During the identification of the osteological material from two archaeological sites (39FA23 and 39FA83) in the Angostura Reservoir basin, South Dakota, the distribution of the various elements began to assume a pattern which invited closer examination on the chance that inferences might be drawn concerning the method of preparing the carcass for food.

Although the numerical count of the elements is subject to the accidents of preservation and the size of the excavation, the distribution of the various elements from an excavation which meets the archaeological requirements is probably a reasonably accurate reflection of the parts brought into camp, since one element has as good a chance of being preserved as another.

Since my synthesis (Ritchie, 1944) additional chronological and other data (Smith, 1950; Bullen, 1949) have accumulated for the New York area from interrelated field (Ritchie, 1946; also excavations of 1950 on same site) and laboratory (Ritchie and MacNeish, 1949; MacNeish, n.d.) researches. Among the significant sites recently excavated by the writer, which have contributed to the problem of cultural continuity are the Jack's Reef site, to be further excavated and reported on in 1951; the East Sugar Island site (Ritchie, 1949, pp. 3-24); and a group of Owasco and early Mohawk sites in eastern New York, excavated in 1949-1950 (Ritchie, Lenig and Miller, n.d.; Ritchie, n.d.). The Piffard site in western New York, excavated by Robert R. Hill of Rochester, N. Y., is another site showing transitional features. The chronological data accrue from the radiocarbon analyses of Arnold and Libby (1950, p. 7) made from charcoal samples obtained from hearths and graves on certain Archaic and early Woodland period sites in central New York.

Slick rock village (4Tul 10) was excavated by a Smithsonian Institution River Basin Surveys field party under the direction of the writer between June 20 and July 30, 1950. It is one of nine very similar sites which will be covered by the reservoir pool to be created by the construction of the Terminus Dam on the Kaweah River. This particular site was chosen for excavation because it showed less evidence of modification by recent cultural activity than any other of the threatened sites. Intensive excavation at a single site (rather than test excavation at several) was chosen as the preferable approach to the archaeology of the Terminus Reservoir area because we had hoped that concentrated excavation at a single site would yield an integrated account of at least one ancient community in this region. Such an account would be particularly interesting in the light of the extraordinarily full ethnographic literature on this area (Gayton, A. H., 1948 a, b; Latta, F. F., 1949).

Stephenson's recent synthesis of Texas archaeology (1950) has evoked a markedly critical commentary from Krieger (1951). Krieger comments on the many inaccuracies which he finds therein. There are without question, mistakes of both omission and commission in Stephenson's paper. Nevertheless, the synthesis provides the general archaeologist with a relatively accurate, helpful and stimulating view of the aboriginal occupation of the entire State. It is my impression that a synthesis such as that of Stephenson must inevitably be inadequate or actually erroneous in detail. The significant point is that Stephenson has actually published and should be credited with a tentative and worth-while state-wide synthesis of Texas archaeology and, furthermore, has succeeded in evoking comment from both Krieger and the writer. The critical archaeologist who successively reads Stephenson's article, Krieger's criticism, and this commentary will certainly become acquainted not only with the established data of Texas archaeology but with many of the controversial points as well.

Before rushing into a revision of archaeological chronologies based upon the dates recently published in Memoir 8 of the Society for American Archaeology, the possibilities for the contamination of carbon should be considered. The dates given so far are from specimens found in widely divergent deposits and environments; they come from caves, bogs, Egyptian tombs, lake beds, deep deposits, shallow deposits, wet deposits, dry deposits, exposed deposits, and excavations; from material carefully removed and from other material which may have been molding in storage for years. The recognition of this diversity alone should produce caution in accepting radiocarbon dates as unassailable. Contamination of samples for dating can occur at a variety of times. It could happen prior to discovery or during excavation and removal, or in the archaeological laboratory, or even in the laboratory where the dating is done.

There is considerable divergence of opinion among authorities regarding the distribution of the practice of irrigation by the prehistoric Indians of the Southwest. Martin, Quimby, and Collier (1947, p. 168) write that the irrigation of the Hohokam of central and southern Arizona is the only known instance of canal irrigation in pre-Columbian North America. Thomas (1948, p. 10), however, writes that canal system irrigation was not limited to the area of the Hohokam but that “in many ravines and valleys in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Southern California are found the remains of canal systems which tapped the natural streams and carried water to the numerous small farms.” Wittfogel (Wittfogel and Goldfrank, 1943), has assembled published evidences of irrigation in the Anasazi area, north of the Hohokam, such as its practice west of the Wasatch Mountains in the Great Basin portion of Utah, described by Steward.

In December, 1948, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., discontinued its collection of curios and presented the lot to the United States National Museum. Among other treasures was a votive ax depicting the “tiger” or “jaguar” god of tropical America in the style peculiar to the Olmec, or La Venta, culture. There are no accompanying data; even the name of the donor has been lost. In want of data and in other respects the ax is reminiscent of the half dozen like specimens preserved in public museums.

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.

Archaeologists, by and large, have been too much engrossed with the problems of their own specialty to give much thought to pedagogy. So long as archaeological teaching remained largely in the graduate schools, where the training of would-be specialists is supplemented by museum projects and apprenticeships in the field, the situation did not greatly matter. The spreading popularity of anthropology has led to the establishment of undergraduate programs in anthropology, with the frequent inclusion of one or more survey courses in archaeology. In the light of this development it seems advisable to take stock of current methods of teaching the subject and give thought to the possibility of making our methods more effective.

The Crystal River site, on the west coast of Florida about 65 miles north of Tampa, presents one of the many unsolved problems of Florida archaeology. Included in the site is a curving shell ridge, shaped like a fishhook with a temple mound where the barb of the hook would be, a large sand or sand and shell burial mound surrounded by a platform to the north, another temple mound further to the north, and a large deposit of shell to the northwest (Moore, 1903, Fig. 16). Obviously, this is a large and complicated site. Practically the only archaeological work done at Crystal River is that of Moore who, during his three visits, dug all the burial mound and part of its surrounding platform (Moore, 1903; 1907; 1918). Moore did no work in the shell midden or temple mounds and our knowledge of the site is limited to its burial complex.

A cursory survey of the archaeology of parts of the Endicott mountains was made by the writer during 1950. It served to confirm a belief that the mountain region is and in the past has been hospitable to small groups of people dependent on hunting and fishing. Ten sites near the Anaktuvuk and Killik rivers were examined, and the probable locations of several others were obtained from local Eskimos. Recognizable culture phases encountered include types comparable with the modern and recent-prehistoric Eskimo, and Denbigh Flint complex, as described by Giddings (J. L. Giddings, “Early Flint Horizons on the North Bering Sea Coast,” Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, Vol. 39, No. 3, March 15, 1949, pp. 85-90). In addition, a number of flint implements which are not readily identifiable were found in the sand dunes along the Killik River (Fig. 34). No evidence of ground slate or jade was found anywhere, and implements of organic materials were preserved only in the most recent sites.

Though the number of recovered cultural remains are few, the authors believe that the brief description and analysis of these artifacts are important, as site 45GR2 is the first dry shelter to be excavated in the Columbia Plateau.

The area itself falls into the Upper Sonoran life zone. The plateau above the coulee is generally treeless and is more or less well covered with bunch grass. Lupines and sunflowers are important parts of the flora. In the coulee, ground water is more available, and better stands and more species of grasses are present. Successful wheat farms and a few orchards indicate that the area must, at least during certain seasons, have had an extensive floral cover. Aspen, willow, alder, and cottonwoods are found near the springs. The draws support heavy stands of brushy growth, with sage being outstanding. Juniper (cedar) trees are found both on the plateau and in the coulee. The bottom of the coulee, at least during and after the spring and early summer rains, is swampy, and standing water was probably present in earliest times in some places throughout most of the year. Rodents, small carnivore, and bird populations are large. The mule deer was no doubt the largest game animal of importance.

In the superb Dieseldorff collection, located in the Guatemala National Museum is an effigy vase hitherto unpublished which is thought worthy of description and comment.

This vase, Museum number 5923, represents,a kneeling monkey; most probably a spider monkey (Fig. 81, a, b). The pear-shaped vase represents the body. The head and arm projects in full relief from the wall of the vessel, while the legs and a part of the tail are in somewhat lower relief. The monkey is clasping his long, curled tail by both hands above his head. Part of the rim, the left arm, and part of the tail are broken off (see Fig. 82, a, b.) Minor details such as fingers, eyes, and mouth were made by incising and grooving. The height of the vase is 14 cm. It is of unknown provenience but is thought to have been found near San Pedro Carcha (Alta Verapaz) by the late E. P. Dieseldorff.

Harrington has called attention (American Antiquity, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 251-52, 1948) to pottery from Roanoke Island having shell temper and a simple-stamped surface, presumably a heretofore unknown combination. It may consequently be of some interest to note further the occurrence of such a type from a mixed Colonial and Indian midden at what is thought to have been the site of a Colonial trading post at Kecoughtan, near Hampton, Virginia (Joseph B. and Alvin W. Brittingham, Sr., The First Trading Post at Kicotan [Kecoughtan], Hampton, Virginia, Hampton, 1947). In 1945 this site, threatened by rapidly expanding housing developments in the area, was partially excavated by the Brittinghams, aided by a grant from the Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia. The material recovered from the site has since been donated to the United States National Museum.

In February of this year, James B. Griffin, Hale G. Smith, Raymond S. Price, A. T. Ewell, MacNeil Withers, and Ralph Barbour made a surface collection of the entire Crystal River complex and dug a five foot test (B) upon the occupational area designated by Moore (1903, , Fig. 16) as B.

Test B was made 140 feet from the north corner of the large shell temple mound A, at approximately the same place marked B by Moore (ibid.). It was found that the depth of this deposit was forty-eight inches. The test was taken down in the following levels: 1 through 8, and 10 were four inch levels, while 9 and 11 were six inch levels. The sherds collected from mound A and test B were similar in many respects.

Chief Joseph Reservoir is located along the Columbia River in southern Okanogan County,Washington (Fig. 108). The general area is a rugged highland, underlain chiefly by pre-Tertiary resistant rocks, and marked by welldefined north-south mountain ranges separated by broad troughs, now well dissected, into which the present main tributary streams, such as the Okanogan and the Sanpoil, have cut deep narrow trenches to the Columbia. The highland, whose summits reach 7000 and even 8000 feet at the international boundary, slopes rather uniformly south and passes beneath the broad expanse of the Columbia Plateau, where flat-lying mid-Tertiary basalt flows conceal the older rocks (Flint, 1935, p. 171). Along the river the country is rather barren of flora and fauna, except for sagebrush and an occasional clump of pine trees (Fig. 109, a). Several miles north of the river the pine forests begin and extend north into Canada.

The possibility of a culture preceding that of the earliest paleo-Aleuts in the Aleutian Islands has been recognized for a long time. However, the researches of Jochelson and Hrdlicka provided no substantiation for such a possibility. Subsequent excavations carried out by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University in 1948, a party sponsored by the Arctic Institute of North America in 1949, and a party from the University of Oregon in 1950 have similarly failed to reveal any culture earlier than that of the paleo-Aleuts. Re-examination of an existing collection suggests the presence of such a culture in the Aleutian Islands