An analysis of 77 collections of mammalian fauna from Paleolithic occupations in Cantabrian Spain reveals a number of possible trends in the adaptations of prehistoric human groups to past regional ecosystems. Throughout the history of occupation of Cantabria, from the Mousterian through the Solutrean, prehistoric man took a greater number of large game animals from forested biotopes, but probably acquired more total meat from fewer but larger prey taken in open country. Regular exploitation of the alpine zone and of dangerous forest creatures (Sus and felidae) begins only with the Aurignacian, when there is some evidence in the form of nocturnal or burrow-dwelling carnivores that self-acting hunting devices (traps, snares, for example) may have been employed. Lower Magdalenian faunas seem to indicate the specialized and intensive exploitation of a single species (red deer), while in the Azilian there is a return to patterns characteristic of the Mousterian-Solutrean periods. Site location seems to reflect exploitative strategy.

A framework is established for the application of information-theoretic concepts to the study of archaeological inference, ultimately to provide an estimate of the degree to which archaeologists, or anthropologists in general, can provide legitimate answers to the questions they investigate. Particular information-theoretic measures are applied to the design elements on the ceramics of a southwestern pueblo to show the methodological utility of information theory in helping to reach closer to that limit.

Frequency seriation has often led to valid ordering of archaeological data, yet critiques of the technique, and in particular of the construction of unimodal popularity (battleship) curves, have appeared periodically for almost 20 yr. Problems of type definition, collection manipulation, and chronological inference have been emphasized. It is here suggested that, above and beyond these difficulties of execution and interpretation, frequency seriation is methodologically unsound: that the battleship curve concept is self-contradictory; that a type/collection frequency has descriptive value only within a collection but has no comparative value between collections; that the most commonplace kinds of ceramic variation can negate the type/collection unimodal curve; that seriation of collections to conform to the self-contradictory battleship curve provides a mechanical method by which significant changes in ceramic complexes may be obfuscated. If this basic form of frequency seriation is methodologically invalid, then more complex schemes for manipulating type/collection frequencies using the same or equivalent assumptions (for example, the Brainerd-Robinson technique and others) are also methodologically suspect.

Anthony F. C. Wallace's concepts of cognitive maps and of culture as primarily the organization of diversity are utilized to discuss the significance of a Wisconsin burial mound group, the Hilgen Spring Park site.

Illicit excavation of archaeological materials for sale to collectors and museums is widespread and damaging. Details on the scale of this activity in Costa Rica are discussed, as well as various ways in which it affects the economy and life-style of the contemporary population.

This paper argues that the recommendation by Fritz and Plog-that archaeologists adopt the Deductive-Nomological model of scientific explanation-mistakes a conceptual explication for a substantive recommendation. This misinterpretation results in the recommendation of tautologies. The detailed examination of this misinterpretation leads to an investigation of logical inference, the justification of the D-N model, the theory-laden nature of archaeological classificatory predicates, the epistemic status of the laws involved in this data-language, and the relation of the Fritz-Plog research program to the problem of devising and verifying worthwhile hypotheses in archaeology.

Julian Steward's theory of Great Basin cultural ecology and settlement patterns has been subjected to empirical validation. Since the only data available to test this hypothesis are archaeological, it was first necessary to determine the artifactual correlates for the posited ethnographic system. These deductive propositions were determined by the BASIN I computer simulation model. On the basis of data obtained in a regional random sampling project in the Reese Valley of central Nevada, over 75% of the nearly 130 deductive predictions were statistically verified. The rejected propositions probably reflect failure of the computer model rather than shortcomings in Steward's theory. The archaeological manifestation of the Shoshonean pattern is defined as the Reese River Subsistence-Settlement System which operated in the central Great Basin from about 2500 B.C. to historic times.

In an effort to operationalize recent advances in archaeological theory and technique, this paper presents a systematic organizational strategy for field investigations and artifact analysis. Four general principles are suggested that lead to productive archaeological research designs: the explicit combination of inductive and deductive reasoning, the utilization of programmatic and analytical feedback, the employment of probability sampling in a multistage framework, and the formulation of analytical techniques appropriate to assumptions underlying the research and to the hypotheses being tested. These principles and associated statistical methods are discussed as they have been applied to the investigation and analysis of the material from the eighth millennium early farming village of Çayönü in southeastern Turkey.

Recent models for the organization of Classic period Maya in the Guatemala lowlands suggest a complex system of stratified social classes. Much of the basic data supporting such theoretical models is derived from the evidence for the existence of numerous occupational specializations. Previously, the data have been largely inferential, but extensive and comprehensive excavations at Tikal over a period of 13 yr have provided significant information suggesting that the occupations of residents of specific buildings or house groups can be determined. This evidence also suggests techniques by which future excavations might be directed in order to augment existing information.

A statistical procedure for the analysis of patterns of spatial distribution of artifacts over occupation areas is outlined. This procedure envisions 3 steps: the testing for non-randomness of spatial concentrations in the distribution of each class of artifacts, the reorganization of the data so as to best reflect such concentrations in the analysis of intercorrelation among those artifact classes which exhibit significant spatial patterning, and finally the analysis of spatial intercorrelations among these artifact classes and the definition of clusters of classes of artifacts based on their similarity of distribution over the area concerned. A new statistical method called dimensional analysis of variance is presented as a method with which to begin this series of steps. Dimensional analysis of variance works with data in the form of counts per grid unit, thus making it applicable in many archaeological situations for which no other statistical methods are available for spatial analysis. The procedure of spatial analysis, based on dimensional analysis of variance, is illustrated with the analysis of a preceramic occupation floor in a small cave in the valley of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The growing willingness among archaeologists to draw inferences about cultural behavior is offset by the almost total lack of research that shows how ethnographic and archaeological phenomena are correlated. If ethnologists and archaeologists are to do complementary research on the same problems of cultural process and variation, we must try to explore, systematically and comparatively, how the behavioral and material realms may be correlated. The present paper offers an example of such research. I describe the design and results of a cross-cultural study that suggests an archaeological indicator of matrilocal versus patrilocal residence. Briefly, it appears from 2 separate random samples of ethnographically described societies that matrilocal versus patrilocal residence can be simply and accurately predicted from the living floor area of the average house in the society.

This paper examines the spatial distribution of prehistoric Maya sites in Corozal District, northern British Honduras (Belize). Central to the analysis is the proposition that sites were located so as to minimize the effort expended in acquiring critical resources. The method is to isolate characteristics of the environment and to test their correlation with settlement distribution. The analysis includes both bivariate and multivariate tests. By using both kinds of tests, it is possible to suggest not only which characteristics were relevant to the selection of a location for settlement but also the relative importance of these characteristics. The analysis indicates that variables of soil, vegetation, and distance from navigable water are significantly associated with settlement. Also, the analysis brings out the phenomenon of settlement clusterings as it occurs in this region.