In an earlier study (Tolstoy 1953b), we attempted to outline the Old World distributions of a limited number of ceramic elements and to make a case for their introduction into North America some 3000 to 4000 years ago. Russian reports that have appeared or become available to us since then (Okladnikov 1945, 1946, 1950b, 1955a, 1955b), as well as recent work this side of Bering Strait, prompt now a review of the sequence in the Lena Basin as a whole with North America parallels in mind. The main emphasis here is on the Neolithic of the Lena drainage and Archaic to Early Woodland developments in eastern North America.

Seeman, Morris, and Summers misrepresent or misunderstand the arguments we have made, as well as their own previous work. Here, we correct these inaccuracies. We also reiterate our support for hypothesis-driven and evidence-based research.

Excavation at three Late Prehistoric Eskimo sites in arctic Alaska has revealed the presence of Venetian glass trade beads in radiocarbon-dated contexts that predate Columbus's discovery of the Western Hemisphere. The bead variety, commonly known as “Early Blue” and “Ichtucknee Plain,” has been confirmed by expert examination and comparative Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). The beads are present in sites throughout the Caribbean, the eastern coast of Central and North America, and the eastern Great Lakes region, where they are commonly found in sites dating between approximately AD 1550 and 1750, although a diminishing presence continues into the early 1800s. Beads of this variety have not previously been reported from Alaska. Ascribed to Venetian production by their precolumbian age, the beads challenge the currently accepted chronology for the development of their production methodology, availability, and presence in the Americas. In the absence of trans-Atlantic communication, the most likely route these beads traveled from Europe to northwestern Alaska is across Eurasia and over the Bering Strait. This is the first documented instance of the presence of indubitable European materials in prehistoric sites in the Western Hemisphere as the result of overland transport across the Eurasian continent.

Ongoing gradual uplift of the Pacific watershed of Peru results in water table subsidence. As a mechanical consequence, the form and use of embankment-bound fields evolve through a series of distinct stages. Conflicting interpretations arise as a consequence of different investigators having addressed field structures in different stages of evolution.

Analysis of the style of architecture and related sculpture, contemporaneous with part of the Late Classic period, prevalent in what have traditionally been designated as the Rio Bee and Chenes regions of the Maya lowlands, suggests the advisability of reconsideration of these regional designations. The Rio Bee and Chenes styles cannot readily be differentiated either in time or space and are, therefore, appropriately no more than substyles in a wider Central Yucatan regional style. In this style, internal distinctions are markedly less than those between other regional styles of the Maya lowlands. Further, on the basis of these same architectural and sculptural considerations, the Central Yucatan style is more appropriately the first phase of the Florescent period of Yucatan than the middle of the Late Classic period of the Peten with which it is contemporaneous.

Past research on the development of Archaic ideological complexity in eastern North America has focused on ritualism and ceremony related to mortuary behaviors, with less attention to ritualism within what is commonly thought of as domestic contexts without overt mortuary ceremonialism or monumental architecture. The recent discovery of puddled clay architecture and associated features at the Burrell Orchard site (33LN15) in northeast Ohio provides new evidence of significant, nonmortuary ritualism within Late Archaic basecamp contexts. That such activity took place alongside normal seasonal subsistence tasks is revealed by thick midden deposits containing abundant burned rock, nutshell, and deer bone. The many bone and stone tool deposits associated with the floors, along with the labor-intensive nature of the clay construction for what appears to have been individually short-term use, support the interpretation of these features as shrines possibly associated with hunting ritualism.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Archaeological excavations in certain New World areas, such as Mesoamerica, yield great volumes of potsherd refuse. When the purpose of excavation is primarily chronological or sequential, there is reason to save, classify, and tabulate total excavated collections of sherds from stratigraphic cuts; but when the principal use of pottery debris is for gross dating of architectural or settlement features, it is debatable if the same detailed counting procedures are necessary. Examples from the Maya Lowlands are cited and reference is also made to procedures in handling large quantities of ceramic material in Middle Eastern archaeology. The question is left open for comment.

Elevated lake levels resulting from dam construction in the early twentieth century is producing widespread shoreline erosion at Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. In an effort to preserve a sample of the more significant archaeological sites, the National Park Service has initiated a program of site stabilization. Stabilization of the Clyde Creek and Sweetnose Island sites was accomplished during the winter months by transporting materials and supplies across an ice road. The use of filter fabric and turf-stabilization matting in association with large quantities of sediment and riprap have produced a new shoreline that serves to protect the respective archaeological deposits. This approach has successfully preserved these intact archaeological resources and avoided the costs associated with large-scale data recovery and curation of collections.

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.

It is time to consider some recent trends in thought on the paleo-Indian and certain inferences which may be derived from trait evidence so. far discovered. Recently, some specialists on the problem have begun to realize that, although a good number of flaked blade types from the “early man” horizon have been found scattered over North America, there are also certain associated artifacts which bear significant similarities over a continental area. Thus, the idea is taking shape that the paleo-Indian here was not represented by many culturally diverse groups, but was, on the other hand, living perforce in a relatively culturally homogeneous manner since he existed on much the same economic base for several thousand years. Although different techniques and fashions of artifact manufacture were developed, these changes did not necessarily indicate change in a mode of living.

In discussing the western area with reference to Danger Cave, Jennings (1953) proposes that many of these “early man” manifestations could be lumped together as the Desert culture.

Photographic emulsions sensitized to wave-lengths of radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum have been used in technical studies for a number of years. During excavation of the Barbeau Creek Rock Shelter, in Randolph County, southern Illinois, in 1952 and 1953, I experimented with infrared films, taking pictures of profiles in the site. The midden in this shelter consisted largely of a light, dun-colored loess which came from the tops of the bluffs in the area. Ordinary photographs of the profiles in the midden are dull and without sufficient contrast between features to be useful for analytical purposes. The possibility of making dramatic, high contrast prints from infrared negatives is well known. For this reason photographs of the profiles were made with infrared film. The results the first season were promising. Not only did features in the profiles show up clearly on the prints, but some appeared which were not visible in prints made with panchromatic film and which were not apparent to the eye.

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.

A recently located dugout canoe and a similar specimen reported by Kidd may be distinguished typologically from the few other dugouts known for Ontario, suggesting that they may be of some antiquity.