 2006

Within recent years it has become increasingly clear that the antiquity of man in America can be pushed back to respectably remote periods of time. The evidence for this is now beyond reasonable question. The original Folsom find, as well as the more recent Lindenmeier excavations, among others, have established the general status of the Folsom culture complex involved. The work at Gypsum Cave has added to the picture of early man in America, and that at Sandia Cave also shows clear-cut evidence that cannot be ignored.
Beveled Artifacts in Florida of the Same Type as Artifacts Found near Clovis, New Mexico
Authors: Jenks Albert Ernest , Simpson H. H.
Published: April 2006

In the spring of 1937 I first saw beveled artifacts in Florida. They were in the extensive catalogued collection of Florida Indian artifacts gathered by the H. H. Simpson family of High Springs, Florida. During that year, two specimens of the same type of beveled artifact were published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. These latter specimens had been excavated from a pit of pluvial gravel near Clovis, New Mexico, by a field party led by Dr. Edgar B. Howard during the summer of 1936. The three Florida artifacts described herein were found, in a total of seven pieces, by the Simpsons, beginning in June, 1927, in the bed of a Florida river.

The New Mexico artifacts were found in cultural association with typical “Folsom” chipped points; both beveled artifacts and Folsom points were in close physical association with skeletal remains of extinct animals.
Culture Influences from Ohio in New York Archaeology
Authors: Ritchie William A.
Published: April 2006

In the course of its long and eventful prehistory, the territory embraced in the present state of New York was invaded from nearly every direction. For several groups, notably the Iroquois, it was the end of the trail; others sojourned briefly and passed on. In part it was heavily occupied by diverse bands for a considerable period of time. This is especially true of the central and southern sections and of large parts of the Genesee Valley. The latter and the Finger Lakes region, including the Seneca River, are thickly strewn with sites of varying age and size. In one section of the Genesee Valley, just south of Rochester, hardly a knoll is opened without revealing skeletons. Other relatively intensively occupied areas are the Susquehanna drainage, parts of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys and Long Island.
Black Mesa Black on White
Authors: Colton Harold S.
Published: April 2006

A very important southwestern pottery type, well dated by tree ring studies, is called Deadmans Black-on-white by Colton, and Black Mesa Pueblo II Black-on-white by Morss. When the Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Wares (Colton and Hargrave, 1937) was being written, and there were two descriptions of the type, the question arose which name to choose. The original description of Deadmans Black-on-white appeared in Bulletin 104 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, which carried a printed authorization date of Feb. 17, 1931, and which appeared in 1932. Morss published his description of the same type in 1931, calling it Black Mesa Pueblo II Black-on-white (Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology).
The Midwestern Taxonomic Method as an Aid to Archaeological Culture Study
Authors: McKern W. C.
Published: April 2006

In delayed response to a certain demand for a published statement covering the archaeological taxonomic method introduced in the northern Mississippi Valley area a few years ago and now tentatively employed in this, the northern Plains, and the Northeastern areas, it seems advisable to briefly set forth in this journal the essential framework for this method, and to include a revision of previously outlined but unpublished discussions relating thereto, in addition to a brief definition of certain problems involved in its application.
Alaskan Pottery: A Classification and Historical Reconstruction
Authors: Oswalt Wendell
Published: April 2006

Alaskan Pottery has received for the most part somewhat cursory treatment in archaeological reports, and consequently it is often difficult to obtain from published studies data on such basic characteristics as temper, paste, and in some cases, design. Outstanding exceptions to this general tendency are the works of Collins (1937) and de Laguna (1939, 1940, 1947). De Laguna, especially, not only has thoroughly reported upon excavated material but has published information on pottery from many museum collections. Since the publication of de Laguna's penetrating analyses, there have been numerous site reports in which new pottery types were added and old ones partially clarified (Larsen and Rainey 1948; Heizer 1949; Giddings 1949,1952; Oswalt 1952a, 1953a, b, c; Griffin 1953). A systematic approach to Alaskan pottery is needed now to arrange the chronological and geographical positions of various styles and facilitate reference to specific types.
Phosphorus Accumulation in Soil of an Indian Habitation Site
Authors: Dietz Eugene F.
Published: April 2006

At the former habitation sites of aboriginal Indians considerable animal refuse must have been discarded close to their tents or houses. This material would have been largely composed of animal and bird bones, fish remains, and so on, rich in phosphorous. Accumulations of these wastes would have been left behind after abandoning the place, to slowly decay and percolate into the soil by rainwater.

In the humid regions, the visible evidence of such remains may have long since disappeared on an old campsite; however, the soil must have been enriched in phosphorus, and this enrichment might still be ascertainable by soil analysis.
Archaeological Implications of the Modern Pottery of Acatlán, Puebla, Mexico
Authors: Foster George M.
Published: April 2006

The foot-turned parador or mobile pottery support used at Acatlán is very similar to the kabal used at the Maya village of Mama, Yucatán. It is viewed as an extension of the Maya kabal technique into the mold-technique area of central Mexico. It is suggested that the principle of the Maya kabal and its Acatlán counterpart may have been known and used by the Olmec of La Venta. Several vessels from La Venta which resemble the Mama type of kabal offer evidence for the possible antiquity of the kabal-parador technique of pottery making.
A Fluted Point from Long Island, N. Y.
Authors: Smith Arthur George
Published: April 2006

Although fluted points are not very numerous in New York, it was there that they were first recognized as a distinct type under the name of “Seneca River Points” (Beauchamp, 1897, p. 21, Fig. 13, 14).

The majority of the New York finds have been in the central section of the state and along the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake George. A search of the literature, and correspondence with both professional and amateur archaeologists, has revealed no known finds of fluted points closer to the coastal area than one at Colonie in Albany County, New York. This was of an exotic quartz (Ritchie, 1951, personal communication). Therefore the finding of a fluted point in eastern Long Island extends the known range of the type.
The Pre-Iroquoian Pottery of New York State
Authors: Ritchie Rwilliam A. , MacNeish Richard S.
Published: April 2006

The establishment of ceramic type categories for the pre-Iroquoian horizons of New York state, exclusive of the Tidewater area, was undertaken for a number of reasons. Primarily, it was believed that such an analysis, breaking down the existing ware divisions into finer type inventories, would prove useful in obtaining a more minute chronological differentiation of the Owasco and Point Peninsula cultures than would be possible on any other basis, and in so doing, would aid in clarifying their possible relationships as well as their conceivable affinities with other major ceramic manifestations in the New York area. It was also hoped that our survey might reveal significant areal subdivisions which eventually might be referred to historic tribal units. Finally, the achievement of a pottery typology for New York would elucidate problems of prehistoric culture diffusion and development over the Northeastern area and might, indeed, contribute to broader interpretations of cultural dynamics and processes of acculturation involved in the complex interconnections of sequential archaeological components.
Father Acosta on the First Peopling of the New World
Authors: Beals Ralph L.
Published: April 2006

In the April, 1956, issue of American Antiquity (Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 420–1) Ronald L. Ives discusses the possible beginnings of the theory of the Asiatic origins of the American Indian. In this connection he cites the recent translation of the Description of the Province of Sonora by Father Ignaz Pfefferkorn, S. J., published originally in German in 1794–95.
Basketmaker Flutes from the Prayer Rock District, Arizona
Authors: Morris Elizabeth Ann
Published: April 2006

In the summer of 1930, Earl H. Morris accompanied the Bernheimer Expedition in its exploration of the archaeological remains on the slopes of Carrizo Mountain and the north end of the Lukachukai range in northeastern Arizona. Three weeks were spent in the Prayer Rock district on the east side of these mountains (Bernheimer 1930). Morris was intrigued by the possibility of collecting Basketmaker materials from an area so rich in early cave sites; he returned to the Prayer Rock district in 1931 under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. A portion of the materials recovered in this season has been described (Morris 1936,1951;Morris and Burgh 1941) and a series of reports is in preparation on the remainder of the specimens.
The Lehner Mammoth Site, Southeastern Arizona
Authors: Haury Emil W. , Sayles E. B. , Wasley William W.
Published: April 2006

In 1955-56 the Arizona State Museum excavated an elephant-kill site on the Lehner ranch in the San Pedro valley, near Hereford, Arizona, and found 13 projectiles, mainly Clovis fluted points, eight butchering tools, and charcoal from two fires among the remains of nine immature mammoths and elements of horse, bison, and tapir. Bones and artifacts occurred on and in gravels of a former perennial stream exposed in the modern arroyo bank. Most or all of the animals were probably killed over a comparatively short period by hunters identified with the Llano complex by the Clovis points. The Lehner site and the nearby Naco site represent the southwesternmost extent of the presently known range of the Llano complex. The post-kill sequence of alluviation and erosion supports a geological age of 13,000 or more years for both bones and artifacts. Arizona, Michigan, and Copenhagen radiocarbon measurements of hearth charcoal indicate a date of 11,000 to 12,000 B.P. Since these dates are substantially older than the oldest radiocarbon assays for the Sulphur Spring stage of the Cochise culture, it is probable that the transition from big-game hunting to collecting is reflected in the change from Llano complex to Cochise culture, and that this shift in economic emphasis took place before the complete extinction of the late Pleistocene megafauna.
Ceramic Variety, Type Cluster, and Ceramic System in Southwestern Pottery Analysis
Authors: Wheat Joe Ben , Gifford James C. , Wasley William W.
Published: April 2006

During the past 20 years, the number of named pottery types in the Southwest has increased at such a rate that it is now virtually impossible for an archaeologist to know and be familiar with more than a small percentage of them. Some of these types are totally new, but a surprisingly large number represent refinements in terminology or segregations from more inclusive categories, resulting from further study and increasingly complex technological analyses. This proliferation of named types has alarmed many archaeologists. There can, however, be no legitimate doubt that if the intricate ceramic history of the Southwest and other areas of the New World is to be understood, research analysts must be free to break down their material to as fine a point as necessary in order to localize in time and space the infinitesimal variants of pottery which constitute, with other aspects of material culture, the documents of regional prehistory.
Birdshead Cave, a Stratified Site in Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Authors: Bliss Wesley L.
Published: April 2006

Birdshead Cave lies in a fault scarp on the south side of the Owl Creek Mountains about 5 miles west of the entrance to Wind River Canyon, 23 miles north and west of Shoshoni, Wyoming, and 1 mile northwest of the old Burgess ranch buildings. It contained stratified deposits representing seven, perhaps even eight or nine, periods of occupation in six occupation levels covering a wide temporal range. The cave is approached by steep talus slopes broken by limestone rock ledges. It lies about 200 feet above the source of a spring of fresh, potable water emerging near the base of the scarp. The name, Birdshead, is that of an Arapaho Indian who was living at the old Burgess ranch, now part of the Arapaho Indian Reservation.
Historic Creek Pottery from Oklahoma
Authors: Quimby George I. , Spoehr Alexander
Published: April 2006

Despite the remarkable progress manifest in the archaeology of the Southeast, there remains an appreciable gap in our historical perspective between ethnological horizons and late period archaeological material. Pottery is one highly important time-indicator that persisted into historic times, yet for one of the major Southeastern tribes— the Creeks—pottery in ethnological museum collections is rare. For this reason, the authors here describe the single Creek pot in the Southeastern ethnological collection of the Chicago Natural History Museum. To our knowledge, this piece of pottery has not been described in print before.

The specimen shown in Figures 82 and 83 was received by the museum from the Department of Ethnology, World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. I t forms part of a small accession of ethnological material collected among the Creeks in 1892 by George T. Shurtleff in, or in the immediate vicinity of, Muskogee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Although the documentation is scanty, the writers believe that the pot is of bona fide Creek manufacture.
An Archaeological Survey in the Strait of Belle Isle Area
Authors: Harp Elmer
Published: April 2006

This paper is a preliminary descriptive report of an archaeological reconnaissance undertaken during the summer of 1949 in southern Labrador and northern Newfoundland. The project will be continued in the summer of 1950, but since the prehistory of the area is both interesting and relatively unknown, I have thought it worth-while to write a brief account of the work as far as it has progressed.

The general purposes of the investigation are to delineate the culture of the Beothuck, or Red Indians, who once inhabited Newfoundland, and to trace their derivation; to clarify the manifestations of Cape Dorset Eskimo culture first noted in Newfoundland by Jenness (1929) and Wintemberg (1939, 1940); and to check on the possibilities of contact between the Beothuck and Dorset Eskimo with a view to tracking the diffusion of certain traits which, it is believed, occurred during the Archaic period.
Creek and Cherokee Culture in the 18th Century
Authors: Sears William H.
Published: April 2006

Excavations, not yet reported in detail, at sites adequately documented as having been occupied during the 18th century make it possible to outline Creek and Cherokee cultures of this period. A comparison of the outlines indicates similarities and differences which may be of some importance in the archaeology of the area in which the Cherokee and various “Creek” groups were the dominant cultures in the contact and early historic periods, namely, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina.
Radiocarbon Dates—A Suggestion
Authors: Abel Lee
Published: April 2006

As we read the archaeological reports of recent years, many of us are becoming slightly appalled at the vast store of information that is coming to us each month ffpm the laboratories processing radiocarbon specimens. This material is rapidly being absorbed into the archaeological literature where, in its present form, it presents a slightly confusing picture. Most of us learned our archaeological chronologies in the old Gregorian calendrical system and to have, for example, a date of 8431 ± 475 B.P. suddenly thrown at us gives our delicate nervous systems quite a shock. Undoubtedly many archaeologists will confess that they must mentally subtract 1950 years from such a radiocarbon date to be able to fit it into their long-established chronological systems.

A more serious criticism is this: the literature is rapidly becoming flooded with radiocarbon dates, dating back at present from the years between 1948 and 1953. The physicists seem to feel that time stopped somewhere around the year 1950, and thus all historical dating in the future can be made from that date.
Evidence of a Subsurface Chamber Under the Brown Mound at Spiro
Authors: Joe Bauxar J.
Published: April 2006

My notes on the Brown mound (Br. 3) of the Spiro site filed at the University of Oklahoma were misplaced and therefore not available to Kenneth Orr at the time he prepared his preliminary Spiro report. (American Antiquity, Vol. 11, No. 4, 1946.) The following data are from a personal copy of the original notes.

When I visited the Spiro site in August 1935, members of the Pocola Mining Company were “exploring“ the Brown mound. Using a team and slip, they had put one trench about 20 feet wide almost completely through the mound from the north side and a side trench from the west to the center of the mound. The clay subsoil was exposed in both trenches, less than a foot of it having been removed from the north-south trench. These trenches, with the spreading of the fill around the north, south, and west sides of the mound, had all but obliterated its original shape and size.
The Stemmed, Indented Base Point, a Possible Horizon Marker
Authors: Lister Robert H.
Published: April 2006

Has the time arrived when we can set up another horizon marker in the archaeology of western United States? An examination of the literature reveals that a projectile point which we will call the Stemmed, Indented Base Point may be so considered. This short note contains a compilation of but some of the references to this type of point in western United States and is written in hopes of stimulating comments and additional information. No attempt has been made to present an exhaustive distributional study of this artifact, but the accompanying chart lists some of its reported occurrences in order to point out its wide geographical spread as well as its estimated age and various terms by which it is known.
Forged Tiahuanaco-Style Keros
Authors: Rowe John H. , Guadagno Jimmy
Published: April 2006

Well before the Spanish conquest the Incas were drinking their chicha out of big wooden cups, usually called keros. The earliest ones have simple incised designs only, but later an elaborate art developed involving lively representative designs executed in lacquer inlay in several colors. The lacquered keros continued to be made almost throughout the colonial period for use by the caciques and other comparatively wealthy Indians, and numerous specimens are known depicting people in 17th and 18th century costumes. Most of the specimens in our museums were not excavated but were acquired from descendants of the original owners who had kept them as heirlooms over a period of several centuries. While it seems not unlikely that the lacquer technic was developed before the Spanish conquest, we have no really satisfactory proof of its age, since all the pieces found in indisputably preconquest archaeological context are of the unpainted incised type. No wooden keros of any type have been found in any context suggesting a pre-Inca date for them.
Application of the Wheat-Gifford-Wasley Taxonomy to Eastern Ceramics
Authors: Phillips Philip
Published: April 2006

In a recent issue of this Journal a trio of Southwestern archaeologists proposed a new scheme of ceramic taxonomy that might, if widely followed, restore the possibility of intercommunication between specialists in North American archaeology (Wheat, Gifford, and Wasley 1958). I became interested in this scheme some time before its publication as a possible solution to certain typological difficulties in the Lower Mississippi Valley. One of the authors, James Gifford, encouraged my efforts to apply it to pottery so different from that for which it was devised, and, as an unforeseen result of numerous consultations with him, and with Stephen Williams, Gordon R. Willey, and Watson Smith, the present paper emerged.
The Place of Fine Orange Pottery in Mesoamerican Archaeology
Authors: Smith Robert E.
Published: April 2006

Fine orange pottery is one of the most distinctive wares in Mesoamerica. In an area where pottery generally is tempered it has no temper; it stands apart in having an especially homogeneous, fine-textured orange paste. Several types are recognized, including, in chronological order, Z, Y, X, V, U, and the problematical Isla de Sacrificios material. It is possible that there are other fine oranges but there is not now sufficient evidence to establish additional types. The letters used to identify the varieties are temporary designations which should be replaced with appropriate names when more complete data have been amassed.
Blade Manufacture in Southern California
Authors: Swartz B. K.
Published: April 2006

The striking of long, slender, parallel-sided flakes, or blades, from prepared cores has long been known in the Arctic and Mesoamerica. Small pointed blades with distinctive triangular cross section are also found in the Late Horizon in both mainland and island Canaliño sites in that part of the Santa Barbara Channel region of southern California which was ethnographically occupied by the Chumash.
The Rape of Wayland
Authors: Byers D. S.
Published: April 2006

The removal of loam from the grounds of the Old Mansion Inn, Wayland, Massachusetts, exposed blackened areas which were investigated by local collectors. The site was obviously a rich and unusual burial area, probably including cremations, with good possibilities for radiocarbon dating of the entire tool assemblage. Unfortunately, the site was destroyed within a very short time by children, their parents, and friends, assisted by some local collectors. Many members of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society were shocked that the collectors who participated in the looting of the site rather than protecting it for serious study were members of the Society. This incident points up the need for state and local societies to discover some way of disciplining members who do not conform to accepted standards of archaeological work.
Meander Loops and the Cahokia Site
Authors: Bareis Charles J.
Published: April 2006

The locations of certain mounds at the Cahokia site indicate that the rate of Mississippi River channel migration in the American Bottoms in the Upper Mississippi Valley has differed from the rate of channel movement in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The American Bottoms was probably the most favorable section of the Mississippi River Valley for long-term prehistoric settlement with regard to location within the present meander belt of the river.
Native Copper, Silver, and Gold Accessible to Early Metallurgists
Authors: Patterson Clair C.
Published: April 2006

The weathered zones of ore deposits, which no longer exist, are reconstructed by inference to provide estimates of relative abundances of usable nuggets of native copper, silver, and gold in ancient times. New analyses and selected data from the literature summarize metallic impurities in native copper, silver, gold, and lead and in the oxidized copper minerals, oxide, silicate, carbonate, chloride, and sulfate, together with impurities in lead carbonate and silver halide minerals. The influence that these occurrences and compositions exerted upon the origin and development of metallurgy in Mesoamerica and South America is discussed in relation to new analyses of artifacts and selected data from the literature. Topics emphasized are: the discovery of smelting and melting by the Moche; the inability of New World metallurgists to smelt copper from sulfide ores or silver from lead ores; and the lack of influence by transoceanic contacts. This paper is contribution number 1702 of the Division of Geological Sciences, C.I.T.
A Fossilized Bone Artifact from Southern Saskatchewan
Authors: Wilmeth Roscoe
Published: April 2006

A fossilized bone projectile point has recently been recognized in the collections of the National Museum of Canada. The point was found at a depth of 8 ft. in a waterhole in southeastern Saskatchewan, immediately south of an ice frontal position dated at about 10,000 years ago. The implement is described on the basis of microscopic and macroscopic examination, and similarities to other specimens with early associations are noted.
Las Madres in the Light of Anasazi Migrations
Authors: Dutton Bertha P.
Published: April 2006

The site of Las Madres near Galisteo, New Mexico, has yielded a provocative array of culture traits, each deviating from recognized Anasazi norms. Regional types of black-on-white sherds were encountered, accompanied by variants. Few Glaze I Red sherds appeared on the surface, but excavations revealed them in considerable quantity from top to bottom; there are fewer Glaze I Yellow and Polychrome representations. Tree-ring dates and ceramic materials indicate occupation from the late 1200's to about 1370. A transitional situation is suggested by bird bones, pottery variations, absence of formalized building plan, eclectic burial practices, and lithic artifacts. There is no evidence of direct migration of Mesa Verde people into the Galisteo region.
Comment on Weaver's “Technological Analysis of Lower Mississippi Ceramic Materials”
Authors: Porter James Warren
Published: April 2006

Weaver draws conclusions that need to be supported by more experimentation before they can be taken seriously by archaeologists. Thin-section analysis of ceramics from the St. Louis area has yielded certain facts that are briefly presented in order to show that grog-tempering is common in the Mississippi valley. Crushed-sherd tempering is a cultural reality and does not represent inclusions in potter's clay as Weaver suggests.
Arithmetic in Maya Numerals
Authors: Anderson W. French
Published: April 2006

Arithmetical procedures, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root extraction, are demonstrated using the Maya numerals. All procedures can be carried out efficiently. The Maya system is relatively unique in that it combines properties of both place-value and non-place-value numerical systems. The Babylonian system, discussed briefly, also utilizes a mixture of properties from the two systems. In order to take into account the unique hybrid characteristics of these two systems, as well as the subtractive principle of the Roman numerals, we here define a third category of numerical systems designated as mixed-place-value in type. The three types of numerical systems are compared and the advantages and disadvantages of each are mentioned. The evolutionary development of numerical systems in relation to the mathematical needs of societies is discussed.
Approaches to Faunal Analysis in Archaeology
Authors: Daly Patricia
Published: April 2006

Analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites is at least as much an archaeological as a zoological problem since food animal remains are essentially artifactual in nature, their occurrence in deposits being the result of human activity.

This paper examines some of the methods used to make such analyses and suggests the merits and faults of the various approaches. It also suggests some of the kinds of inferences which may be drawn when detailed and careful investigation of faunal material is carried out, preferably by the archaeologist.
The Nature of Archaeological Explanation
Authors: Fritz John M. , Plog Fred T.
Published: April 2006

We argue that the development and use of law-like statements by archaeologists to explain characteristics of the archaeological record has been and should continue to be one of the most important goals of archaeological research. Using a model for explanation developed by the philosophers of science, Carl Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, we indicate the role of such statements in archaeological classification. However, in archaeology such statements are found to be implicit, untested, and extremely general in referent.

We further argue that the testing of potential laws requires a shift from an inductive procedure, or from one in which undirected data collection forms the first and the "abstraction" of laws from data forms the last research step, to a deductive procedure in which the explicit formulation of potential laws and their empirical consequences precedes and directs the collection of data.
Aluminum Powder: A Technique for Photographically Recording Petroglyphs
Authors: Swartz B. K.
Published: April 2006

The application of a mixture of aluminum powder and water, rather than chalk, is proposed for photographically recording petroglyphs. The use of chalk is questionable due to its permanency, tendency to disfigure soft surfaces, indistinctness of line and non-light-reflecting properties. Petroglyphs should be photographed without additives whenever possible, but with good judgment aluminum powder can be used as a time- and labor-saving aid.
Suggested Change in System of Site Designations
Authors: Heizer Robert F.
Published: April 2006

The SI-RBS trinomial system of site designation which indicated the state by a number taken from its position in the alphabetical list of states should be amended due to admission of Alaska and Hawaii. Since a change must be made, it is proposed that the state reference not be its numerical-alphabetical list position, but the official U.S. Post Office two-letter state abbreviation.
The Statistical Use of Artifact Distributions to Establish Chronological Sequence
Authors: Dempsey Paul , Baumhoff Martin
Published: April 2006

This paper describes and demonstrates an improved statistical method for determining chronological sequences among archaeological sites. The method, derived from a system of measurement called contextual analysis, depends on the pattern of artifact types present and absent at each site rather than on the relative frequency of occurrence of types. The process of contextual analysis is presented in sufficient detail to provide a guide for other studies.

For purposes of demonstration, the chronology of 16 central California burial sites, originally analyzed by Heizer, Fenenga, Lillard and others, and subsequently re-examined by Belous, was again reworked. The results showed an extremely high measure of agreement with Heizer's chronology, a rank order correlation coefficient of .96 being obtained. This high agreement is taken as evidence not only that a purely statistical method of establishing dependable sequences is possible, but also that contextual analysis is a sufficiently sensitive technique to solve the archaeological problem.
A Mold Matrix from Peru
Authors: Thompson Donald E.
Published: April 2006

Among a collection of whole pottery vessels from the Huarmey valley, Peru, is one piece which is almost certainly a master or matrix for manufacturing molds for mold-made pottery. The piece probably dates in the period between Late Tiahuanaco and Inca-Chimú.
Early Man in Arizona: The Pollen Evidence
Authors: Martin Paul S.
Published: April 2006

Under the classic Bryan-Antevs model the climatic history of the Southwest has been divided into (1) pluvial, (2) early postpluvial or Anathermal, (3) mid-postpluvial or Altithermal, (4) late postpluvial or Medithermal. Pollen analysis of radiocarbon-dated pluvial deposits shows that the desert grassland of southern Arizona and the short grassland of the Texas High Plains were invaded by a pine forest or pine savanna during the last pluvial period. Sulphur Spring-age alluvial deposits at Double Adobe, dated as pluvial in age by Sayles and Antevs, do not contain the pine-pollen record associated with pluvial conditions elsewhere; six radiocarbon dates from deep alluvial deposits at Double Adobe range from 7756 to 9350 years B.P. On the basis of pollen content and radiocarbon-age estimates, the beds are of early postpluvial rather than pluvial age, and thus the Sulphur Spring-stage artifacts found there are also early postpluvial in age.

Under the Bryan-Antevs model the Altithermal, 7500-4000 B.P., is considered an especially hot, dry period. Sediments associated with three radiocarbon dates within this interval contain slightly more pollen of mesic and hygric indicators than do sediments postdating the Altithermal. Interpreting the results literally, the Altithermal was wetter, not hotter and drier, than at present. The limitations of pollen analysis are not fully understood. But the traditional view of a hot, dry Altithermal in southern Arizona cannot be verified from fossil pollen evidence available to date.
The Clarksville Deer—A Case History
Authors: Guilday John E. , McCrady Allen D.
Published: April 2006

The articulated skeleton of a deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was recovered from a depth of 10 feet under the bed of Pymatuning Creek, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in sands and silts of Pleistocene origin. A radiocarbon date of 1150 ± 100 years B.P. (I-650) and wood of broad-leaved, deciduous trees establish a Postglacial origin for the skeleton. Deposition is believed to have been effected by stream meander in reworked Pleistocene valley outwash.
Preceramic Transhumance in the Callejón de Huaylas, Peru
Authors: Lynch Thomas F.
Published: April 2006

The nature of the connections between coastal and highland Peru is a largely unresolved problem. Seasonal transhumance in the sierra zone, suspected in preceramic times, may bear on the beginnings of Andean agriculture. The preceramic occupation of the upper Santa Valley spans a wide range of environments and types of sites, which probably represent related facies of a single cultural cycle. The sites include high elevation hunting camps, workshops, open air river terrace sites, and a dry cave in which plant remains are well preserved. It is thought that preceramic hunter-gatherers migrated regularly from one elevation and environmental zone to another, and that this should be systematically reflected in the frequencies of various classes of artifacts in the stone tool industries.
Sex, Age, and Tooth Position as Factors in the Production of Tooth Wear
Authors: Molnar Stephen
Published: April 2006

In recent studies of heavily worn teeth of California Indian skeletal remains, considerable difference was seen in types and degree of wear. This variation in dental attrition was related to factors of sex, age, tooth position, and, in some cases, dental caries. The relative importance of each of these variables was considered.

The sex of the individual was found to be a major factor in tooth wear and a higher degree of attrition was found among females. As would be expected, the older individuals had the most heavily worn teeth but this relationship was not constant and some differences were seen. Tooth position was also an important variable in determining the degree of wear. The upper teeth were worn more heavily than the lower and alveolar abcesses or carious teeth probably were the causes of regional differences in wear.

The identification of these factors and description of their effect on dental attrition patterns is another step towards understanding human tooth wear. Plotting the frequency of the occurrence of degree and type of wear for each tooth by age group and sex aided in the analysis of this skeletal population. Application of this method of analysis to other groups can provide the means for interpreting the relationships between dental attrition and cultural variables.

This is an expanded version of a paper read at the 1969 annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Smudge Pits and Hide Smoking: The Use of Analogy in Archaeological Reasoning
Authors: Binford Lewis R.
Published: April 2006

It is argued that as a scientist one does not justifiably employ analogies to ethnographic observations for the "interpretation" of archaeological data. Instead, analogies should be documented and used as the basis for offering a postulate as to the relationship between archaeological forms and their behavioral context in the past. Such a postulate should then serve as the foundation of a series of deductively drawn hypotheses which, on testing, can refute or tend to confirm the postulate offered. Analogy should serve to provoke new questions about order in the archaeological record and should serve to prompt more searching investigations rather than being viewed as a means for offering "interpretations" which then serve as the "data" for synthesis. This argument is made demonstratively through the presentation of formal data on a class of archaeological features, "smudge pits," and the documentation of their positive analogy with pits as facilities used in smoking hides.
Methods for the Descriptive Analysis of Archaeological Material
Authors: Gardin J. C.
Published: April 2006

Most studies on the use of punched cards and computers in archaeology seem to take for granted that scientific standards exist to express the data upon which algorithms are to be performed, for retrieval or classification purposes. The author's view is different; examples are given of descriptive codes which have been designed under his direction since 1955 for the storage of archaeological data (artifacts, abstract or figured representations, buildings, etc.) on punched cards of various kinds (marginal, peek-a-boo, IBM, etc.). In order to obviate the shortcomings of natural language, three categories of rules are required: orientation, segmentation, differentiation. The concluding remarks concern the relation of the descriptive languages which are thus obtained to scientific language in general; differences are stressed, as well as reasons for postulating a continuum from the former to the latter.
Nankoweap to Unkar: An Archaeological Survey of the Upper Grand Canyon
Authors: Schwartz Douglas W.
Published: April 2006

An archaeological survey of the areas along the river and the side canyons in upper Grand Canyon led to the location of 18 sites, five isolated and 13 in four clusters. The age of these sites is consistent with others found in the Grand Canyon north of the Colorado River and ranges generally around the periodA.D.1050-1150. It would appear that the occupants of these sites were struggling agriculturalists of the Anasazi pattern who were unable to adjust to this rigorous environment and abandoned the area. Evidence for a more or less continuous use of the Grand Canyon was found in the Little Colorado River Canyon, where the original Hopi sipapu was located. While prehistoric occupation may once have occurred to a minor degree near the mouth of the Little Colorado, its major function has been as a passage-way between the Hopi pueblos and the Hopi salt mine, with an intermediate stop at the sipapu (a geological formation). This paper is one of a series that attempts to outline archaeological developments in the Grand Canyon region.
An Archaeological Hoax in the Marquesas
Authors: Smith Carlyle S.
Published: April 2006

At the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology I presented a paper entitled “Excavations on Hiva Oa, 1963.” In the abstract distributed at the meetings I stated (p. 41) that a decorated potsherd which appeared to be a fragment of a ceramic disk had been found at the Pekia site on Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands. I also stated, “Thus far no parallels are known in Polynesia. A comparative study is in progress.” I can now report that the specimen is of modern manufacture. This came to light upon the return of Dr. Yoshiko Sinoto to Hiva Oa on May 21, 1964.
The Thorny Oyster and the Voice of God: Spondylus and Strombus in Andean Prehistory
Authors: Paulsen Allison C.
Published: April 2006

An exchange network based on long-distance export of Spondylus and Strombus, two mollusks native to coastal Ecuador, united the sierra and coast of both Ecuador and Peru during a long period of Andean prehistory. The gradual expansion of the export area is sketched, using evidence from three successive periods: (A) 2800 to 1100 B.C., (B) 1100 to 100 B.C., and (C) 100 B.C. to A.D. 1532. Each of these periods corresponds not only to an enlargement of the exchange sphere, but also to a striking change in the sociocultural status and role of the two shellfish in highland Ecuador and in Peru. This series of qualitative changes is related to evolutionary sociopolitical developments in the central Andes. Chávin is seen as a pristine state, linked to the later Huari and Inca empires through their common use of Spondylus and Strombus shells as symbols of the oracles that were important integrative mechanisms in the evolution toward large-scale societies.
Reconstructing Ceramic Assemblages: An Experiment to Derive the Morphology and Capacity of Parent Vessels from Sherds
Authors: Ericson Jonathon E. , De Atley Suzanne P.
Published: April 2006

A set of modern Tijuana vessels has been used to test some solutions to problems involved in the reconstruction of the morphology and capacity of vessels in ceramic assemblages. The technique employs morphological criteria to partition and reconstruction the modern assemblage. The results of these experiments are described.
Some Archaeological Correlates of Ranked Societies
Authors: Peebles Christopher S. , Kus Susan M.
Published: April 2006

The evolutionary stage designated chiefdom or ranked society is examined for its utility in archaeological research. The concept of redistribution is abandoned as an indicator of chiefdoms. A cybernetic model of chiefdoms is presented, and measures of mortuary differentiation, ritual-regulatory networks, subsistence autonomy, and part-time craft specialization are proposed as indicators of this type of socio-political organization.