A cumulative graph which shows percentages of artifact types in assemblages is a useful tool for seriating large numbers of site samples when the chronological order of the appearance of types is known. This type of seriation has a distinct advantage over the bar-graph and Brainerd-Robinson techniques in speed and in the elimination of subjective judgment in ordering the assemblages.

At the present time there is much interest in the relationship of Ohio Hopewell to Southeastern archaeology in general. It seems important, therefore, that all evidence which can contribute towards the formulation and ultimate solution of this problem be duly recorded.

The evidence in question consists of a perforated copper breast-plate, two tapered celts, fragments of design-cut sheet copper, and a copper celt, all found with a micacovered, extended burial at the base of a stone mound near Cartersville, Bartow County, Georgia.

The greater part of Larsen's paper is a restatement of the Ipiutak theory rather than a reply to my two specific criticisms. I feel that this theory is based on a series of questionable assumptions rather than facts, but as Larsen properly insists on “sound scientific documentation and not mere statements” I will not attempt to discuss the theory as a whole in the space available here but refer to a recent publication which gives my views (Collins, 1954, pp. 78-85). The second half of Larsen's paper deals for the most part with the second of the two points I raised, the relationship of the Ipiutak and Old Bering Sea cultures. This is a crucial point for the Ipiutak theory, for if I am correct the type culture of the “palae-Eskimo” complex, from the evidence of both archaeology and radiocarbon dating, is later than cultures assigned to the “neo-Eskimo” complex and also more closely related to them than to other “palae-Eskimo” cultures.

Ecologically oriented studies in anthropology can be improved by greater familiarity with standard botanical and agricultural sources (many of which are listed in this paper) on the enumeration, classification, domestication, and use of culturally significant plants.

In Vol. VI, No. 1, of American Antiquity is a communication by Charles Fairbanks discussing the occurrence of the “salt pan” type of vessel in his early Middle Mississippi horizon (Macon Plateau) at the Ocmulgee National Monument. These specimens show some variety of manufacture and surface treatment, namely, coiling, fabric marking, leaf marking, and complicated stamping. Fairbanks contrasts this variety of handling with the relatively consistent fabric marking and distinct “clubbed” lip in the salt pans of southern Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where the type seems to have met a definite functional need, i.e. the evaporation of salt at salt springs. Fairbanks accordingly postulates: “The variation of decoration and possibly construction in peripheral areas suggests an acculturation process in which the basic form was retained but the function may have been lost.”

The recognition of archaeology as a profession requires a certain amount and kind of commitment on the part of those who would call themselves professional archaeologists. The Society of Professional Archeologists was formed to provide the mechanism for that recognition by both archaeologists and others and to provide the support for professionalism in the practice of archaeology.

Robert Whallon uses data from the Abri Pataud to develop and demonstrate methods for the analysis of artifact distributions. There are problems with the data and Whallon's use of it.

A three-sided female figurine body was found in Preclassic mound fill during excavations by the BYU-New World Archaeological Foundation at Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico. A suggested partial reconstruction is given. Stratigraphically the figurine dates from the Conchas 2-Mamom phase or earlier. Stylistically it seems best associated with the Conchas 2 figurines of La Victoria, Guatemala. Though double figures are well known from Mesoamerica, this example and a triple-sided Olmec figurine head from Veracruz are the only known triple-sided examples. The multiple figures show a wide spread in southern Mesoamerica, but few have been reported and their significance is unknown.

There is little doubt that the archaeologist in marginal areas who attempts to interpret his finds may be led to false conclusions if he accepts at face value statements concerning ranges of species whose remains he discovers in village refuse. He should remember that in nature living beings are not subject to marshalling behind sharply defined limits, but will almost inevitably be found outside the accepted “range,” either because of migration or isolated occurrence which has not been recorded.

The Codices Porfirio Diaz and Fernandez Leal have not been satisfactorily analyzed as to content, nor have their origins been explained. New data relevant to their history are presented, establishing a definite Cuicatec origin and content. They were utilized in a court case (ca. 1562) concerning nobility succession rights. Historical sections contain dates of founding and conquest of Cuicatec towns. Toponymics written in hieroglyphics, in Spanish, and in Cuicatec using the Latin alphabet mark Cuicatec district landscape features still called by the same names. The codices cover approximately 260 years and correlate with a written document. Where, how, and why the codices were created and multilated is discussed, and evidence is presented which corrects previous analyses.

In December of 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Ruben Emrick of Conrad, Montana, found a broken sandstone object in an arroyo cut located 30 miles north of the town of Empalme near Ortiz in Sonora, Mexico (Fig. 1). They very graciously brought the artifact to the Amerind Museum for examination where it was repaired and studied. The object resembled the tubular stone pipes found in the Southwest (Figs. 2, 3). It had the exterior and inner proportions so characteristic of these pipes, which were produced by drilling out the pipe interior until it resembled a modern venturi tube having a constricted throat.

Invited by José García Payón of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia to map the central part of El Tajin and to excavate stratigraphic pits for a ceramic sequence, the authors were able also to make considerable progress toward understanding the settlement pattern of this large site. Based on surface survey, intimate knowledge of the mapped area, and the excavations, it is proposed that El Tajin was a city as well as a religious center, with a large stratified population that included skilled artisans, merchants, priests, and administrators. Judging by sherd cover and stratigraphy, the city occupied at least 5 km2 during its maximum period, probably between A.D. 600-900.

The Wold Bison Jump (48JO966) is a communal bison (Bison bison) hunting site in Johnson County, Wyoming. It likely represents a single kill event precipitated by Great Plains foragers between A.D. 1433 and 1643. Operating the jump required that prehistoric hunters drive stampeding bison up a steep slope in order to position them within a V-shaped drive line configured to funnel them toward a cliff. Using iterative models of least cost paths, topographic cross-sections, and visibility analysis, we test which landscape-embedded variables are optimized at the jump site as compared to other potential localities across the study area. We find that this site’s placement is primarily explained by minimizing the distance at which the cliff face is visible and secondarily by minimizing the cost of slope and curvature routes ascending into the drive lines. Our procedure could hypothetically be used to predict optimal jump locations on similar landscapes.

Pendergast's assertion that a Teotihuacan cache at Altun Ha, Belize, should be dated to the earliest part of the Protoclassic period is questioned in the light of recent findings of the ceramics of that period. The new evidence also tends to confirm the belief that the Floral Park ceramic complex coexisted with and did not totally displace the Chicanel phase.