Cultural anthropology is generally considered to be a distinctive discipline which seeks an understanding of the fundamental nature of culture and of culture change. The nature of its ultimate objectives, however, is rarely made explicit, and a lack of agreement exists concerning even the more immediate objectives. There is reason to believe that within the last few years archaeology and ethnology are, in many respects, growing rapidly apart instead of contributing to mutual problems. It seems timely, therefore, to inquire whether there really exists a general, basic problem of culture and to what extent archaeological research may be brought to bear upon it.

Arbitrarily considered, the Northeastern geographical area embraces the Maritime Provinces of Canada, lower Quebec and Ontario (exclusive of the peninsula), and all of New England, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Obviously such a large territory (some 485,000 square miles) constitutes neither a single physiographical nor cultural province, but in a general way it was the domain, in both historic and prehistoric times, of two far flung ethnic groups: the Algonkian and the Iroquoian.

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set forth in this journal the essential framework for this method, and to include a revision of previously outlined but unpublished discussions relating thereto, in addition to a brief definition of certain problems involved in its application.

This paper is intended as an aid for those conscientious amateur archaeologists who are interested in preserving their specimens and the data which goes with them. In answer to many questions, and in the hope that this paper may be of some help to those desiring to systematize their field methods, there are here set down some of the practices that have been applied to shell heap excavation with fair success.

In several sites on our high western plains, at altitudes of more than 4000 feet above sea level, artifacts have been found in apparently unquestionable association with Pleistocene mammal remains. Since the fossil remains connected with these important finds belong to a very definite geological age, this age becomes a geological problem which can only be solved, to any degree of scientific satisfaction, by following the rules governing conservative, orthodox geological research.

The group of ruins comprising the prehistoric pueblo of Kinishba is situated in a broad valley about four miles northwest of the town of Fort Apache, Arizona, on the White River Apache Indian Reservation. Kinishba, the Apache name for this pueblo meaning “Brown House,” is derived from the color of the rock walls of the ruin. The valley is bounded on all sides by high plateaus and mesas, with the White River cutting across from east to west at the southern end. The valley floor is thickly covered with grass, cholla, and juniper, while the surrounding hills support a fairly heavy stand of pine, pinyon, and juniper.

The architecture and burials of the prehistoric pueblo of Kinishba have been presented in a previous issue of American Antiquity. The present article is a preliminary report of the lesser objects of material culture as represented by the pottery, stone and bone implements, ornaments, a few charred fragments of basketry and textiles, food, and ceremonial objects. The majority of these specimens are made from imperishable material. Clothing, sandals, baskets, various types of textiles, wooden implements, and other perishable materials have but a very short existence in open sites such as Kinishba. Hence the following description of the artifacts presents only a limited picture of the arts and crafts of these prehistoric people.

The accompanying map (Plate 10), prepared by Mr. Ignacio Marquina, Chief of the Direction of Prehispanic Monuments, Ministry of Public Education, Mexico, gives a graphic idea of the coordinated research carried on by government and foreign agencies in Mexico. Formal excavation and reconnaissance are being combined to study the origin, development, and diffusion of Mexican cultures, and the burden of the work is being borne by the government archaeologists.

Explorations on the Ocmulgee River, near Macon, Georgia, carried out over a period of four years under the sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service, and under the auspices of the successive relief agencies of CWA, FERA, WPA, and CCC, have uncovered many remarkable finds and discoveries, many of which will be permanently restored or exhibited in the development of Ocmulgee National Monument, established by Act of Congress in 1934.

Following a recent recrudescence of interest in the archaeology of Athabascan-speaking peoples in the Southwest, and in Navaho archaeology in particular, numerous students have entered upon various projects in this field. North central New Mexico has seemed to offer the most fertile center for such studies, inasmuch as early historic records place the Navahos in this area and the archaeological remains seem to corroborate this testimony.

The attention given to the details of pottery description has of recent years absorbed so much of the interest of specialists in Southwestern archaeology that to the outsider it often appears an unduly exaggerated, if amusing, preoccupation which consumes a great deal more time and effort than it deserves. To those who have tried to work in the area, however, it is not necessary to point out the importance which this relatively imperishable trait holds. This is especially true in the case of exploration of new areas by means of surface survey, where broken pieces of pottery make up the larger part of the diagnostic material available, and in the excavation of the less well-preserved sites, especially in the peripheral areas.

In a recent article in american antiquity, Dr. Vladimir J. Fewkes described some Woodland pottery from the valley of the lower Red River, north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Similar sherds from the region of Mille Lacs, Minnesota, are illustrated by Winchell. As pointed out by McKern and Fewkes, pottery resembling the Woodland ware was collected from sites in Kamchatka, Siberia, by Jochelson. There is some possibility that these northern Kamchatka sites date after the tenth or eleventh centuries A.D.

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.

When, in November 1793, Vancouver's Discovery, in company with the Chatham and Daedalus, lay off Santa Barbara for eight days, George Goodman Hewett, Surgeon's First Mate, had an opportunity to augment his private ethnographical collections formed during the voyage through the South Seas and along the American west coast. This collection was in private hands until 1891, when it became the property of the British Museum. At this time C. H. Read delivered to the Royal Anthropological Institute (1) a brief historical sketch of the collection and a short description of the more significant items. It is from this paper that we hear first of the Chumash spear-thrower, foreshafted dart with bone barb and flint point, sinew-backed bow, and doublebladed paddle.

The Supplementary Series at Yaxchilan is characterized by the presence of two glyphs usually absent at other sites. The two are commonly known as the “extraneous glyphs,” but this is rather a misnomer, for at this site they form an apparently integral part of the lunar count. In this paper, we are assigning the letter Z and Y as names for the two glyphs.

In February, 1938, the Washington State Museum at the University of Washington, Seattle, acquired on loan a remarkable pottery vessel from Kodiak Island, southwestern Alaska. It is with the kind permission of the Director, Dr. Erna Gunther, that I publish the following pictures and description (Plates 19-20).

The pot is owned by Mr. James Spears of Seattle, and was found by local Eskimo on or near Three Saints Bay, on the southeastern shore of the island. It had apparently fallen out of a dirt bank in a recent landslide. Mr. Spears did not notice any trace of shells or other midden material in the bank, nor any indication of old house sites in the vicinity. No other objects were found with the pot.