Prehistoric ridged fields and canals were recognized from the air in 1968 along the Candelaria River of Campeche, Mexico, in the vicinity of sites described by E. Willys Andrews in 1943. These remains were subsequently identified by Scholes and Roys as the settlements of Acalan, a native province along the route of the journey by Cortes to Honduras. Ground exploration in 1969 and 1970 has suggested that the fields were used over a considerable period of time under a system of diversified horticulture. The extensive canal system apparently provided access from the rivers to firm ground and allowed shortcuts and bypasses alongside the rivers themselves. The landscape suggests a considerable prehistoric population, vigorously engaged in major public works projects over a large area. It invites further integrated investigation of its past human ecology, particularly for information on variants of basic Lowland Maya subsistence patterns and the new perspectives this may give on the structure, success and demise of this civilization. An earlier version of this paper was read at the 39th International Congress of Americanists in Lima, 1970.

Tables are presented which give the rise-set azimuths of prominent celestial bodies and the heliacal rise-set dates of bright stars for a combination of epochs, latitudes, and horizon elevations.

Native made glass pendants have long been known in the upper Missouri region, but it is not generally realized these also have appeared east of the Mississippi River. The find sites and their dates are discussed and the context of the pendants where known. Indications are that the differences evident in the sizes and shapes of the pendants may be due to temporal factors. A previous estimate of 1798 for the time of the origin of the craft must be changed and evidence from the east suggests a beginning at least as early as 1730.

Salvage operations were carried out at an extensively pot-hunted Zoned Bichrome period (300 B.C. to A.D. 300) cemetery in northwestern Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. This is the first "pure" Zoned Bichrome site of this type to be studied and yielded a cross-section of ceramics representative of other Late Formative sites in the area and of contact with the Maya lowlands. In addition, it solidified the impression of this period being an entity distinct from subsequent regional developments. This distinction is seen in terms of adaptation to the exploitation of marine mollusca, a pattern not present in Zoned Bichrome sites known at the present time, but very important in succeeding Polychrome periods.

The existence of a new early tradition of polychrome painting (Caño del Oso) has been revealed through recent archaeological excavations in the western Venezuelan Llanos. This tradition seems to be much older than Tocuyano, which up to the present yielded the oldest absolute dates not only for Venezuela, but also for the Caribbean, Central America, and Mesoamerica. The chronological position of the Cano del Oso polychrome pottery, its characteristics, and the lack of stylistic relationships with Tocuyano, enabled the formulation of 2 hypotheses regarding the place of origin of the technique: Venezuela or Colombia. Likewise it permitted the assumption that within Venezuela, polychrome painting spread from one local group to another independently from other ceramic traits.

Archaeological finds from the Leavenworth and Sully sites in South Dakota have served to revive interest in the use of native-made glass beads by the Arikara and neighboring tribes of the Upper Missouri region. Although the distribution of these objects and the techniques involved in their manufacture are known, little has been said concerning their function. Ethnographic data suggests that one type of native-made bead, the sub-triangular pendant, was a forelock ornament employed in a ceremony known as the Blue Bead rite. Associations of native-made pendants with skulls from the Leavenworth site would tend to support this hypothesis.

The rapid decomposition of organic remains under tropical forest conditions forces the archaeologist to rely entirely upon soil characteristics, indestructible artifacts, and refuse deposition patterns for his cultural interpretations. Such evidence is used to identify a unifunctional turtle harvesting encampment on the lower Aguatia River in eastern Peru.

In an earlier article, we presented a model for the culture history of the Columbia Plateau. In response to comment about this model, we have clarified our definition of the emergence of Plateau culture and have elaborated on the appearance of both blade and microblade industries in the area.

Cultivated plants are sometimes considered good indicators of cultural contact because the same plant cannot be invented independently in distinct regions. Some crops no doubt did spread from a single center, but other, more complex, histories have also to be considered. In some groups different species were domesticated in different areas, so before the archaeological record can be interpreted, it is important that the specimens be securely identified to species. Other crops have differentiated further under cultivation so that distinct races are characteristic of different parts of the total area. Another possibility is independent domestication of the same crop in different areas. If this is demonstrated, then presence of this crop in sites in these areas does not constitute evidence of contact. Only after these possibilities have been eliminated may presence of the same crop in different cultures suggest contact between them.

Chemical analyses of soil samples from the Utz site, Missouri, provide results which make it possible to distinguish between soil stains of human origin (postmolds) and similar stains produced by other agencies (for example, rodents). Based on the comparison of the concentrations of magnesium and phosphates in the stains with those of the immediately surrounding soil, postmolds were correctly identified with 96% accuracy in a limited sample. Other soil disturbances in the site (bulldozer drag, an old excavation, and so forth) were also localized on chemical grounds during the course of the research.

Sheffer's contention that I have skewed data to suit my purposes is denied. I suggest that it is, rather, he who misuses my data.

Recent excavations at the Valdivia site (G-31) have led to the discovery of a pre-Valdivia pottery complex named San Pedro, and of apparently preceramic occupation layers, below deposits of the Valdivia phase. A description of the San Pedro pottery is offered and the implications of the new evidence are discussed.

Archival source materials and colonial period maps have been employed to reconstruct the settlement pattern characteristic of the chinampa districts of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. The evidence includes detailed descriptions of a number of individual residential sites and chinampa holdings, which can be drawn to scale on street maps of the modern city. Genealogies and census data have been employed to determine the average size and social composition of typical urban households. Rough estimates of the economic value of urban chinampa holdings in relation to individual households, and to the urban population as a whole, indicate much higher levels of non-agricultural economic specialization, and a more complete dependence of the city on agrarian support areas outside the city than previously supposed.

Eighteen analyses are presented for 12 different Moche copper pedestal cups. Eight of the cups were made from naturally-occurring copper metal ore; the remaining 4 from copper obtained by smelting of complex oxidized ores. The use of both ore types suggests either a matter of convenience or technology in transition. In general, these people possessed a more advanced level of metallurgical technology than their utilization of primitive naturally-occurring copper metal implies.

I explain my "failure" to familiarize myself with Carneiro's more recent attempts to arrive at "laws" of cultural evolution, and go on to critically evaluate his 1968 paper. I attempt to demonstrate that Carneiro's "law" is not applicable to cultural development in general, and that it is neither quantitative in application nor a law.