The possibility of tuna fish being an agent for the diffusion of the circular shell fishhook found in California and Oceania is discussed. Data from the latter area indicate a specific type of hook and of fishing technique for these fish, suggesting that the circular shell hook would not be used in this way. The experimental evidence of Robinson (1942) and Glidden (Heye 1921) and an examination of the function of fishhooks further suggest that the circular shell hooks function best in a different subenvironment of the sea and for a different group of fish than the tunas. While it is impossible to state unequivocally that the tunas could not be the agents of diffusion for this hook, the specificity of the existing tuna-fishing techniques and the evidence for a different use of the circular hook make it more improbable than is suggested by Heizer or Landberg.

In the superb Dieseldorff collection, located in the Guatemala National Museum is an effigy vase hitherto unpublished which is thought worthy of description and comment.

This vase, Museum number 5923, represents,a kneeling monkey; most probably a spider monkey (Fig. 81, a, b). The pear-shaped vase represents the body. The head and arm projects in full relief from the wall of the vessel, while the legs and a part of the tail are in somewhat lower relief. The monkey is clasping his long, curled tail by both hands above his head. Part of the rim, the left arm, and part of the tail are broken off (see Fig. 82, a, b.) Minor details such as fingers, eyes, and mouth were made by incising and grooving. The height of the vase is 14 cm. It is of unknown provenience but is thought to have been found near San Pedro Carcha (Alta Verapaz) by the late E. P. Dieseldorff.

A unique, miniature horseshoe-shaped stone yoke from Papantla, near Tajin in Mexico, is described and illustrated. The undoubtedly ceremonial character of this and other miniature yokes seems to strengthen the hypothesis that the larger-sized stone yokes were used primarily as p r o t e c t i v e gear by pre-Columbian ball players.

Despite the general lack of detailed reports on individual sites, the broad framework of the prehistory of eastern Oklahoma has been fairly well outlined in recent years. Orr (1946) presented a summary of the situation at the Spiro site. In the same year Krieger (1946) set up two aspects with a number of component foci which include the Spiro materials together with a majority of the other cultural manifestations in the area and in 1949 he amplified and partially revised sections of his earlier discussion (Newell and Krieger, 1949). Baerreis (1951) presents a significant body of data on preceramic horizons in the northeastern part of the state, and the recent paper by Bell and Baerreis (1951) summarizes most of the existing information on Oklahoma in general.

The possibility of a culture preceding that of the earliest paleo-Aleuts in the Aleutian Islands has been recognized for a long time. However, the researches of Jochelson and Hrdlicka provided no substantiation for such a possibility. Subsequent excavations carried out by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University in 1948, a party sponsored by the Arctic Institute of North America in 1949, and a party from the University of Oregon in 1950 have similarly failed to reveal any culture earlier than that of the paleo-Aleuts. Re-examination of an existing collection suggests the presence of such a culture in the Aleutian Islands

For decades the “potbellied” monuments have been the center of a controversy in Mesoamerican archaeology. These massive boulder sculptures have been found at numerous sites associated with the major culture-historical problems of the Preclassic period in southern Mesoamerica. A secure dating of the style has not been possible and there have been several conflicting interpretations of their age and significance. One interpretation holds that some “potbellies” are among the earliest monumental sculptures in the New World, contemporary with, or even ancestral to, the Olmec style. New evidence from the site of Santa Leticia. El Salvador, provides the first secure dating of several “potbellied” monuments and related sculptures. An undisturbed stratigraphic context, dated by both associated ceramics and a C-14 series, indicates that the style is probably a phenomenon of the Late Preclassic period (ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 100).

A survey of previously unknown Nankoweap Canyon, in the extreme northeast section of Grand Canyon National Park, revealed 48 archaeological sites. These included sherd areas, cliff granaries, petroglyphs, rock alignments for water control purposes, and house outlines, the latter constituting the majority of the sites. The 34 house areas ranged from one to more than seven rooms, and from a single, simple, rectangular outline to complex multi-roomed units with adjacent kiva depressions. As has been found elsewhere on the north side of the Colorado River within Grand Canyon, the temporal range of the sites was quite short, with the occupation concentration occurring between A.D. 1050 and 1150. An attempt to arrive at some idea of the population change during the period of occupation resulted in a curve with a sharp increase prior to A.D. 1100, and a sharp decrease thereafter. A reconstruction of the culture history of this section of the canyon is added to serve as a hypothetical guide for further research in this and adjacent areas.

Among the shells sent us for examination by Mr. Emil W. Haury, which were found in a Snaketown ruin of Hohokam culture (Gila River, Arizona), there is a partly-broken specimen of a west coast conch (Strombus galeatus Wood), No. 46,652. The only workmanship shown is the grinding down of the tip of the apex or spire of the shell, the hole thus formed permitting the blowing of the unbroken specimen (Figure 2). A slight sound still can be obtained upon blowing into the shell. The cracked condition of the porcelaneous texture of the shell with traces of blackened surface in places indicates its having passed through a conflagration. The pitted condition, due to sea-worm borings, clearly gives evidence that the shell was originally a “dead” or beach-worn specimen.

Further consideration of the Pecos data reveals two important limitations to paleodemographic reconstruction. First, a significant bias in the age profile of the ceramically dated portion of the skeletal sample raises doubts about the suitability of these data for diachronic studies. Second, Ruff has shown that the original adult ages given for Pecos were systematically overestimated. This biases the age profile and variously affects life table values.

Monographs and other recent works are reviewed to highlight several trends in Old World archaeology that seem to be of more than passing interest to archaeologists whose primary research interests are in the Americas. Included in this review are works involving natural historical studies applied to archaeology; current works involving lithic and ceramic technology, spatial analysis, and intrasite and intersite community studies; and recent works on questions of early food production and selected other topics. This paper, the first of an anticipated annual exchange between the Archaeological Institute of America and the Society for American Archaeology, emphasizes prehistoric studies; subsequent contributions will treat a fuller range of Old World archaeological interests.

Archaeologists have sought to assess prehistoric pottery production by using hardness as an indicator of the relation between ceramic materials and firing temperature. Yet hardness testing commonly has been limited to a scratch test, which is imprecise and lacks the precision necessary to investigate these relations. Recent research has developed the application of indentation hardness testing for prehistoric ceramics. A sample of low-fired plainware pottery from the Shoofly Village Ruin in Arizona was used as a test case. Results indicate the technique produces continuous scale measurements which are precise and useful for the investigation of intraassemblage variations. The method overcomes many limitations of the traditional scratch test and may be used for either prehistoric or experimental ceramic samples. Indentation hardness testing provides the precision needed to more fully examine the complex relations between hardness and other ceramic attributes.

Briefly, the historical background for the legal framework and administrative machinery established for archaeological survey and research in the National Park Service, should be reviewed. The Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Historic Sites Act of 1935, the latter growing out of a special study of European and American legislation and precedents for the conservation of historic monuments instituted by the Secretary of the Interior, are particularly important. Also passed in 1935, was an Act to create a National Park Trust Fund which compares with the National Trust of Great Britain; the National Park Trust of the United States grew out of the same studies which found legal expression in the Historic Sites Act of 1935.

More recently, by coöperative agreement, arrangements have been made for the review of archaeological and historical restoration projects carried out under relief auspices; these involve the operative procedures established by the Works Progress Administration, requiring the technical review of all research and survey project applications by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service, Branch of Historic Sites.

A unique, miniature, anthropomorphic stone hacha from the Gulf Coast of Mexico is described and illustrated. The author also discusses other miniature stone objects from Mesoamerica, such as mushroom stones, yokes, “toad altars,” “doughnut-stones,” metates, spherical stone balls, and star-shaped maceheads, and suggests that some of these Mesoamerican miniature stone objects may have been used in connection with the various forms of the pre-Columbian ball game.

The looting of archaeological sites is a common concern in the archaeological community. On average, over 850 archaeological sites are vandalized or looted from U.S. federal lands each year. This costs taxpayers nearly $5 million annually. This paper describes an egregious case that not only involved the looting of human remains from a Civil War/Indian wars era cemetery, but also the unethical complicity of members of the professional community. The preponderance of the evidence indicated that the remains of two Buffalo Soldiers from the abandoned military cemetery at Fort Craig, New Mexico, were illegally removed. Most of these remains were not recovered. The looting case prompted the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct full-scale archaeological recovery of additional remains not exhumed by the U.S. Army during the late 1800s. In all, 65 complete or near complete remains were recovered, analyzed, and reburied in July 2009. Two lessons emerged from this project: (1) professionals must be cognizant of whom they do business with to procure publishable information; and (2) they must balance their research agendas with an equal commitment to protect cultural resources.

In this paper we wish to point out (1) certain occurrences of cord-marked and stamped pottery in Mexico which possibly bear relationship to similar decorative techniques in the eastern United States, and (2) a few instances of trade pottery in central Mexico which point to an origin in more northerly cultures. Neither author pretends to be intimately acquainted with ceramic problems in Middle America, and this account is incompletely documented. We are, however, quite sure that the material to be presented will prove important in any consideration of pre-Columbian contacts between the eastern United States and Middle America.

Hawver cave, located about two miles from Cool, El Dorado County, California, is well known to paleontologists for its abundant and diversified Pleistocene fauna. The fossil animal remains have been described in several monographs (Furlong, 1907; Stock, 1918; Miller, 1912; Kellogg, 1912). The occurrence of human skeletal material has also been noted (Merriam, 1909; Stock, 1918, pp. 466-8), but an interesting series of artifacts recovered from the cave has received only brief mention in a newspaper article (Hamilton, 1910). These man-made objects are, on the whole, distinct from those manufactured by the historic Indians of the region and seem worthy of detailed analysis. Before describing the artifacts, however, it is necessary to review some of the facts pertaining to the cave and its contents.

For the past nine years the Museum of Archaeology of the Western State College of Colorado, at Gunnison, has been engaged in archaeological excavations in central and western Montrose County. This county adjoins the Utah line and lies in the northwest part of the southwest quarter of the state of Colorado.

Six sites have been excavated during the course of this work. The following is a brief summary of the excavations, presented as a background for discussion of a corn cache found in one of the sites during the summer of 1947.

In this journal (Vol. X, No. 14, pp. 348–52, April, 1945), William H. Goldsmith contributes an article entitled “Trepanation and the Catlin Mark,” in which he confuses these openings. The trephining operation of prehistoric people and the anomalous openings in the vault of the skull, such as the Catlin Mark, differ widely both in location and nature.

We attempt to clarify the role of demographic factors (size, density, history, and trajectory) in aggregation in the ancestral Puebloan Southwest, which we found obscure in Leonard and Reed (1993). In addition, we question one of the case studies from Chaco Canyon that they used to support their model, and we suggest that data from the Mesa Verde region between A.D. 700 and 1300 argue against the generality of their explanation for aggregation.