Several independent trajectories of subsistence intensification, often leading to agriculture, began during the Holocene. No plant-rich intensifications are known from the Pleistocene, even from the late Pleistocene when human populations were otherwise quite sophisticated. Recent data from ice and ocean-core climate proxies show that last glacial climates were extremely hostile to agriculture—dry, low in atmospheric CO2, and extremely variable on quite short time scales. We hypothesize that agriculture was impossible under last-glacial conditions. The quite abrupt final amelioration of the climate was followed immediately by the beginnings of plant-intensive resource-use strategies in some areas, although the turn to plants was much later elsewhere. Almost all trajectories of subsistence intensification in the Holocene are progressive, and eventually agriculture became the dominant strategy in all but marginal environments. We hypothesize that, in the Holocene, agriculture was, in the long run, compulsory. We use a mathematical analysis to argue that the rate-limiting process for intensification trajectories must generally be the rate of innovation of subsistence technology or subsistence-related social organization. At the observed rates of innovation, population growth will always be rapid enough to sustain a high level of population pressure. Several processes appear to retard rates of cultural evolution below the maxima we observe in the most favorable cases.

Numerous taphonomic studies show that archaeologists should carefully evaluate the origins of faunal remains found in archaeological sites. Although extensive research has been done on natural sources of terrestrial faunal remains in archaeological sites, much less has been devoted to potential sources of aquatic fauna. Hundreds of animal species feed on shellfish, fish, and other aquatic fauna, and many transport food to terrestrial landforms where they may be mixed or confused with faunal remains left by humans. In this paper, we illustrate the problem by summarizing the habits of a number of animals known to feed on and transport shellfish and other aquatic animals. We also discuss examples where the remains of aquatic animals of non-human origin may have been confused with archaeological materials. Such biological imprints may be most pronounced on early sites, where questions about the antiquity of aquatic adaptations are paramount.

Recent socioeconomic models for the Bonito phase (ca. A.D. 850–1150) in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, rely heavily on the inference that ritual activity was a causal factor in the design and construction of architectural features. A particular example of this inferential argument concerns earthen mounds, which are widely viewed as evidence for ceremonial gatherings and the intentional creation of sacred architecture. However, a critical evaluation of the physical attributes of Chacoan mounds indicates that these features do not offer clear evidence for either periodic ceremonies or intentional design.

The semisubterranean whale-bone house is one of the most recognizable aspects of Thule Inuit culture. Following their arrival in the Canadian Arctic approximately 1,000 years ago, Thule peoples built these impressive and often enigmatic dwellings for occupation during the long winter months. Variability in the architectural properties of semisubterranean house forms has traditionally been used by archaeologists to infer cultural and historical relationships between regions, and establish seasonal and/or functional distinctions in usage. An analysis of 31 semisubterranean houses from two Thule winter village sites in the Canadian High Arctic using multivariate statistics and computer-aided drafting reveals a range of architectural variability that may represent attempts by Thule builders to accommodate 1) fluctuations in the availability of key building materials, 2) differences in household mobility, or 3) whaling-related social differentiation between households. These results have important implications for understanding the relationships among house form, environment, and culture in Thule Inuit society.

Radiocarbon age determinations are presented on three hieroglyphic texts from Naj Tunich cave in Guatemala containing Maya calendar dates. The ages obtained are on average 110–140 years older than the calendar dates. Several possible reasons are discussed for this discrepancy: one that is applicable to all radiocarbon dates on charcoal, one that applies to rock paintings, and one that is specific for the tropics. Possible problems with the ages ascribed to the Maya calendar dates are also discussed. Even with the potential problems that may exist, these dates still fall within 110–140 years of the ascribed calendar dates. Caution is urged in the interpretation of dates on charcoal pigments from rock paintings; consideration of the “old wood” and “old charcoal” factors is important.

This report presents four radiocarbon dates of charcoal pigments from Picture Cave, a site located in a remote wooded area in east-central Missouri. Carbon from charcoal pigments was extracted from three rock drawings on the wall of this cave. The four pigment samples contained sufficient carbon for accelerator mass spectrometric radiocarbon analysis. These black pigment samples (red and white paints are also present in the cave) yielded dates that place their affiliated motifs in a time-frame associated with Cahokia ca. 950 years ago. The dates are somewhat earlier than expected. We discuss the dates in connection with the iconography of the three motif panels tested.

The study of artifact standardization is an important line of archaeological inquiry that continues to be plagued by the lack of an independent scale that would indicate what a highly variable or highly standardized assemblage should look like. Related to this problem is the absence of a robust statistical technique for comparing variation between different kinds of assemblages. This paper addresses these issues. The Weber fraction for line-length estimation describes the minimum difference that humans can perceive through unaided visual inspection. This value is used to derive a constant for the coefficient of variation (CV = 1.7 percent) that represents the highest degree of standardization attainable through manual human production of artifacts. Random data are used to define a second constant for the coefficient of variation that represents variation expected when production is random (CV = 57.7 percent). These two constants can be used to assess the degree of standardization in artifact assemblages regardless of kind. Our analysis further demonstrates that CV is an excellent measure of standardization and provides a robust statistical technique for comparing standardization in samples of artifacts.

Using selective maize yield data from ethnohistoric and government sources dating between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, Schroeder (1999) argues that Mississippian average yield potential fell within a 9-10 bu/acre range. We evaluate her argument in terms of well-established climatic, environmental, varietal, and behavioral constraints on maize agriculture and conclude that reconstructing prehistoric agricultural potential requires a more precise methodology that incorporates these factors.

Based on a model derived from an analysis of contemporary maize yields in Tennessee, Baden and Beekman claim that Mississippian yields would have ranged between 8 bu/acre (501.7 kg/ha) and 30 bu/acre (1,881.3 kg/ha). Using nineteenth-century observations of Native American farmers, I noted in 1999 that available maize yields ranged between 3.7 and 42.67 bu/acre (232.1 to 2,676.3 kg/ha), with a mean of 18.9 bu/acre (1,185.4 kg/ha) for groups that did not have plows. Consumptive yields would have been lower, probably closer to an average of 10 bu/acre (627.2 kg/ha). In this paper, I clarify the differences between potential yields, available yields to illustrate the advantages of my approach. I discuss some factors that affect maize plants prior to harvest, leading to available yields that may be lower than potential yields, and conditions that reduce the quantity of maize kernels available for consumption after the harvest. Baden and Beekman argue that modern agricultural technology provides a more reasonable baseline analog for modeling ancient maize productivity than nineteenth-century Native American technologies. In contrast, I explore agricultural yield data for Native Americans and Euroamericans from a number of tribes and states for 1850, 1867, and 1878. A comparison of these data shows that, overall, yields obtained by Native American farmers tend to be lower than yields for contemporaneous Euroamerican farmers. My approach using agricultural productivity data from nineteenth-century Native Americans, coupled with a consideration of potential, available, and consumptive yields, provides a plausible foundation for the evaluation of late prehistoric yields.

In modeling the colonization of the Americas, Anderson and Gillam (2000) employ size estimates for vanguard forager bands that are of dubious reproductive viability in light of human incest prohibitions and variable sex ratios at birth.

How early human populations in North America maintained reproductive viability is a question that has shaped our research for over a decade. The concept of staging areas, mechanisms for band-macroband interaction, and an examination of how interaction networks could have formed and evolved over the course of the Paleoindian era are all solutions that we have presented.