No archaeological remains which the majority of specialists will accept as Archaic have been found in the Mississippi Valley from the mouth of Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico. Despite this, the literature reflects a general acceptance of the belief that the Archaic stage is well represented in the Lower Valley. The presence of concentrated Archaic populations in northern Alabama and western Tennessee and Kentucky has given comparative support to these expectations and has provided part of the source for some of the hypothetical statements in the literature of what the Lower Valley Archaic ought to be like. Although the failure of writers to agree on a definition of Archaic which will satisfy the evidence in all of the areas of Eastern United States has contributed to the problem of identifying Archaic materials in the Lower Valley, the lack of these remains can best be explained by the geology of the region. The cutting and filling of the Alluvial Valley during the Pleistocene changes in sea level have removed or buried all of the surfaces that might have been occupied by Archaic peoples. The surface of the Alluvial Valley is everywhere less than 5000 years old. Possible Late Archaic sites are located on old stable beach ridges or near enough to the Pleistocene terraces not to have been included in the general pattern of Recent coastal subsidence. It is concluded that Archaic or earlier materials are absent in the Lower Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River. Neither Tchefuncte nor Copell are accepted as Archaic; Poverty Point is viewed as transitional from an Upper Archaic tradition to some phase of the Formative stage. Poverty Point materials may not be expected to be found in quantity along the Gulf Coast of the Mississippi Delta region.

Stratigraphic interpretation rests on two principles: the principle of superposition and the principle that deposition units can be identified by cultural content. The sequence of deposition units derived from a case of superposition may not give a true cultural sequence if mixing, filling, or collecting has affected the cultural contents of the units. There are two kinds of seriation: evolutionary seriation, done on the basis of an assumed general law of cultural development, and similary seriation, done on the basis of similarities and differences in objects or deposition units compared. Similiary seriation assumes only that cultural change is normally gradual. Of the two kinds of seriation, only similiary seriation can give credible results. Some evidence of archaeological associations is necessary to control the possibility of non-gradual change resulting from sudden outside influence or archaism. If the conditions for success can be met, either stratigraphy or seriation can provide a credible sequence. Each method provides a check on the other; the most credible results are achieved by combining the two.

A significant working difference between the mode and type is seen to lie in the greater tendency of the former to reappear on different time levels. In part, this is because more opportunity exists for the chance reduplication of an isolated feature than for a group of integrated attributes. Consideration of the flange-and-ridge and the everted-rim traditions in Maya ceramics focuses attention on additional factors which may help to account for the reappearance of modes. The possibility is recognized of refuge zones where traits continued, later to diffuse back to the centers of the investigation. Primary theoretical consideration is given to the modification of traits through the elaboration of traditions and the possibility that this process sometimes led to the reinvention or resurgence of once popular forms. Such a process is based on the potter's wish to create something slightly different while working within the technico-stylistic bounds of a tradition. This may occasionally lead to a recombination of elements that approximate older forms (low level reinvention) or to a twist that imparts fresh interest to a dying form — hence renewed recognition of the mode by the investigator following its complete disappearance in his archaeological samples.

The results of seven months of archaeological reconnaissance in the Tzeltal-Tzotzil-speaking area of Chiapas are described. Occupation is found to have consisted only of a few, small, widely dispersed centers during the Preclassic period. During the latter part of the Early Classic period there is evidence of a considerable increase in population, and by Late Classic times nucleated ceremonial-dwelling centers were widely distributed on steep, easily defended headlands. Despite great variation in the size of individual settlements, it is argued that independent communities rather than regional coalitions were the prevailing form of socio-political organization. This pattern was replaced gradually during the Postclassic period by one in which more intensive use was made of the larger, more strategically located valleys. Closely spaced, functionally interdependent groups of communities emerged, and probably were increasingly subject to new and more coercive patterns of political, as well as religious, control. At the time of the Spanish conquest hostilities and trade with other Mesoamerican groups were increasing rapidly, but the region as a whole still remained relatively tarriant and isolated.

Cogged stones are one of the few classes of artifacts which are limited in occurrence to the “middle” period of southern California's prehistory. They are stone discs, 6⅛ inches or less in diameter, characterized by grooves or indentations in the edge. On the basis of the nature of the latter and of the presence or absence of perforation they are described in four types. Some of the variations may have historical significance, but this cannot be proven with the data at hand. Few specimens have been excavated under controlled conditions. The distribution is virtually limited to the coastal drainage south of Ventura County and appears to center along the Santa Ana River Valley. According to the interpretation of coastal chronology employed, cogged stones were made during the period 6000-3500 B.C. Their use is unknown, but the absence of any pattern of wear and the conjunctions of certain of the specimens suggest that they served some ritual function.

A major problem in Mesoamerican prehistory is whether the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán in the Valley of Mexico was constructed in a single building operation as has long been assumed by many Mesoamerican specialists. Because the Pyramid appears to be the earliest monumental structure at Teotihuacán and because it is so immense, some archaeologists have suggested that a foreign elite was responsible for its construction. With this and other problems in mind the tunnels in the interior of the Pyramid were re-examined in 1959 for evidence of earlier structures. A modest stone-faced structure was found within it, but it is so small as not to alter significantly the conclusions of earlier investigators concerning the building of the Pyramid in one operation. However, an obsidian figurine offering found in the northwest corner of the small structure, together with other evidence, suggests that the Teotihuacán “great tradition” was coming into being early in the Tzacualli (Teotihuacán I) phase under the leadership of an incipient elite which seems to have been developing indigenously at Teotihuacán. While the problem of the enormous size of the Pyramid remains, evidence suggests that its solution lies at Teotihuacán rather than elsewhere.

Stone circles known as tipi rings are a common feature of the Northern and Northwestern Plains of western North America. There are several types of stone circles: (1) a single course of stone in a simple circle; (2) more complex circles with several courses of stones; (3) circular walls made of piled-up stones; (4) corrals or forts of horizontal logs and stones; (5) stone circles of unusual size or with lines of rocks inside the circle. Studies of tipi-ring sites in Montana, Wyoming, and adjacent regions are summarized. The clusters of circles are usually found along main routes of travel and near water, fuel, and good hunting areas. Although many of these sites have been mapped, only a few of them have been excavated. Despite the paucity of cultural remains found in the excavations, the tipi-ring clusters are generally considered to be the archaeological remains of camps and villages of people who dwelt in conical, skin-covered lodges. The stones are believed to have been used to hold the skin lodge cover snug against the ground. Historical records, ethnographic observations, and the recollections of present-day Indian informants confirm these interpretations. Data from 136 recently studied tipi-ring sites along a 300-mile pipe-line from Greenriver, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, provide further archaeological demonstration of the domestic origin of the tipi rings. Only the very small or very large rings, or those with spokes or lines of rocks through them, such as the so-called medicine wheels, are considered to have served a ceremonial purpose.

The chronological sequence for figurine types along the west coast of Mexico has been worked out from stratigraphic excavations at Amapa, Nayarit. Twenty-seven types of figurines are defined and placed in chronological position. There is an early group correlating with the Classic period of Central Mexico, and a late group correlating with the Postclassic.

Ultrasonic cleaning, a technique of wide industrial application, is suggested as applicable to archaeological artifacts. Speed and superior cleanliness ought to be its principal merits. A review of various ultrasonic methods and some pilot tests reveal an incapacity to handle large quantities of dirt. Preliminary cleaning may solve this problem. Two direct mechanical methods of ultrasonic cleaning are proposed as they offer simplicity, ruggedness, economy, and field adaptability.

Because fresh-water dams are flooding areas faster than archaeologists can investigate them, it has become urgent to develop a method of underwater archaeological research. Some technical equipment, such as “scuba” and other devices used by amateur divers, is already available. This, together with specialized techniques, some already developed, makes it possible to carry on archaeological research under water. The action of water is not always destructive. In fact, certain kinds of lakes act to preserve objects, either organic or metallic, which would be destroyed out of water. The objective of underwater research, then, would be twofold: (1) to recover data endangered by too long exposure to the destructive action of water, and (2) to recover data protected by the preservative action of water.

This shell study was designed to test and perfect methods of quantitative analysis in addition to providing the usual identification of species. Experiments were performed to determine the optimum size of sample, dimension of screen, number of samples, and the practicability of rapid analysis in the field to guide the progress of excavation. Analysis of variance was used to measure up to five variables at once; differences were shown graphically with direction of change indicated by a least-squares regression line. The analysis of 69 excavation units revealed an overwhelming preference for mud-dwelling species which showed no change in horizontal distribu-give guidance to the excavation team. Used with dry-weight analysis, field sorting would also indicate areas of richer occupation debris in time for this information to be useful. The use of applied mathematics in midden analysis adds a precise tool to the archaeological inventory. The data compiled on screen size, sample size, horizontal and vertical distributions, and such, were subjected to the analysis of variance, and where significant difference was indicated, the statistics were fitted to a regression line by the least-squares method. By using standardized systems and quantitative analysis, the archaeologist may obtain convincing evidence to support his conclusions. These procedures would be equally applicable to the study of skeletal, artifactual, or other ecological remains, and would add authority to the theories derived from such analysis.

A collection of artifacts found in the lip of a terrace of the Blanchard River in northwestern Ohio comes from 17 presumably ancient sites which had not been used by peoples of Archaic and later stages of culture development. The artifacts are made of fine-grained cherty rock which is not known to occur in the region. The tools consist of fluted and other kinds of points, a wide variety of scrapers, “utilized flakes” with sheared edges or edges made by a high quality pressure retouch, gravers, burinlike tools, and other specialized artifacts. It is suggested that these may represent an occupation of the region by pre-Archaic stage peoples.

In some instances it is very difficult to distinguish between cord-impressed and fabric-impressed surfaces on aboriginal pottery. This problem is discussed with particular reference to a protohistoric Woodland jar from western Michigan. It is suggested that fabric impressing and cord marking are closely related techniques which stem from the same cultural tradition.

The Vesignié collection of North American stone artifacts, at the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine in Paris, contains a number of fluted points from Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. Most of these points seem to fit in the Clovis category, with a few Cumberland and Enterline-like examples.

Vaillant's geographic and stylistic term, Mixteca-Puebla, is rapidly and unfortunately being supplanted by an ethnic and linguistic term, Mixtec, which has rather suddenly become a popular label for the final pictorial horizon style of much of Mesoamerica. The well-known dangers of using an ethnic or linguistic term for an archaeological manifestation are intensified in this case by the lack of systematic archaeological work in the Mixteca region. The great mercantile and religious center of Nahua-speakers rather than Mixtec-speakers at Cholula is suggested as the origin of the almost pan-Mesoamerican diffusion of the Mixteca-Puebla style in Postclassic times. Thus, Mixteca-Puebla, not Mixtec, should be used to describe this style which flourished in and probably originated somewhere in a geographic region dominated in late preconquest times by Nahua-speakers in the north and Mixtec-speakers in the south.

A comparison of Adena and Hopewell trait lists by a correlation scatterplot based on the Q technique is offered as an illustration of the use of a descriptive statistic to reduce the degree of similarity between two cultures to an index which defines a point on a dissimilarity-similarity continuum.