Recent excavations near Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico have yielded evidence for the use of cultigens by the early second millennium B.C. and continuing into the first millennium B.C. This information comes from four sites, all of which have been radiocarbon dated. The evidence for the oldest use of a cultigen, maize, is in the form of pollen; however, macrobotanical specimens of maize or squash were also recovered from sites dating to the Late Archaic. These data are summarized, as are their significance and implications.

In this article we develop and apply a method for estimating fertility in paleodemographic study. The proportion D30+/D5+, generated from standard life table calculations, is used to estimate relative fertility rates for eight Woodland and Mississippian populations represented by skeletal series from west-central Illinois. The inferred pattern of fertility increase through time is then considered in the context of key variables that define diet, technology, and sedentism. We conclude that changes in diet or food preparation techniques are implicated in this demographic change. The absence of a significant increment in juvenile mortality in association with the elevated fertility rates suggests that these changes in fertility explain the regional population increase previously inferred from mortuary and habitation site densities.

Japan is close to the land bridge route to the Americas; therefore, any evidence of early occupation there may be relevant to the peopling of the New World. In this report I briefly discuss recent discoveries from North Japan that are claimed to have an “Early,” i.e., pre-30,000 years B.P., date.

Prehistoric potters used a wide variety of materials as temper, or filler. Although temper selection has often been assumed to be the result of purely cultural factors, recent research indicates temper had technological functions as well. Impact and thermal-shock resistance data of a range of kinds, grades, and amounts of temper are presented. Test results indicate that the use of finely-ground tempers in general and burned shell temper in particular produce briquettes that are significantly more durable than briquettes incorporating other materials.

Charred remains of Bison antiquus recovered in 1950 from lacustrine sediments at the Lubbock Lake archaeological site (Southern High Plains of Texas) yielded a radiocarbon age of 9,883 ± 350 years B.P. (C-558). The bone was believed to be from the Folsom occupation of the site and the date was considered to be the first for the Folsom culture in North America. Although the feature that contained the bone was correlated with bone beds that contained Folsom points found elsewhere at the site, the dated feature did not contain diagnostic artifacts and direct correlations with the Folsom features were not possible. Excavations at the site since 1973 provide data that demonstrate that the feature that produced the historic date is stratigraphically above the Folsom horizon. Sediment samples taken from the feature have yielded radiocarbon ages of 8,585 ± 145 years B.P. (SI-5499) and 8,130 ± 80 years B.P. (SMU-1089). These ages further demonstrate that the feature is from a post-Folsom occupation, and probably represents the Firstview occupation of the site. The Lindenmeier site, Colorado, probably produced the first radiocarbon age for the Folsom culture.

The manufacture of men"s knives by Alyawara-speaking Australian Aborigines is described.1 The setting is a men's camp at the site of Bendaijerum near MacDonald Downs in central Australia. Obtaining the raw material, the lithic blanks, and the spinifex resin used in manufacture has already been described (Binford 1984; Binford and O'Connell 1984). This essay treats the social context and the technical process of tool production as it was observed among the Alyawara during the winter of 1974. These experiences then serve as the basis for a discussion of the concept of style and for an analysis of some common views regarding settlement typology.

A sample of Stallings and Orange series ceramics from riverine and coastal sites in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida was analyzed for fiber content. A portion of each sherd was macerated in acids to release fibrous tempering agents. The fibers, as well as other potentially identifiable materials, were then isolated from the maceration and examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A comparison with published anatomical descriptions and fresh plant material revealed that the Stallings series sherds contained fibers and scales of Tillandsia usneoides L. (Spanish moss). Fiber-tempered sherds of the Orange series from the Bluffton midden in Florida also contained Spanish moss, although it cannot be demonstrated at present that Spanish moss was the primary tempering agent of Orange series ceramics.

The role of shellfish in the diet of hunter-gatherers in North America is poorly understood. Specifically, the interpretation of freshwater gastropods from archaeological sites as food remains has been a subject of professional debate. Data from the Hayes site (40ML139), a stratified Archaic midden on the Duck River in Tennessee, suggest that freshwater gastropods were procured in considerable quantities and utilized as a food resource. Evidence supporting this interpretation includes (1) quantities of gastropods in the midden, (2) stratigraphic relationship between shell-bearing strata and shell-free strata, and (3) pH analysis of associated sediments. Although gastropods provide relatively little meat and are a poor source of food energy compared to other animal species such as deer, they contain relatively high concentrations of several important vitamins and minerals. Thus, their primary value may have been nutrient content rather than food energy. This consideration, coupled with seasonal variation in their availability, suggests summer and/or fall as most likely periods of gastropod procurement.

Analysis of archaeological sites on a stream terrace system in Kansas supports the idea that spurred end scrapers are valid diagnostic Paleoindian artifacts. No sites with spurred end scrapers were discovered on the Holocene terraces, while the Wisconsin terraces did yield such sites. The differential distribution of spurred end scraper sites on terraces appears to be statistically significant. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that spurred end scrapers were not found on the Holocene terraces because they were not being used when the Holocene terraces formed.

The tandem accelerator mass spectrometer provided critical dating of corn remains in Archaic levels of juxtaposed Archaic and Hohokam occupations on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona. This new radiometric technology confirmed an Archaic placement suggested by stratigraphy and artifact distributions. The small sample of intact remains resembles other directly-dated early corn in the Southwest and reinforces an interpretation of preceramic cultivators in the Sonoran Desert.

Two engravings from the Gulf Coast seem to refer the origin of humankind to the Fifth Sun; consequently they raise again the hypothesis of the eastern position of Tamoanchan. This sacred place, at once mythical and historical, was the home of the gods; the cradle of humanity, the point of departure of the great ancestors from the Gulf (the Olmecs); it was also the paradise lost. One of these pictures predates the Nahuatl culture, and, hence, may indicate the antiquity of this myth.

Broken canines from two caves on the Porcupine River, Alaska are analyzed with respect to size, development, morphology, breakage pattern, and stratigraphic placement. These analyses indicate that they are deciduous bear teeth exfoliated in these caves through noncultural processes associated with dental development. Similarity of these teeth to the canines recovered from various stratigraphic levels at Trail Creek Caves 2 and 9, on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska (Larsen 1968:58), indicates that the Trail Creek specimens (including specimens from levels dating to the late Pleistocene) are also naturally exfoliated bear teeth and not dog canines (Canis familiaris) broken out by human beings, as originally suggested.

Two of the 11 duck decoys found in Lovelock Cave, Nevada, over 60 years ago have recently been dated by the AMS technique. The resulting determinations are 2080 ± 330 B.P. and 2250 ± 230 B.P.

In recent research using prehistoric archaeological site data from the Delaware Coastal Plain we have developed techniques to apply Landsat remote sensing data to the generation of archaeological predictive models. Rather than focusing on the specific sensing of archaeological sites, we use a synoptic approach that delineates the likely environmental settings for archaeological sites. The logistical regression statistical technique provides a quantitative link between site locations and environmental variables. By analyzing the environmental variables associated with known site locations, and known non-site locations, the logistical regression provides a probability assessment of an unsurveyed area's potential for containing archaeological sites. Supervised classification of Landsat data generates maps of environmental zones that can be related to the environmental variables used in the logistical regression. The model and the Landsat classifications have been subjected to preliminary tests and they provide accurate assessments of site potential in unsurveyed areas, as well as measures of the accuracy of the assessments. Results can be applied to cultural resource management problems and also yield useful data on prehistoric land use patterns.

Studies of burrowing rodent ecology are reviewed to identify the dynamics of rodent disturbance and to predict its impact on archaeological deposits. Data from a central California site are used to evaluate the proposed effects of rodent behavior. Burrowing activity appears to segregate soil contents by size, causing artificial concentrations of small materials near the surface, and larger materials at depths between 30 and 60 cm. Despite extensive stratigraphic disturbance, rodent burrowing seems to have minimal effects on horizontal material distributions.

Fishing is a form of predator-prey interaction. As such, the behaviors of fishes can be used to define a restricted range of human behaviors that resulted in their capture. In this report, ecological evidence, fishbone analysis, ethnohistoric reports for the prehistoric Caribbean, experimental fishtrap samples, and ethnographic reports of fishing in other coral waters are brought together in the analysis of prehistoric fishing in the Bahama Archipelago. The analysis is conducted at two levels. First, general fishing strategies are distinguished on the basis of behavioral evidence; and second, specific capture techniques are identified through comparisons with experimental fishtrap samples.

A net made of juniper (Juniperus sp.) bark cordage and designed for capturing animals the size of deer or mountain sheep has been radiocarbon dated to late Paleoindian times. It was recovered in the Absaroka Mountains of north-central Wyoming and provides insight into prehistoric animal procurement strategies that did not require the use of stone artifacts.

The astronomy of the ancient Maya is an impressive achievement. Without the use of optical instruments, the Maya of the Classic period observed and recorded recurrent eclipse periods as well as the synodic orbit of Venus. Early work on the Maya hieroglyphs interpreted the chronological and calendric systems of the Classic period inscriptions and demonstrated the existence of a lunar synodic calendar. Many of the Lunar Series hieroglyphs that record the lunar synodic calendar have been interpreted, but the meaning of Glyph X has remained unknown. This report offers the explanation that Glyph X records positions in an eighteen-month lunar calendar. The Classic period Maya may have used this eighteen-month calendar to establish an average length for the lunar synodic month.