In recent years a new approach in archaeology, the "processual school," has been developed. The processualists suggest that method and theory in archaeology be in various important ways altered and reoriented. A number of the school's basic axioms are defined, illustrated, and discussed. Included is a consideration of such notions as "adaptation," "system," and "explanation." It is argued that various of the components of the processualist position themselves require some modification.

As a result of five field seasons in the Campo del Pucará, Prov. of Catamarca, the Alamito culture, dated in the fourth century A.D., is one of the best known archaeological cultures of the Valliserrana subarea of northwestern Argentina. The 50 sites excavated show only slight variation in subsistence (essentially agricultural), technology, ceremonial structures, burial pattern, settlement pattern, and inferred social organization. Close affiliations are evident with the Ciénaga, Condorhuasi, and possibly Tafí cultures of Argentina; further afield, similarities can be observed with the Megalithic culture of Bolivia, Chiripa and Titicaca Basin complexes, and more remotely with Peru.

A cache of flint artifacts has been discovered near Anadarko in southwestern Oklahoma. It is made up of 4 core chopping tools, 2 discoidal chopping tools, and 26 prismatic blades. Two of the core chopping tools were used to produce blades. One of the discoidal chopping tools and one of the core chopping tools are made of alibates flint, common to the Panhandle area of Texas; the remaining tools are made of grey-white flint. The cache provides interesting insights into prehistoric blade manufacturing. On the basis of similar blades found in dated deposits at Clovis, New Mexico, it is suggested that the cache is of the Paleo-Indian period. However, the manufacture of blades is by no means confined to the Paleo-Indian period. The association of prismatic blades with chopping tools of various sizes leads one to the suggestion that the whole assemblage was intended for use as a butchering kit for large animals.

Since a large number of dog remains have been unearthed in the last few years in the Southwest, a review of the material is important. An attempt has been made to record dogs as to time and space as well as noting anatomical deviations such as the presence or absence of the first premolar on the lower jaw, and the presence or absence of large dogs and their distribution.

The widely differing interpretations of the function of certain artifactual materials associated with the shaft-tomb complex of western Mexico are utilized to illustrate certain problems in the analysis of nonhistoric archaeological materials thought to be of religious significance. It is suggested that in the absence of some new model specifically designed to deal with the religious sub-system of nonhistoric societies and in the absence of interpretative data derived from relatively secure historical contexts, the only approach which seems justified, in light of our present level of knowledge, is to operate on the level of broad generalized statements of probability.

A series of nonceramic sites is described for the purpose of indicating the nature of the resources to be found along the western margin of the Andean precordillera in northern Chile. Artifacts recovered from several sites are similar to those designated Ayampitin and Lauricocha from other regions in Andean South America. Strong ties are suggested between coastal and interior sites, due either to trade relationships between separate groups or to the same peoples occupying a series of site locations on a seasonal round. Detailed studies that hopefully will clarify these relationships are in process. Information on permanent agricultural settlements in this same region will be presented in a future summary.

In 1964, topsoil removal operations in the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, exposed a large cache of beads and shell objects. There is evidence that many of the beads and objects were originally strung as necklaces or belts, but these were destroyed when the discoverer washed the material. An attempt is made to reconstruct the contents of the cache and to determine its approximate age.

Marshall's attempt to infer a structural system from evidence provided by post holes does not follow from his analysis.

An unusual hourglass-shaped vessel from a tomb in the middle Cauca Valley, Colombia, is described. This is the area of the so-called Quimbaya culture, in which metal work reached a very high artistic and technical development; however, as yet, no tools definitely used in manufacture of metal objects have been found. It is suggested that the vessel described here is a furnace built to hold a crucible, although, since the vessel was apparently placed new into the tomb, definite identification of its function is not possible.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

It is shown that a magnetic balance with a sensitivity of one gamma can detect storage pits and clusters of postmolds commonly found on Late Woodland aboriginal sites.

A surprising amount of archaeological data can be recovered during uncontrolled site destruction if the recording technique involved (1) eliminates as much time-consuming writing as possible, and (2) is permanent enough to be of use during laboratory analysis. The use of audio-visual equipment and color-coded datum points seems to fulfill these requirements and has been successfully tested in the two-day salvage of 4-Mer-66, a small Yokuts Indian mound in Dos Palos, California.

A method for making duplicates of projectile points or other ethnic artifacts is presented. A two-piece mold of RTV silicone rubber is made over the object. Cold-cure acrylic, colored with dry pigment, is incorporated in the mold to produce a replica of the original artifact, in both color and texture.

Dental hygiene devices can be used to clean artifacts. Dirt and debris can quickly, easily, and safely be flushed from very delicate materials.