Zooarchaeological hypotheses concerning prehistoric transport, processing decisions, and social stratification are often tested by correlating archaeological element frequencies with indices of the economic utility of carcass parts. Such indices have not been developed for one of the largest and most important mammals in Eastern Woodlands prehistory, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We present kilocalorie (Kcal) yields and return rates of meat and marrow from a sample of several white-tailed deer. We then compare the meat and marrow data with skeletal element abundance in two Late Archaic assemblages from New York and a Middle Woodland/early Late Woodland assemblage from Illinois. In both examples, archaeological element abundance is positively correlated with marrow yield and return rate, but negatively correlated or uncorrelated with meat yield and return rate. These results do not provide evidence for differential transport of higher meat-yield carcass parts, but instead may indicate differential processing of high-yield marrow bones after entire deer carcasses were transported to the sites.

Erlandson and Moss (2001) indicate one step to deciphering the taphonomic history of a deposit comprising numerous remains of aquatic organisms involves building a list of the nonhuman local carnivores. Such lists indicate potential, not actual, taphonomic agents, and the list they provide does not include one of the more significant potential accumulators of aquatic faunal remains—pinnipeds. Nor do they discuss the critical second step of taphonomic analysis that involves the writing of taphonomic histories based on signature criteria manifest as modifications to faunal remains.

Until more archaeologists, not just faunal analysts and taphonomists, recognize the range and variety of animals that can deposit marine or estuarine animal remains into archaeological localities, insufficient research attention will be paid to distinguishing taphonomic agents. As demonstrated elsewhere (Erlandson and Moss 2001), an understanding of the antiquity of coastal adaptations and the nature of marine resource use in certain contexts requires careful assessment of noncultural sources of faunal remains in coastal settings. To address such problems, understanding the ecology of those nonhuman animals whose taphonomic signatures can mimic some of the characteristics of hominid middens is crucial.

The later evolution of Chumash polities in various subareas, including the Channel Islands, has attracted considerable scholarly attention. Most investigations on this topic during the past decade have focused on economic and political evolution through the use of residential data (e.g., Arnold 1992a; Arnold, ed. 2001; Kennett 1998). Earlier, and now again with the publication of Gamble et al. (2001), cemetery data are marshaled to examine cultural change. While we applaud this recent effort, the utility of the results is constrained ultimately by factors including the representativeness of the excavated Malibu cemetery data, Mission period disruption of Ventureño Chumash culture, and insufficient attention to the consequences of mourning ceremonies. The authors add to an understanding of later Ventureño mortuary behavior, but their discussion conflates social ranking and political evolution. The results do not, contrary to their expectations, alter extant interpretations of Island Chumash production, specialization, and trade, nor the timing of changes in islanders' labor organization and political integration. The ultimate logical implication of their discussion would be that a single Chumash chiefdom evolved before (within?) the Middle period and operated in lockstep throughout the region—joining the Ventureño and Island Chumash at the political hip, so to speak. We see no evidence to support any part of this proposition for either of the subregions in question.

Dating of early Navajo residence and special use sites, ca. A.D. 1500-1775, has been hampered by a lack of datable materials and poor precision in radiocarbon results. Methods described in this paper use materials ubiquitous at early Navajo sites in northwestern New Mexico and employ a dual strategy involving tree-ring dating of nonarchitectural wood and thermoluminescence assay of ceramics and burned rock. Comparison of samples obtained from a number of sites near the Morris Site 1 pueblito indicates remarkable correspondence between tree-ring and thermoluminescence results. These techniques are argued to have considerable reliability for relatively recent cultural manifestations such as these early Navajo sites. Thermoluminescence in particular may be useful in protohistoric contexts where tree-ring dating is unavailable. The thermoluminescence technique has the added benefit of directly dating pottery sherds, which can be useful for developing ceramic cross-dating sequences.

Identifying the origins of simple chiefdoms in the archaeological record is a subject that has elicited significant debate among archaeologists working in the Chumash region. We address several significant issues raised by Arnold and Green concerning our interpretations of the mortuary data from the site of Malibu. We argue, contrary to their assertion of ambiguity, that when multiple lines of evidence are considered, a strong case can be made for the existence of sociopolitical complexity during the Middle period.