The earliest literary reference to a fluted point occurs in a work written in 1722 by Francisco Ximenez. This specimen and others from Guatemala are discussed in the light of recent discoveries from neighboring areas.

Paleodemography is a useful adjunct to archaeological reconstruction, but as a research tool it is relatively new and requires further study. This paper reports on a project in which the life-table method of modeling demographic processes, based on a sexed and aged sample from the community ossuary, was tested against census records of the population structure. Data were taken from cemetery headstones in a township in central Indiana, spanning the period from its first settlement by Euroamerican farmers in 1830 through 1972. Life-expectancy estimates produced from the life tables were essentially identical to those produced from federal census data. Paleodemographic models of population structure were statistically different from census tabulations but were similar in form, representing a "smoothed" estimate of age structure.

Several solar alignments were found for the east window of Room 44 at Wupatki. Analysis shows that these alignments were the accidental products of National Park Service construction and not the intended design of the original builders of the pueblo. This analysis provides an excellent example of the problems inherent in archaeoastronomical and architectural studies at "reconstructed" and stabilized sites.

An ethnographic and archaeological sample of 142 stone-tipped arrows and atlatl darts has been analyzed from several points of view. The raw data provide some quantitative measures against which unknown archaeological specimens can be compared. Several assumptions regarding projectile points are examined, and statistical analysis determines how much can be reasonably inferred about the entire artifact, given only the stone tip. Discriminant analysis further indicates how these 2 groups differ, and classification equations have been derived to classify unknown points as arrowheads or dart points. While separation is not perfect, the results indicate that arrowheads can be quantitatively distinguished from dart points with some degree of accuracy.

The reuse of certain categories of artifacts combined with natural site formation processes, such as sedimentation and erosion, is suggested to result in the disproportionate occurrence of “large” artifacts on the surface of sites. This phenomenon, known as the size effect, is investigated with artifact assemblage data from several stratified Eastern North American sites.

This article reports on a continuing study of the stoneworking technology of the Lindenmeier Folsom. Production time, sequential stages of manufacture, and fluting technique are examined and discussed on the basis of extensive replication and experimentation, as well as of macroscopic and microscopic analysis of one of the original Lindenmeier Folsom assemblages. Results of this study indicate that simplicity of technique, along with desired form, were crucial factors in the decision making associated with the production of the Lindenmeier Folsom.

Citations analysis, which has become a standard research tool in a growing number of scientific fields, provides the basis for a study of changes in research orientations in Americanist archaeology. In a preliminary report, several trends recognizable in citations from American Antiquity are indicated. Especially apparent are those studies that deal with processual issues.

The replicated collection of the surface of a site provides one way of learning more about a site during survey work. Examples of the use of this technique at 2 sites in southern Italy are presented. The suggestion is made that the site surface in some cases can be viewed as operating as a biased multinomial sampling process. A statement of this hypothesis in formal terms is given.

Many of the constructs of space, time and behavior in the ethnographic literature on hunter-gatherers may be partly determined by the severe constraints on ethnographic fieldwork. This paper discusses the genesis of some of these constructs, points out that the anthropological theory consumed by archaeologists is often based on, or developed for these constructs, and suggests that some of these constructs may be insensitive to deal with behavioral variability expressed in the archeological record, even though they can be made to fit any data. Their application to the archaeological record may merely be ethnography with a shovel in which the form and the structure of the ethnographic record are reproduced in the archaeological one.

The amount of pressure exerted per unit area is critical in microwear formation. Previous researchers have incorrectly assumed that amount of pressure per unit area can be controlled by controlling the amount of external pressure [i.e., load] applied during implement usage. Research has shown that even when the external force is constant, the fracture threshold varies depending on the amount of implement edge is contact with a worked item. Since edge contact varies considerably between functionally distinct classes of artifacts, a large amount of “noise” may have been inadvertently introduced into previous experimental results. This poses a significant problem, which must be addressed by future researchers.

Two types of government contracts, the firm fixed price and the cost reimbursement, are discussed in the context of archaeological research. The major features of these types of contracts are presented so that the archaeologist may more fully understand some basic contracting procedures and requirements that may directly affect archaeological work.

A new technique for the measurement of artifact angles is presented. A clay impression of an edge is made, the angle of the edge is then measured with a 6X comparator equipped with an angle measuring reticle. The technique is compared with other angle measuring techniques currently in use. Additional measurement capabilities of the comparator are also presented.