Underlying paleo-Indian period artifacts, deeply weathered chert implements have been recovered in Florida from a sandy clay horizon heretofore considered culturally sterile. Although the stratigraphic position of the stone implements in the sandy clay deposit has been demonstrated without question, dating has been a problem because no carbon-containing material has been preserved. Thus experiments were undertaken to investigate the environmental conditions under which the stone artifacts have weathered and the time required for the given extent of weathering. The electron microprobe was used to evaluate the surface compositional changes that occur in Florida chert during weathering. The patina of a chert surface exposed to an acid environment was found to be depleted of iron to a depth of ∼ 600μm. The mechanism through which Fe is leached from the surface is thought to be a diffusion-controlled process in which the depth of leaching is proportional to the square root of exposure time. This may provide a means of dating artifacts fashioned from these cherts.

A section of worked mammoth tusk reported to have been recovered but unrecognized as an artifact in January 1964 was actually discovered in November 1963 and recognized by several people at that time. The provenience for the tusk segment is given as unit B, which is declared to be pre-Clovis in age and more than 12,000 years old. The postulated translocation of the tusk, as well as other faunal remains and Clovis artifacts, is attributed to the influence of spring discharge and saturation of sediments. My salvage excavations in December 1963 and January 1964 are outlined, and my conclusions are not compatible with the concept of large-scale intrusion of artifacts and bones. The stratum designated as unit B in the north bank is entirely of Clovis age, and the mammoth-tusk artifact was coeval with its enclosing sediments.

The long-eared owl (Asio otus) and short-eared owl (A. flammeus) are indistinguishable by bone morphology alone. Since they inhabit contrasting ecological situations, identification of their bones from prehistoric sites is important for paleoenvironmental interpretations. Measurements on long bones of modern specimens indicate these species can be identified by bone size. Tables are presented for use by the analyst in identifying complete or fragmentary wing and leg bones.

The Ozark Uplift of northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri has been a fertile field for archaeological investigation. Natural conditions have greatly facilitated research here, for despite the humidity of the region, there are numerous dry shelters or caves formed by the weathering of shale beds beneath limestone strata in bluffs along White River, its tributaries, and the Cowskin River. Debris, burials, and pictographs show that the Indians had used the shelters as combined homes, cemeteries, and places for ceremonials. In contrast to village sites in the lowlands of Arkansas, the bluff shelters afford more than a fragmentary picture of Indian life. Here, the burials are complemented by remains fortuitously preserved through absence of moisture, and the entire cave floor is comparable to the middens of the lowlands. The archaeological materials illustrate the complete life cycle of the aborigines. Cradleboards and burial wrappings, foodstuff and human feces all contribute to a reconstruction of Bluff-Dweller life.

In Byerly et al. (2005) we explored the hypothesis that the Paleoindian component at Bonfire Shelter was the result of a jump kill. Our efforts involved extensive mapping and GIS analysis, a re-examination of the Paleoindian-age bison assemblage, and consideration of the geomorphic history of the canyon in which the site is located. We concluded that the preponderance of evidence indicated the Paleoindian-age bison remains at Bonfire Shelter marked a processing site as Binford (1978) suggested, rather than a primary kill locality as originally interpreted (Dibble 1968). Bement (this issue) raises several concerns about our analysis and discussion, including that we omit pertinent information relevant to the interpretation of the site. His comments, however, result from a misreading of our discussion and a misconstrual of the data set, as we explain in this response.

Fieldwork conducted on the Cape Bathurst Peninsula, Northwest Territories, Canada, has resulted in the discovery of 75 sites representing occupations spanning more than 3,000 years. Nearly all of the sites are characterized by the predominant use of a distinctive rock called a “clinker.” Resembling a basalt-to-obsidian-like material, it is formed by the spontaneous combustion of local organic-rich shales. The fusing occurs in burning areas called bocannes that are common along the Horton River and the cliffs along the eastern shore of the peninsula. Despite the evidence for intensive use on Cape Bathurst and the more general Mackenzie Delta region, none of the four potential quarry sources yielded evidence of actual prehistoric use. This is attributed to the dynamic nature of the formation and erosion of the bocannes over the last several thousand years.

Collections from an unusual cave site in the Peruvian Montaña near Tingo María are placed on record along with the circumstances under which they were obtained. The ceramic materials seem to represent two components. The more common of these, designated Cave of the Owls Fine Ware, would appear to have been contemporary with Kotosh II in the Huánuco Basin and with Late Tutishcainyo of the long ceramic sequence established for Yarinacocha near Pucallpa. A date of around 200 or 300 B.C. is suggested. The other ceramics, designated Monzón Coarse Ware, show strong similarities to the later part of the Yarinacocha sequence and probably date after A.D. 1000.

In the July 1978 issue of American Antiquity, David Thomas examined the differences between the points of actual arrows and darts, and concluded that in many cases individual artifacts can be correctly identified as belonging to one or the other category on the basis of a certain combination of length, width, thickness, and neck width. His study involved a search for correlations between measurements of projectile points and measurements of the actual shafts found attached to them. In the end he was able to present a method that selects the correct propulsion mode 86 out of 100 times.

In his analysis Thomas correctly points out how very little projectile points can tell us about the total arrow or dart, adding that certain investigators, myself included, should realize this. He suggests that we may be trying to reconstruct entire weapons from arrowheads; but to that charge I must plead not guilty for I confess that in my study I was perpetrating an even greater heresy than might have been dreamed of in Thomas’ philosophy.

In the US Midwest, the working of marine shell procured through vast trade networks has typically been associated with elite prestige economies and craft specialization at major Mississippian centers. Outside of these contexts, marine shell goods are often assumed to have been brought into communities as completed goods. A recent finding suggests that local, small-scale marine shell working occurred at an early seventeenth-century village in northern Illinois, Middle Grant Creek (11Wi2739). This finding represents the first probable evidence of marine shell working in the Midwest outside of large, Mississippian contexts. Consequently, this practice may be much more geographically and temporally expansive than previously thought. This evidence encourages a rethinking of marine shell finds whenever they are assumed to be imported as finished goods.

Archaeological reconnaissance during the summer of 1941 at Canyon de Chelly National Monument disclosed the location of two groups of Navaho hogans built in 1758, 1766, and 1770. The significance of these dwellings lies in the fact that they definitely establish Navaho occupation of the area west of the Chuska Mountains in the middle of the eighteenth century. In addition to the early dates and the architectural details, the sites produced a large series of Navaho painted sherds and several glass trade beads.

Canyon de Chelly is located in the approximate center of the Navaho Reservation, on the West side of the Defiance Plateau, in northeastern Arizona. The first group of hogans, the Spider Rock hogans, lay at a distance of 2.7 miles from the Chinle-Defiance road, along the small spur going to the Spider Rock Overlook; the second group was situated further along this by-road at a distance of 3.3 miles from the road.

Marie Cottrell's recent (1985) proposal that prehistoric long distance exchange of jasper occurred between the California coast and inland deserts is most unlikely in light of the presence of abundant secondary siliceous sediment sources (including jasper) along the nearby southern California coast. The obsidian hydration based site chronology at Tomato Springs, founded on non-source provenienced obsidian, is equally problematic. A number of other lesser potential fallacies serve to undermine the assumption of long distance transport of a raw material that was available locally.

C. Clifford Boyd, Jr. and Gerald F. Schroedl find fault with our use of both historical and archaeological evidence in our reconstruction of the paramount chiefdom of Coosa. Herein we answer their criticisms by discussing our overall research strategy and by clarifying our use of historical documents, the Spanish league, and archaeological information. We also point out some of the more obvious errors and misinterpretations in the work of the U.S. De Soto Expedition Commission.

This is a response to Santley's criticisms of my suggestions concerning Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec capital. It consists of first questioning his cultural ecological theoretical base, then showing that his interpretation of the nature of Monte Albán and its hinterland is faulty.

During the spring of 1946, a deep stratigraphic trench was excavated at Copan, Honduras by the Carnegie Institution expedition. This trench, dug about 200 m. south of the Acropolis and just west of the old Copan River channel, revealed a complete sequence of the site's ceramic activity, this extending back well into the Archaic period. To make certain that no earlier deposits lay nearby, I made a survey of the old river bank in the general vicinity. The spot finally selected for investigation lay only a few yards south of the eastern end of the stratigraphic trench. Here the river had cut through a low mound and had exposed, underneath, a considerable depth of refuse deposit. The lower half of the river bank was obscured by a clay and dirt talus fallen from above, and so a vertical section, about 5 m. wide, was cut into the bank.

The connection between people in the prehispanic U.S. Southwest / Northwest Mexico (SW/NW) and Mesoamerica is one of the most debated research topics in American archaeology. SW/NW groups used objects from Mesoamerica, but did they also trade for obsidian? Archaeologists have yet to find Mesoamerican obsidian from confirmed prehispanic SW/NW contexts, but here we discuss four green obsidian prismatic blades from New Mexico and Arizona. Using EDXRF spectrometry, we demonstrate that the blades are from the Pachuca source in Mesoamerica. The blades were found at four sites that the Spanish and their Mexican Indian allies used or potentially visited beginning in AD 1540. Using lithic technological organization and historical narratives, we assess the credibility of the different hypothesized models of prehispanic SW/NW-Mesoamerican interaction and obsidian use by the Mexican Indian allies. We suggest that green Pachuca blades would have been traded into the SW/NW if interaction with Mesoamerica had occurred more frequently. We also offer reasons why archaeologists have found so few Mesoamerican obsidian blades at post-1540 sites. This research is relevant because it expands our knowledge about SW/NW-Mesoamerican connections and the Mexican Indian allies of the Spanish, who are an underrepresented group in the archaeological and historical records.

Petrographic analyses were made of 386 utilitarian pottery vessels from 23 dated components of 18 Early Woodland through early Fort Ancient period sites (ca. 1150 B.C.–A.D. 1300) in south-central Ohio. The analyses reveal that a significant percentage ( 11.6 percent) of the 386 vessels bear uncolored (i.e., unpigmented) pottery slips and washes, that these surface materials were common (>56 percent) among the 23 sampled components, and that they were produced throughout most of the examined prehistoric sequence, including the earliest Early Woodland, when pottery making began in the Midwest. In contrast, a literature review indicates that uncolored slips and washes are unrecorded for utilitarian wares in the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands, that both colored and uncolored slips are unknown for any ceramics of the Early Woodland period, and that colored slips or washes in the pre-Mississippian Midwest have been observed in only low frequencies. Electron microprobe analysis of seven sherds show the compositional similarity of the clays of slips to the clays of their associated vessel bodies, indicating that the slips were made from the same raw clays as the bodies, but with no or little added rock temper and/or with the sieving of the slip clay. Contextual analyses give further insights, including the possible uses of slips and washes for decoration and to decrease vessel wall permeability. Calcite and apatite coatings on the vessel surfaces also were observed and are interpreted. Results indicate greater continuity between and Midwestern and Southeastern United States in ceramic technology than previously thought, and suggest a need for caution in electron microprobe and INAA chemical studies of Midwestern ceramics.

This paper traces changing perspectives in archaeology and ethnology regarding the historical content of myth and demonstrates a method whereby mythological data are used to generate hypotheses amenable to falsification when integrated with other data sets. Based on a myth collected among the Tzotzil of San Pablo Chalchihuitan, Chiapas, Mexico, the presentation offers predictions regarding the location, contents, interpretation, and age of an unreported prehistoric burial site. It also sheds light on some currently unexplained aspects of an associated site in a neighboring community, and amplifies other ethnohistorical discussions relating archaeology to contemporary Indian mythology elsewhere in Mesoamerica. By showing how a modern Maya myth reveals significant information about an ancient Maya site, the study illustrates the complementarity of archaeology and ethnography through a suggested relation between myth and history.

Six major hypotheses have been advanced to account for ground slate industries containing knives, lance heads, and projectile points, found on opposite sides of the North American continent. Certain of these hypotheses assume genetic connections; others postulate separate sources and developments for such artifacts in the Northeast and North Pacific areas.

A recent study of the cultures involved, chiefly Borden's (1962) Vancouver data, has indicated that: (1) ground slate artifacts made their initial appearance in both areas at about the same time; (2) the respective typologies are quite dissimilar; and (3) possible bone and/or chipped stone prototypes for certain of the specific ground slate forms exist in each area.

These data suggest independent origins and developmental histories.

Domesticated squash (Cucurbita pepo) was recovered from King Coulee, a multicomponent habitation site. Recent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon determinations on two seeds indicate that Cucurbita was used as early as 2530±60 B.P, during the Late Archaic. This marks the earliest occurrence of domesticated plant use in the upper Midwest. Another seed dated to the Late Woodland (1170±40 B.P.) is consistent with an inferred pattern of greater plant use throughout the area. The use of Cucurbita played an important role in the long transition from foraging to farming. These new data provide valuable insights into the economies of the people inhabiting the region.

It is a well known fact that the surface color of pottery made by the ancient inhabitants of the Southwest occurs (1) in shades of white and gray and also (2) in shades of red, yellow, and brown. That the differences in color between the white and gray pottery and the others are due to a difference in firing technique is not so widely known.