Scattered finds of Dalton, Quad, Plainview, and Scottsbluff projectile points in the Yazoo Basin of west-central Mississippi affirm the presence of an early Archaic occupation in at least that region of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. These finds are associated with present surfaces in the alluvial flood plain which are geologic relicts formed prior to the final stages of the post-Pleistocene filling of the valley.

A problem commonly encountered in transferring pottery designs from curved vessel surfaces to flat drawing surfaces is that of controlling the type and placement of the distortion which results from this transfer. Elimination of all distortion is impossible. Control of the distortion may be accomplished by tracing the design onto a polyethylene sheet prior to making a pen and ink reproduction.

The hypothesis is advanced that Yellow-bellied Marmots (Marmota flaviventris) are affected in their geographic distribution by seasonality of precipitation in such a manner that their presence in Southwestern archaeological sites indicates a minimum of about two inches of winter precipitation. Application of this hypothesis to past changes in marmot distribution in the Navajo Reservoir District (northwestern New Mexico and adjacent Colorado) indicates an early period of high effective moisture produced predominantly by summer rains. At about A.D. 700-800, there occurred a change to dominant winter precipitation which lasted until ca. A.D. 1000 or later. This model agrees with previous work based on faunal analysis but is exactly counter to that proposed on the basis of alluvial and pollen studies.

A newly discovered worked mammoth bone is described. It exhibits butchering marks and demonstrates man's contemporaneity in Florida with a late Pleistocene fauna.

Pottery was reported from the eastern Aleutian Islands in 1945. Recent petrographic examination of the supposed sherds reveals that they are fragments of carved stone vessels rather than tempered clay pots. The dissimilarity of the Aleutian specimens to well-documented southwestern and western Alaskan pottery, and negative evidence from the central and western parts of the chain suggest that the Aleutian cultural area lay beyond the prehistoric distribution limits of Alaskan pottery.

Four discoidal stone objects from southern Chile and Argentina can be attributed to the Paleo-Indian occupation of the region. Two were clearly associated with extinct horse and sloth and have a radiocarbon age of over 11,000 years. The other two are judged to be part of the same cultural complex.

The problem of distinguishing between varieties of red pipestone from diverse sources is a complex one. The distinction between catlinite and non-catlinite can be made rather quickly, in the field, using only a streak plate and a standard color chart.

One or more icosahedral polyhedrons with faces numbered in pairs are inexpensive, compact, durable, portable, easily used generators of random numbers for archaeologists in the field.

It is pointed out and stressed that, when dealing with botanical material, the investigator should be wary of listing the plant's name only in the local language or by the English common name. It is also stressed that one should not attempt to "translate" plants listed only by their common name into their appropriate scientific name without being aware of the dire consequences which may be produced.

Post mortem cracks in bone produced by action of weather or other agencies which cause shrinkage have been shown to be oriented in the same direction as split-lines produced by decalcification and punctures with a needle. Archaeological bone also shows split-lines parallel to weathering cracks in cases where preservation of the collagenous matrix is good. Limb bones of birds tend to have better preservation than mammal bones in the Lasley"s Point site in Wisconsin. Considerable microscopic structure of bone is preserved where decalcification and split-line processing are possible.

A comprehensive system of archaeological site designation does not exist for Latin America. A quadrinomial system is proposed, in which the components identify the nation, state, local political unit, and site number.

In a recent article which appeared in American Antiquity, Don E. Crabtree reported the results of his experiments in reproducing aboriginal prismatic flaked blades. In his excursion into the ethnohistory of obsidian blade making, Crabtree unfortunately relied on an inaccurate English translation of the Spanish Fr. Juan de Torquemada's account of the process. As a supplement to Crabtree's otherwise excellent article, Torquemada's original Spanish text is presented herein, along with a translation and comments on Crabtree's interpretation of the faulty translation.

The contention by Donn T. Bayard that anthropology is not rigorous enough to be a science or to formulate scientific laws is challenged, and an example is presented of a regularity in cultural evolution with a claim to being considered a statistical law.

Much recent archaeological work has been aimed at attempts to reconstruct ancient subsistence and ecological patterns. Ethnographic observations by the author in eastern Peru indicate that domesticated dogs may play a significant role in distorting the archaeological record as it is reflected in unmodified mammal bone. These observations indicate that medium-sized dogs may totally devour the bone of small animals and destroy identifiable portions of the bone of medium-sized animals, leaving only the remains of large animals in condition for identification. The possibility of such destruction in the past indicates the need for caution in evaluating subsistence on the basis of bone remains in archaeological sites.

The inability to identify faunal remains is one reason why archaeologists continue to devote minimal attention to their study. Archaeologists can become familiar with the skeletal characteristics of animals by establishing a faunal collection. Processing of specimens involves removing tissue from the skeleton, removing grease from the bones, bleaching the bones, and cataloging the specimen.

A simple flexible tube-type carpenter's water level is applied to problems of intrasite leveling in archaeology. The construction and use of the level are discussed.

Support is given for Robert Edwards’ suggestion that the Transverse Mercator Grid coordinate system be used to designate site locations. A plea is made for the use of longitude and latitude coordinates as well. This useful duplication insures site relocation.

A long-range experiment aimed at shedding light on what happens within archaeological sites during their natural history phase was begun in the spring, 1968, with the planning and building of a pie-shaped structure that houses several kinds of materials. By the winter, 1968, gross changes in the structure were already in evidence.

In a 1969 paper Browman and Munsell draw erroneous conclusions about Plateau prehistory by failing to use primary sources. They also miss the point of some early work on the emergence of Plateau culture.