Discriminant function analysis is used as a systematic measure of interrelatedness among sites within the Lamine River and Big Bend Localities. Chipped stone projectile points from Mellor, Imhoff, Givens and Fischer-Gabbert were chosen for this analysis. Their selection was based on a suggested operational criterion: that social distance between peoples is reflected in the degree of similarity between artifacts commonly found on contemporaneous Hopewell settlements. Two statistically significant roots are defined, rejecting the null hypothesis that no significant variation occurs among these settlements' projectile points. The Euclidean distances of projectile points in discriminant space are remarkably similar to the site's geographic distribution. This analysis suggests social interaction was greatest within localities and minimal between.

The recovery of pollen from archaeological sites in Eastern North A merica has not been as successful as it has been in the western part of the continent. The depositional environment of eastern archaeological sites is generally unfavorable for pollen preservation and archaeologists have failed to search out special situations in which pollen may be preserved. At the Rhoads site, a Proto-Historic Indian village in central Illinois, abundant pollen has been found associated with copper artifacts and deeply buried tree bark. Pollen was preserved around copper, apparently due to dissolved copper salts which act as a fungicide. Tree bark, an excellent collection surface for air-borne pollen, can yield abundant pollen when preserved. When the factors involved in pollen deposition and preservation are considered, the prospects for archaeological palynology in eastern North America should be greatly enhanced.

A re-examination of data from eastern Great Basin sites (in particular Hogup Cave) indicates that subsistence patterns did not, as suggested by Jennings (1957) and Aikens (1970), remain essentially unchanged throughout the period of Archaic occupation. The evidence points to a major adaptive shift from semi-permanent settlement on lake peripheries to primary dependence on upland resources during the mid-Holocene. This adaptive modification was related to increased effective moisture, concomitant lake level increases and flooding of lake periphery resources rather than the purported Altithermal dessication as suggested by Baumhoff and Heizer (1965). There was a lengthy hiatus between Archaic and Fremont occupations of ca. 2000 years at lake periphery sites and ca. 1000 years for the northeastern Great Basin in general. This fact militates against the commonly held assumption that the Fremont culture developed from an Archaic substratum in this area.

An unusual Maya stela in the St. Louis Art Museum has a number of distinguishing characteristics: (1) The cylindrical shape is comparatively rare for a free-standing Maya monument. (2) Thegtyphic inscription contains four previously unnoted glyph groups. (3) The inscription includes a rare glyph group of which only a very few examples are known. (4) The shape of the glyphs and the placement of the numbers seem to be governed by aesthetic considerations, although the variations of the tun glyph may have semantic implications.

An analysis of cotton remains from Huaca Prieta on the north Peruvian coast, dating from circa 2500 B.C. to circa 750 B.C., indicates that they were probably primitive forms of G. barbadense L. and similar in most features to those previously examined from sites in the Ancon area of the central coast (Stephens and Moseley 1974). As in the Ancon materials, there is a tendency for seed size, boll size and fiber width to increase from the earlier to later levels. Most of the Ancon materials belonged to the Preceramic Period, while at Huaca Prieta both Preceramic and Initial Periods are represented. Only fuzzy seeds were found among the Ancon materials and among the Preceramic materials recovered from Huaca Prieta. Tufted seeds first appear during the Initial Period at Huaca Prieta; it is the prevailing type among present-day cultivars, and may have been favored under human selection because their fibers are much more readily removed from the seeds by hand. It is believed that fuzzy seeds represent the more primitive condition; it is the prevailing type among present-day wild forms of G. barbadense. It remains a question whether the tufted seeds at Huaca Prieta originated as mutants in the locally cultivated fuzzy seeded types, or whether they were new forms, introduced along with pottery and other crop plants from elsewhere. None of the cotton materials so far examined from Peruvian coastal sites show affinities with cottons still extant in the Amazon Basin, and no wild, or apparently wild, forms of G. barbadense have yet been found east of the Andes.

Prehistoric construction projects in the Moche Valley required the mobilization and coordination of very large numbers of individuals. It is thought that workers were mobilized by means of labor tax obligations, and large projects were subdivided into repetitive tasks executed by distinct parties of workmen drawn from separate communities.

Many Mesoamericanists today accept the fact that much Mesoamerican art, in various media, depicts historical events and persons. Much of this evidence has come from hieroglyphic texts. This paper attempts to demonstrate the value of using non-glyphic attributes of depictions of personages and of interaction scenes to investigate the same problems. Non-glyphic attributes of scenes and individual dress and ornamentation are treated as coded cultural information that reflects patterned sociocultural phenomena. This approach is applied to Cotzumalhuapan sculpture from Coastal Guatemala. It is demonstrated that there are two distinctive facial types in interaction which seem to represent two different socio-political groups.

The gamma-ray induced thermoluminescence of specimens of majolica pottery of known origin, and of specimens of majolica of unknown origin collected in the Caribbean area was analyzed to determine if thermoluminescence could be used as an indicator of the provenience of pottery found in an archaeological context. The results of the measurements show that the shape of the gamma-ray induced thermoluminescence glow-curve of the clay matrix of majolica is specific to the geographic locality where the pottery was made, and that the provenience of specimens found archaeologically can be determined on the basis of their thermoluminescence glow-curves, when the curves obtained from the samples with known origins are used as references.

Mud bricks in Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna differ in soil composition, dimensions, mold marks, and makers' marks. The differences reflect conditions of brick production and use, and some variables are chronologically significant. This paper discusses the archaeological significance of adobes in these platform mounds, located on the south side of the Moche Valley. Four brick variables-soil, dimensions, mold, and makers' marks-are examined in terms of patterns of associations.

Corroboration of linguistic evidence for the northward expansion of Numic speakers from the southwestern Great Basin around A.D. 1000 is provided by the dating of Paiute-Shoshoni pottery. At eight stratified eastern Great Basin sites, this distinctive pottery is associated with Anasazi and/or Fremont ceramics, supporting the hypothesis that competition with Numic speaking groups was partially responsible for the disappearance of the Fremont culture.

In the humid tropics of the Americas, where preservation of plant materials is unlikely, archaeological evidence for manioc cultivation largely consists of artifacts which are similar to artifacts associated with manioc cultivation in the ethnographic record and which, by analogy, were similarly used in the prehistoric past. The validity of this inference by analogy is examined in terms of ceramic platters and stone grater teeth, two of the most commonly cited evidences for manioc cultivation.

A Long-Nosed God mask from the surface of a Mill Creek site in northwest Iowa is described and discussed in the light of previous discoveries. It is found that the Iowa mask (I) expands the distribution of this already widespread artistic expression, (2) underscores the degree and intensity of Mississippian-Mitt Creek connections, (3) tends to confirm the long-held supposition that Mill Creek exchanges with the Mississippian heartlands involved ideology as well as technology and material goods, and (4) supports the hypothesis that there are distinct Long-Nosed God and Southern Cult “horizons” on the northern portion of the Prairie Peninsula.

Beach erosion at Cape Kialegak, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, revealed the frozen, naturally mummified body of a 1600 year old Eskimo woman. The body has extensive tattooing on the dorsal aspects of both the right and left forearms, hands and fingers. The tattooing pattern corresponds with known design patterns for the Old Bering Sea phase.

Steel balls were dropped on to massive glass prisms at an impact angle of 45° in order to determine the effects of oblique impact on several attributes of flake size and flake shape. The results indicate that a flake produced by oblique impact is shorter, but not significantly thinner (except in the immediate area of the cone), than a flake of comparable platform thickness produced by vertical impact.

Recent studies have suggested that variations in areal distributions of utilized and non-utilized lithic materials can aid in the delineation of functional site areas. Microscopic analyses of experimentally produced and utilized flakes suggest that due to an accumulation of animal fats along the working edge significant numbers of utilized flakes may not display wear indicating use. Factors of lithology and variations in butchering technique are considered and implications for areal patterns explored.

A ground truth check confirmed the utility of color aerial photography for predicting and mapping archaeological sites in an estuarine mangrove swamp zone and for serving as a basis for settlement pattern studies. Accuracy of prediction was extremely high due to the sharp response of vegetation to slight differences in elevation.

Detailed drawings done by Ezra Stiles in 1761 show that Western Niantic domed wigwams were very like modern Kickapoo and other Northeastern North American aboriginal houses. Adena and Hopewell post molds are consistent with the same type of house.

Settlement pattern surveys over a large portion of the Valley of Mexico by Sanders, Blanton, and Parsons have produced a sample of over 600 Aztec spindle whorls with good provenience data. This paper examines the distribution of both cotton and maguey whorls, and their variation from sub-region to sub-region within the Valley of Mexico. Particular attention is given to the maguey whorls. These clearly fall into three distinct stylistic groups, each of which appears to be restricted to a limited area within the Valley of Mexico. An attempt is made to explain this distribution in terms of the prehispanic Aztec market system.

Data provided by 42 COPA (Committee on Public Archeology) representatives are provided as a synthesis of current status of state support for archaeological research programs. Trends indicative of increasing support are documented. Eight states have not been updated.

A Fortran computer program is presented which converts Lowland Maya Long Count dates into their equivalent Gregorian dates, and the reverse, for the period post-A.D. 100. The program uses the Modified Thompson 2 Correlation Constant, but other Correlation Constants can also be employed. This program does not offer a new correlation hypothesis.