Animal bones discarded by people are commonly subject to disturbance by carnivores. These carnivores are present throughout the world and include wolves, coyotes, hyenas, and many others. This disturbance not only modifies and destroys bone, but also moves many of the bone fragments away from their original position of discard. Intrasite spatial analyses of bone that seek patterns meaningful to human behavior thus need to subtract the effect of carnivore disturbance. Experimental studies with spotted hyenas show that the position of a bone fragment on a limb bone, combined with bone surface modification, can be used to identify a class of bone fragments that are minimally affected by carnivores and are thus the best indicators of spatial patterning resulting from human behavior. Limb-bone ends are moved significant distances, as are shaft fragments as a general class. However, middle-shaft portions of limb bones that preserve percussion marks from hammerstone breakage retain nearly the precise spatial position as originally discarded by hominids. Thus, any spatial analysis of bone, when carnivores are implicated as contributors or consumers at an archaeological site, should focus on middle-shaft portions of limb bones with percussion marks.

Settlement Archaeology is defined as the study of societal relationships using archaeological data. A separate approach is required because of the inadequacy of the concept of “phase” or “culture” for the investigation of this sort of problem. An examination of the history of Iroquoian warfare in the light of archaeological and ethnological data suggests that while the archaeologist’s ability to interpret prehistoric social phenomena remains severely limited, the questions raised by this sort of approach are important and, among other results, will stimulate a desire to pay still greater attention to traditional problems of cultural archaeology.

Stratigraphic interpretation rests on two principles: the principle of superposition and the principle that deposition units can be identified by cultural content. The sequence of deposition units derived from a case of superposition may not give a true cultural sequence if mixing, filling, or collecting has affected the cultural contents of the units. There are two kinds of seriation: evolutionary seriation, done on the basis of an assumed general law of cultural development, and similary seriation, done on the basis of similarities and differences in objects or deposition units compared. Similiary seriation assumes only that cultural change is normally gradual. Of the two kinds of seriation, only similiary seriation can give credible results. Some evidence of archaeological associations is necessary to control the possibility of non-gradual change resulting from sudden outside influence or archaism. If the conditions for success can be met, either stratigraphy or seriation can provide a credible sequence. Each method provides a check on the other; the most credible results are achieved by combining the two.

Explaining variability among Mississippian period (A.D. 1000-1600) chiefdoms has become a key research aim for archaeologists in the southeastern United States. One type of variability, in which simple and complex chiefdoms are distinguished by the number of levels of regional hierarchy, has dominated chiefdom research in this part of the world. The simple-complex chiefdom model is less applicable to the Mississippian Southeast, however, as there is little empirical evidence that chiefdoms here varied along this quantitative dimension. This article offers a qualitative model in which regional hierarchies are distinguished by the manner in which authority is ceded or delegated between an apical or regional chief and constituent, community-level leaders; chiefly power may be ceded from local-level leaders upward to the regional chief or delegated from the regional chief downward to local leaders. This apical-constituent model addresses variation in the administrative structures of chiefdoms: it is not a chiefdom typology. The model is used to contrast two Mississippian polities, Moundville in west-central Alabama and Powers Fort in southeastern Missouri, and illustrates variability in the process by which local communities were integrated into regional institutions.

An acid-extraction method for analyzing the composition of ceramics produces highly precise results capable of intraregional discrimination of production loci. The method is safe, inexpensive, minimally destructive, and uses widely available instrumentation. It produces results that are highly useful in archaeological interpretation as illustrated by selected case studies.

Excavations carried out at the site of Donnelly Ridge in central Alaska have led to the delineation of an early core and blade culture which includes the Campus site and two sites previously excavated on the Teklanika River to the west. Sites of the Denali complex are linked by distinctive microblade cores, core tablets and microblades derived from the latter, large blades, biconvex bifacial knives, certain end-scraper forms, a distinctive burin type, and other traits. The clearest affiliations of the Denali complex are with a series of late Upper Palaeolithic sites west of Lake Baikal, but relationships may be seen with sites in Hokkaido and Kamchatka as well. The bearers of this culture probably entered Alaska prior to the final submergence of the Bering land bridge.

The diversity of types of stone tools, as of any other class of artifacts, may be regarded as due to differences in the nature and functional relations of the relevant variables existing in the given situations in which these artifacts were produced. These relevant variables may be conceived as of three major kinds: those associated primarily with the individuality of the given artisan, those arising primarily from the cultural matrix in which the artisan lived and worked, and those directly or indirectly due to the resources and nature of the physical environment in which the artisan and his culture existed. In setting up such categories, a corresponding functional dissociation must not be assumed. Each recognizable element in each category is of course functionally related to every other. But the archae6logist must, in attempting to evaluate his material, schematize in some such fashion. He must evaluate, as well as he can, each of the variables involved.

Archaeologists often implicitly assume that individual ceramic objects were the work of a single individual artisan. Ethnographic and archaeological data suggest that this assumption should be questioned. Ceramics from the Greater American Southwest demonstrate that multiple hands contribute to the finished products in two ways. Two artisans may collaborate on vessels in various combinations of task differentiation. Alternatively, some vessels are modified over time, with artisans adding new features to existing vessels in diachronic collaboration. Such collaborative vessels have implications for understanding labor demands, learning and teaching frameworks, specialized production, and the life histories of ceramics.

Neutron activation analysis of Mississippian sherds from 21 regions across the Southeast has revealed the existence of distinctive chemical groups that are associated with four large geographical areas. One such group is associated with sites along the Mississippi River and its western tributaries, a second is associated with sites on the Appalachian Rim in Tennessee, a third is associated with sites on the Piedmont and associated drainages, and a fourth is associated with sites in Alabama. This pattern reflects the existence of several large, clay-mineral provinces in the Southeast that now can be recognized as sources in future studies of long-distance exchange.

Archaeological studies concerned with reconstructing activity areas, room functions, and site-formation processes can benefit greatly from analyses of the microartifacts found on and within occupation surfaces. These remains are often primary refuse directly related to activities, and can be used to identify such locations as food-preparation areas, flint-knapping stations, and storage facilities. In addition, certain microartifacts are informative about site-formation processes. For example, the grain-size distribution of charcoal may be indicative of primary vs. secondary refuse, high percentages of corroded and crushed bone from scavenger feces may indicate locations of secondary refuse, and many small sherds could point to heavily trampled areas. A case study from the Iron Age city site of Tel Miqne-Ekron in central Israel demonstrates the use of microarchaeology at a complex sedentary site.

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.

The method being used to analyze pottery from Uaxactún and Barton Ramie by the application of the type-variety concept is offered as an analytical approach well suited to the classification of Maya ceramics. Types and varieties are seen as the best archaeological approximation of the ceramic abstractions which existed in the prehistoric cultural configuration. The systematic application of the type-variety concept will make it possible to establish analytical ceramic units which will be comparable throughout the Maya territory, to undertake detailed chronological and areal studies, especially in areas away from the ceremonial centers, and to use ceramics as a step toward cultural interpretation. Considerable attention is given to the procedure of analysis and to the problem of naming the resulting analytical ceramic units. The most desirable nomenclature is illustrated by Aguacate Orange [type]: Holha Variety. Place names have been used for the primary type term and for the variety name, but a descriptive term is used for the second part of the type name. The desirability of keeping the variety flexible and free of bias or prejudice stemming from the nomenclature is stressed. The variety is the smallest meaningful unit of classification in the type-variety method. Sorting, naming, and tabulating begin with varieties which, in turn, lead to the recognition, naming and description of types.

The potter's art of pre–Columbian Peru has long received high acclaim, and the antiquity and technical perfection of the several Andean ceramic styles is generally acknowledged. Scarcely a year passes but what new pottery types are recognized by archaeologists, and the descriptions of these fill many volumes. It is altogether incredible, therefore, that for the entire 400–year period that has elapsed since the coming of the Spaniards, there exists no detailed and systematic account of the techniques of pottery manufacture employed by any group in the Andean area. With reference to the Conquest period, Rowe states that “the chroniclers say little about Inca pottery,” while Linné, who combed the literature for data concerning Andean ceramic technology, concluded that “ … from the time of the discovery of Peru no descriptions exist as to pottery–making.“

Lakeside Cave deposits spanning the last 5,000 years contain evidence of grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes) use. Abundant ethnographic/ethnohistoric data suggest the widespread use of hoppers and other insects. Procurement strategies may be unique to the Great Salt Lake area. During the summer, salted and sun-dried hoppers are washed up on beaches and form windrows up to .2 m× 1.5 m× 15 km Hoppers produce over 3,010 kcal/ kg, and return rates average 272,649 kcal/hour. Digestible proportions have not been determined, but even at a return rate well below the experimental value, optimality models suggest hopper collection should be favored over all other collected resources.

During the excavation of Arikara burials which were 130 to 160 years old, the author discovered the chitinous exuvia of fly pupae with many of the burials. The pupae of these scavenger flies seasonally date the burials from late March to mid-October, corresponding to the year's arrival and disappearance of these flies in South Dakota.

The Bull Brook Site, near Ipswich, Mass., was discovered in the spring of 1951 by William C. Eldridge, of East Lynn, and Joseph Vaccaro, of Beverly, Massachusetts. Both are members of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society. A brief notice of the site appeared over their names (Eldridge and Vaccaro, 1952). The site was worked by them, with the assistance of Nicola, Frank, and Tony Vaccaro, Alfred Thibodeau, Tony Orsini, E. E. Tizzer, Howard A. Jones, and Douglas Jordan. The last named is preparing a more extensive account of the site and analysis of the collections obtained from it.

The site lay on the south side of Bull Brook, and was situated on a kame terrace jutting into a salt marsh (Fig. 90, c). Its surface was approximately 40 feet above sea level. This deposit has been worked for sand and gravel, and the site is to all intents and purposes destroyed.

Recent analyses of primary documentary sources have demonstrated that Don Crabtree's technique of prismatic blade manufacture differs significantly from that of the ancient Mexicans. The most widely known of these ethnohistoric descriptions of blademaking, as well as several previously not considered, are reevaluated and compared to the Crabtree technique. Major discrepancies between the Aztec technique and that described by Crabtree then became the focus of replication experiments. Finally, prismatic blades were successfully produced in the manner and with the tool described by the early Spanish friars.

Processual and postprocessual archaeologists implicitly employ the same epistemological system to evaluate the worth of different explanations: inference to the best explanation. This is good since inference to the best explanation is the most effective epistemological approach to archaeological reasoning available. Underlying the logic of inference to the best explanation is the assumption that the explanation that accounts for the most evidence is also most likely to be true. This view of explanation often reflects the practice of archaeological reasoning better than either the hypothetico-deductive method or hermeneutics. This article explores the logic of inference to the best explanation and provides clear criteria to determine what makes one explanation better than another. Explanations that are empirically broad, general, modest, conservative, simple, testable, and address many perspectives are better than explanations that are not. This article also introduces a system of understanding explanation that emphasizes the role of contrastive pairings in the construction of specific explanations. This view of explanation allows for a better understanding of when, and when not, to engage in the testing of specific explanations.

The distribution of Clovis projectile points across North America demonstrates distinct spatial patterning that has the potential to inform on many aspects of the colonization process. However, before accurate inferences regarding prehistoric behavior can be drawn from projectile point distributional databases, it is necessary to account for biases potentially affecting point visibility. Using county-level data for a sample of states from the western and southeastern U.S., this paper demonstrates that Clovis projectile point distribution is significantly related to modern population density, cultivated acreage, intensity of archaeological research, and measures of environmental productivity. Interpreting Clovis projectile point distribution is therefore more complex than frequently assumed.

The use of the concentrations of zinc in archaeological bone as an indicator of past diets and/or health conditions has become widely accepted in bone-chemistry analysis, despite the fact that the theoretical validity for such an application has not been established. In this paper I present a series of critical variables—such as elemental metabolism, bone physiology, the relationship between dietary intakes of an element and its concentration in bone, trophic-level separation in the foodweb, and diagenetic variability—that must be addressed in the process of theoretical validation. I also discuss how studies that support the use of zinc as paleodietary indicator have generally focused on only one or perhaps two of these criteria. Until a sound model based on physiological principles is developed, the use of zinc as a paleodietary indicator remains unproven.