A rare ceramic form commonly called the doughnut-shape is reported for Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala, Miraflores phase. This specimen provides another example of the stucco technique on Pre-Classic pottery. A trial distribution of doughnut-shaped vessels is plotted for the Americas. Although this chart is based upon only a few published illustrations, certain deductions can be made as to the value of this form as a horizon marker. The horizontal variety of doughnut vessel may be a good marker for the Late Pre-Classic horizon in Mesoamerica.

C. N. Warren makes six criticisms of a paper by Owen (Owen 1964), each of which can easily be rejected. The six comments, accompanied briefly by the grounds for their rebuttal, are: 1) that “Early horizon” cannot be used to label the period, when in reality “Early horizon” is as appropriate as any other term, and more so than many that are in use; 2) that a negligent comment is directed at a paper by W. J. Wallace, which though unimportant, is temperate and accurate in the estimation of the author; 3) that a reference to a paper by Warren and True is groundless and misleading when it indeed is pertinent and direct; 4) that an analogy used is weak, although the argument does not proceed by analogy; 5) that suggestions regarding the utility of radiocarbon are optimistic when in fact insight in the use of radiocarbon dates can provide information on duration of habitation on any site; 6) that comparisons between the probable settlement pattern of Early horizon California coastal populations and some of the Fuegian Canoe Indians are inappropriate, an opinion which indicates that Warren’s knowledge of the basis of the comparison is faulty. It is suggested that despite Warren’s criticism, the Glen Annie Canyon site report and the associated paper may stand unamended and lead to a better understanding of the settlement patterns of early Southern California coastal populations during the so-called Milling Stone horizon.

The identification of pottery artifacts modeled after Cucurbita species from the Mochica culture of Peru is discussed. The evidence strongly suggests these artifacts were modeled after cultivars of C. moschata, not C. pepo as reported from time to time in botanical literature.

The river Basin Surveys' program, particularly in the Columbia River Basin, has had a peculiar role in American archaeology. Generally speaking, archaeological research programs should be oriented toward a specific problem such as the study of a certain culture sequence or an inquiry into a particular time horizon. In contrast River Basin Surveys' problem has been to examine in detail almost every phase of every culture that is represented over a vast area. True, the field of research has been limited to those portions of river basins that are scheduled to be inundated upon the completion of a number of dams, but because of the aridity of the Columbia Basin a vast majority of the aboriginal population was concentrated along the major streams. Thus the reservoirs planned for those streams will flood a large portion of the cultural material existing in the region.

A computer program for converting dates from the Mayan Long Count to the Gregorian calendar and vice versa is presented. The program also computes and prints the date's Julian Day Number, position in the Mayan Sacred Round, and Lord of the Night.

The development of social complexity at the Formative period site of Chalcatzingo, Morelos, Mexico, is traced through its effect on the distribution of variability in the anthropomorphic figurines found there. A new methodology for the analysis of stylistic data is applied. The implications of the character and timing of elite developments at Chalcatzingo are placed in the more general context of highland developments in central Mexico. It is suggested that complex society arose in the region primarily as a result of internal processes and that external stimulus from the Olmec area was relatively unimportant.

Unless the results of archaeological research are disseminated, the value of conducting that research is questionable. Mechanisms currently utilized by archaeologists to publish or otherwise distribute reports are inadequate to handle the number of reports being written. Archaeologists should begin utilizing the National Technical Information Service's abstracting and microfiche program. This program would publicize reports and make them available to interested archaeologists.

In the October 1974, issue of American Antiquity (39:616–17) Dudley M. Varner contributes a note on “Two Ethnographic Functions of Bird-Form Pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico.” He notes, without citing evidence, the archaeological occurrence of similar forms from the southern half of North America. The example illustrated was purchased in Yalalag, Oaxaca, and he cites two Zapotec informants from the same village about the functions of this form among the neighboring Mixe who made it. One function is that the handle remains cool when the toe of the vessel is pushed into the coals of a fire. The second he cites is that three such vessels provide a support for the comal or ceramic cooking griddle and says that knobs or ridges on the toe-end of many Oaxaca shoe forms were specifically designed for this purpose.