Analytic classification consists of forming successive series of classes, referring to different features of artifacts. Each class is characterized by one or more attributes which indicate a custom to which the artisan conformed, for example, a technique of manufacture, or a concept which he expressed in the artifacts, such as a design. These customs and concepts constitute modes. They are “procedural modes” when they refer to behavior of artisans and “conceptual modes” when they consist of ideas which artisans have expressed in artifacts.

Taxonomic classification consists of formulating a single set of classes, one for each kind of artifact in the collection. Each class is characterized by two or more modes, selected from among the total number of modes obtainable by means of analytic classification. The modes diagnostic of each class constitute its type. If diagnostic modes are selected for their time-space significance, the resultant types are “historical.” If the diagnostic modes are selected for what they indicate about the intrinsic nature of the artifacts, the types are “descriptive.”

The situations under which it is best to use either procedural or conceptual modes or historical or descriptive types are discussed and it is concluded that all four kinds of units are essential for the complete interpretation of archaeological remains.

The system of ceramic taxonomy presented by Phillips for use in the Southeast is considered to be too formal and rigid. While it attempts to serve the same functions as the currently used concepts of type and variety, the proposed new system would be considerably more complex in its application. The ceramic type, as currently defined and used, is well adapted for establishing skeletal chronicle. Any modification would lessen its usefulness. A greater emphasis on including descriptive classes in reports is offered as more valuable than the adoption of a formal taxonomy. The content of the classes cannot be determined prior to description, whereas the formal taxonomy prescribes the content of each taxonomic unit. These classes would increase the utility of sherd collections by making available data which can be applied to problems, such as those of process, for which neither the type nor the proposed new varieties are suitable.

The method being used to analyze pottery from Uaxactún and Barton Ramie by the application of the type-variety concept is offered as an analytical approach well suited to the classification of Maya ceramics. Types and varieties are seen as the best archaeological approximation of the ceramic abstractions which existed in the prehistoric cultural configuration. The systematic application of the type-variety concept will make it possible to establish analytical ceramic units which will be comparable throughout the Maya territory, to undertake detailed chronological and areal studies, especially in areas away from the ceremonial centers, and to use ceramics as a step toward cultural interpretation. Considerable attention is given to the procedure of analysis and to the problem of naming the resulting analytical ceramic units. The most desirable nomenclature is illustrated by Aguacate Orange [type]: Holha Variety. Place names have been used for the primary type term and for the variety name, but a descriptive term is used for the second part of the type name. The desirability of keeping the variety flexible and free of bias or prejudice stemming from the nomenclature is stressed. The variety is the smallest meaningful unit of classification in the type-variety method. Sorting, naming, and tabulating begin with varieties which, in turn, lead to the recognition, naming and description of types.

This discussion deals with the theoretical reasoning that underlies the type-variety method of ceramic analysis. Not only do pottery "types" and “varieties” embody sets of recognizably distinct attributes and impart particular cultural, areal, and temporal connotations, but they are also meaningful entities of cultural interpretation.

1. 1. “Varieties” that have been tested by continued close study and by increases in knowledge concerning their nature and range of variation are close approximations and reliable indicators of original ceramic manifestations due to individual or small social group variation in a society.

2. 2. Ceramic "types" represent the combining of a number of attributes into abstract conceptions which, when executed in clay by potters, are acceptable to them and a majority of others within their cultural configuration. Types are summations of individual or small social group variation consistent with boundaries imposed by the interaction of individuals on a societal level and determined by the operative value system present in any society. Pottery types are therefore representative of cultural phenomena.

3. 3. Ceramic types are cultural derivatives and can be related one to another through space and time. Relationships of this kind are recognized as “ceramic systems” and “ceramic sequences.”

The recent development of efficient free-diving apparatus has made possible underwater exploration for both sport and science. Human and cultural remains underwater are being extensively exploited. Although the term “underwater archaeology” is frequently applied to such activities, most are at the best only underwater salvage. Archaeological remains in lakes, springs, rivers, or the sea have considerable to offer. Perhaps their greatest value is the more complete condition of such artifacts in contrast to similar remains on land. However, they often suffer from decomposition, impregnation with minerals, or incrustation by algae or corals. Although context and sequential (or stratigraphic) position are not so easily found or recognized as on land, they are present in many cases. Any body of water is a possible site of study, but in practice, areas of potential importance are limited by location, depth, visibility, and bottom factors. There are four major types of underwater archaeological sites: (1) discarded refuse and “lost” material; (2) submerged sites of former human occupation; (3) shrines or places of offerings; and (4) shipwrecks.

A reconnaissance of Maya ruins in northeastern Petén, Guatemala, reveals a heavy but dispersed type of settlement during the Classic period, with the dispersion conditioned principally by availability of water supply and by suitable terrain for building. The types of archaeological remains described are House Ruins, Minor Ceremonial Centers, and Major Ceremonial Centers. Settlement is seen as having been organized into (1) “clusters” of from five to 12 houses, (2) aggregates of clusters forming township-like zones of from 50 to 100 houses, each of which had a Minor Ceremonial Center as its functional nucleus, and (3) aggregates of zones forming large province-like “districts,” each of which had a Major Ceremonial Center as its functional nucleus. These units are described and discussed. Some consideration is also given to problems of water supply, population, and agriculture. Reference is made to the ruin of Topoxté, a town or small city of the Postclassic period located on a group of islands in Lake Yaxhá.

The Fremont culture of northeastern Utah is predominately Anasazi in character, but has a few distinctive traits. It exhibits great variability, especially in ceramics and architecture. The total time span of this complex may be the 250-year period from A.D. 950 to 1200. The Fremont culture, and probably the very similar Sevier culture of western Utah, represent a rather sudden northward movement of traits, and perhaps people, from the independently-developed, but Kayenta-influenced Virgin branch of the Anasazi.

Antillean petroglyphic art reached its highest development in the technical excellence and lively artistic expression of the many petroglyphs in Puerto Rico. This report is the beginning of a systematic study of Puerto Rican and Antillean petroglyphs which is intended to trace stylistic developments through the Antilles to South American points of origin. Sixty surface prints were made at 13 sites in three regions of Puerto Rico, but only those from Salto Arriba, Icacos, and Caonillas are discussed in detail. The simple and accurate, though time-consuming method of surface printing is fully explained. There are two distinct local types or styles of petroglyphs in addition to the simple curvilinear and abstract designs. The swaddled infant type appears at least as early as Rouse's Period III and represents the beginning of a local petroglyph style. The later Capá type reaches its final stage during Period IV. This study confirms Rouse's placement of the Puerto Rican petroglyphs in his Periods III and IV (A.D. 350-1584), and demonstrates the development of local petroglyph styles parallel to the development and spread of Taino culture.

Three Mixtec human sacrificial knives of the late Postclassic period were found in 1957 at the Cuicatec village of San Andres Papalo in northern Oaxaca, Mexico. They were being used to sacrifice chickens and turkeys as offerings in curing ceremonies at a ruined prehistoric site on top of the mountain which rises above the village. Offerings of food and drink are made to the spirit of thunder who lives on the mountain top and who has power to control longevity and cure the sick. The three knives and a conch trumpet were stored in a ceremonial cave near the village. One wooden handle is plain; the others are carved to represent a human hand and the head of a serpent. The handles lack the elaborate mosaic decoration which distinguishes the few prehistoric sacrificial knives in museum collections. These three knives constitute material evidence for the survival of a prehistoric ritual system which involved the making of blood sacrifice to rain gods on mountain tops. The shift from human to animal sacrificial victims is probably the major change in the prehistoric pattern.

A series of papers at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, in Salt Lake City in 1959, was devoted to Developments in Dating Techniques, and dedicated to Nels C. Nelson in recognition of his pioneering role in establishing the technique of stratigraphic excavation in America. During his work in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico in 1914 he dug a series of ten 1-foot levels, classified all the sherds found in them into seven types, and calculated their frequencies by levels. These resembled sections of normal distribution curves, and demonstrated that statistical analysis of data from arbitrary levels could reveal chronological change just as could data from physically distinct strata. Within a few years this technique was employed by several other archaeologists and it continues to the present to be an indispensable technique of investigation.

The archaeological content of ten years of Life magazine is analyzed in an attempt to identify what may go into formulating the public's images of the archaeologist and his goals. The four themes which appear in the 34 Life articles are: chance nature of archaeological discovery, role of the archaeologist as an expert, emphasis on technical knowledge and skills, and heavy use of superlatives. Analysis of other mass media, including fiction and cartoons, might lead to the identification of other themes. The image of archaeology presented by mass communication is considered important in a science so dependent upon public cooperation.

The small agricultural slip formerly used with horses or mules for dirt removal on farms and railroads is an efficient and inexpensive device for two or three men with a pick-up truck to use for moving back dirt.

The striking of long, slender, parallel-sided flakes, or blades, from prepared cores has long been known in the Arctic and Mesoamerica. Small pointed blades with distinctive triangular cross section are also found in the Late Horizon in both mainland and island Canaliño sites in that part of the Santa Barbara Channel region of southern California which was ethnographically occupied by the Chumash.

Chemical and microscopic examination of building materials from Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, and Labná demonstrate the presence of all the building elements previously identified at Comalcalco, Las Flores, and Palenque: mortar, plaster, stucco, wash coat, and lime-aggregate. The building elements at these Puuc sites differ from those at Comalcalco and Las Flores in the use of non-marine sources of lime, greater strength, and generally smoother composition. They differ from the Palenque building elements in the lack of multi-laminate structure and the absence of very smooth and highly worked outer surfaces. It is possible that some form of lime other than that obtained by burning limestone was used. An inclusion of gypsum found at Uxmal is the only such component identified at any of the Mesoamerican sites studied so far.

An obsidian fluted point was found on the slope of a gorge near San Rafael, just west of Guatemala City. The point probably washed from hills on the thick beds of volcanics through which the gorge is cut. This would confirm previous beliefs that the paleo-Indian occupation of the area post-dates the volcanics. The San Rafael point resembles the fluted points from Costa Rica and Durango, Mexico, and Clovis forms from the eastern United States. Thus, paleo-Indian influences from the north into Middle America may have been of predominately eastern rather than western origins.

Flints which were formed during different geological periods and which can be confused with Alibates flint occur in widely separated localities in west Texas and eastern New Mexico.

The lowest levels of the Simonsen site produced projectile points, scrapers, and knives in association with Bison occidentalis. The level is dated by radiocarbon at 6471 B.C. ± 520 years. The triangular, side-notched, and concave-based Simonsen point resembles points from the Turin and Hill sites in Iowa and the Logan Creek site in Nebraska. The close resemblances between the collections from the Simonsen site and the Logan Creek site, which is also radiocarbon dated, provide a basis for dating the essentially similar preceramic material from the Turin and Hill sites.

The geological study of rocks is oriented toward examining the nature of the rock by means of chemical analyses and by examination with the petrographic microscope. The problem of the archaeologist is one of identification for which the stereoscopic or binocular microscope is best suited. About 20 criteria have been used in identifying with a binocular microscope flints from archaeological sites in Oklahoma as part of a program to trace the sources for the several kinds of flint used in tool making.