Microscopic identification and chemical reagents are used to identify organic use residues on stone tools. A basic distinction is made between plant and animal residues on stone tools from prehistoric sites in east central Arizona. Morphological identification undertaken in a crime lab independently supports the chemical technique. Other possible techniques and controls are discussed, as well as the implications for further research.

This paper explores the hypothesis that the archaeological Olmecs, at least in part, were speakers of Mixe-Zoquean languages. The hypothesis is supported by not only geographical and temporal correlation, but by Mixe-Zoquean loan words in other Mesoamerican languages, many of which refer to things diagnostic of the Mesoamerican culture area. Also the cultural inventory revealed in Proto-Mixe-Zoquean vocabulary provides additional support.

Walls surrounding three sites in northwest Yucatan, Mexico, were observed in aerial photography. The walls are thought to have been constructed during the Pure Florescent (Terminal Classic) period and to postdate the architectural complexes at the sites they surround. The photographs also show causeways connecting satellite communities with major centers; these are interpreted as Classic period attempts at boundary maintenance. The apparent trend toward increased severity of such activity through time is considered the result of demographic, social, and ecological factors.

A set of modern Tijuana vessels has been used to test some solutions to problems involved in the reconstruction of the morphology and capacity of vessels in ceramic assemblages. The technique employs morphological criteria to partition and reconstruction the modern assemblage. The results of these experiments are described.

Although archaeologists have experimented with computers since the early 1960s, with a few exceptions, the concept of an archaeological data bank has not been readily accepted. The authors believe that data banks can be usable tools, but that they will be used only if they are designed to satisfy realistic and precisely defined needs, and only if adequate consideration is given to data structures, human problems, and theoretical issues. Just finding the right computer system is not enough.

A collection of lithic material from a site in the lower Tennessee River valley contains Paleoindian projectile points, uniface, and biface tools. Since few projectile points of Archaic types are included, there are implications that the rather extensive biface industry is of Late Paleoindian origin, contrary to the accepted idea that biface industries occur extensively only in post-Paleoindian occupations.

For the past several decades, students of the Central Plains tradition have postulated a south-to-north trend of movement by the bearers of this tradition. Such a pattern should be detectable by means of a trend-surface analysis of the available radiocarbon dates. This paper reports such an analysis. The trend is found to be largely supported by the chronological evidence.

The assumption that a high proportion of immature herd ungulates in an archaeological site indicates a domestic population implies (a) there is a 'natural' population structure common to all wild herds, and (b) predators will kill a representative sample of this population. We challenge these implications by demonstrating that wide variations occur in the population structures of non-domestic herds, in the vulnerability of age and sex classes to predation, and in the selective hunting of herd animals by predators, including man. We conclude that the initial assumption cannot be sustained.

Recent geomorphic investigations in central California coupled with a re-evaluation of radiocarbon determinations from one Farmington complex locus provide a base for a more explicit definition of the age of this alleged Paleoindian manifestation. Flaked stone implements were apparently buried in gravels deposited during terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene times when channel filling occurred in the Sierra Nevada foothill drainages. The radiocarbon dates do not support the geologic interpretations. However, because of the charcoal"s stratigraphic context the dates are considered the product of later events.

An iron-nickel bead from Mound 9 at Havana, Illinois is distinctly different from samples from the Hopewell and Turner Mounds in Ohio. Whereas the source of the Ohio material appears to have been the Brenham, Kansas meteorite, there is no known North American meteorite having a composition closely similar to that of the Havana bead.

Recent studies have demonstrated that the flaking characteristics of certain siliceous stone materials are enhanced by carefully controlled annealing and that intentional annealing was indeed practiced by prehistoric Native Americans. A note of caution is extended here to investigators who might extend evidence for thermally altered siliceous stone from a site to interpretations that intentional annealing was practiced at the site. The use of fire in quarrying has a long history throughout the world, and much heat-treated material from sites may have been thermally altered unintentionally, the result of quarrying practices.

It has been known since 1972 that Ponce de Leon discovered Yucatan in 1513. New information confirming this is found in the books of Chilam Balam where the Maya record that the Spanish first arrived in their land at that time. The sundry data indicate that 8 July 1513 (N.S.) falls in Tun 13 of Katun 2 Ahau. This relation provides a new test for correlations of the Maya and Christian calendars. The Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation passes the test and the Morley-Spinden correlation fails it.

A watovi is one of the most important Colonial Spanish sites in the New World. A Franciscan mission was established on Antelope Mesa in northern Arizona in 1629 and was maintained until 1701. This was the area of the first introduction of many of the European domestic animals among the pueblo Indians. Native dogs as well as the remains of the first recovered Spanish greyhound are discussed.

A basic, effective, water-conserving flotation system is described. Reference to this procedure's adaptability to various research goals and suggestions concerning the presentation of the material to the analyst are discussed.

Although the eastern lowlands of Costa Rica have seen little scientific archaeology, recent stratigraphic test excavations have outlined a ceramic sequence of almost 1,500 years in the region. The earliest ceramic complex in this sequence, El Bosque, has been radiocarbon dated to the first few centuries after Christ. Stylistically, the El Bosque complex resembles material from contemporary periods in adjacent regions (Zoned Bichrome, Aguas Buenas), but also shares many ceramic modes with the Colombian site of Momil. A carbonized maize cob from an El Bosque midden is eight-rowed Pollo, an ancient race of South American maize. Evidence is presented supporting the hypothesis that aboriginal cultural traditions in eastern Costa Rica were basically part of a northern South American tropical forest pattern.

The use of xeroradiography as a new archaeological tool is illustrated in the study of ceramic, stone, and wood artifacts. A brief comparison with conventional x-ray is given.

The ceramic assemblage which characterizes the enigmatic Tlatilco burials is duplicated in the stratigraphy of the El Terror phase at Iglesia Vieja, Morelos, where two components have been isolated and defined. The earlier of the two is found to be regional, pre-eminent, and pre-Olmec, rather than Olmec-inspired as previously thought. Radiocarbon dates from charcoal associated with Olmec figurines and vessels are as early as those from the Olmec heartland.

The results of an experiment applying orthophoto mapping techniques to the Loeve-Fox site in Central Texas are presented. This new mapping technique is described and suggestions for its application to archaeological situations are made.

Valdivia-related ceramics found near Lake San Pablo (Imbabura) demonstrate that this area was in contact with coastal Ecuador prior to 2000 B.C. The interaction between the coast and highlands is attributed to the existence of trade routes which probably originated in preceramic times. It is suggested that coca was among the scarce resources which attracted trade to the northern highlands.