In the January issue of American Antiquity (Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 310–5) Alex D. Krieger, Dee Ann Suhm, and Edward B. Jelks have replied to my critical review of their publication, “An Introductory Handbook of Texas Archaeology” (Bulletin of the Texas Archaeological Society, Vol. 25, Austin, 1954) in very strong and highly personal terms. It is a temptation to reply in similar terms but it is probable that no useful purpose would be served by such action.

It has been 15 years since Phillips (1940) first segregated certain late exotic elements from the Southeastern United States and attempted an analysis of them with respect to their cultural position and origin. Waring and Holder (1945) studied these materials a few years later with the result that the entire assemblage was defined in terms of a ceremonial complex. Both of these papers and a subsequent one by Krieger (1945) treated the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex in terms of the whole of this area. Since then there have been few attempts to discuss the Cult with respect to its localized manifestations and in terms of the localized relationships to the broader ceremonial assemblage. An exception to this statement is to be found in a paper by Goggin (1947: 275–6).

The vast program of highway construction which our country has undertaken creates an urgent problem for all archaeologists, for the construction of these new highways will result in major changes in the roadways of every state and the inevitable destruction of great sections of our archaeological resources. This destruction need not result in the loss of scientific data, however, for the Eighty-fourth Congress included archaeological salvage as an integral part of the expanded highway program.

Paradoxically, in presenting fluted point measurements and proportions the percentage or ratio relationship of maximum (or minimum or average) fluting to total blade length is not completely a matter of mathematics. This seems to have escaped the notice of many students of the paleo-Indian flint industries. The problem involved has come to the attention of the writer in the course of studying several series of northeastern and Great Lakes area fluted points, with the result that he has been as frequently bewildered as enlightened in attempting to compare his data with those obtained by other archaeologists.

The article, “Local Grouping in Melanesia,” by H. Ian Hogbin and Camilla H. Wedgwood, published in Oceania (Vols. 23 and 24, pp. 241–76 and 58–76, 1953, Sydney), has considerable theoretical importance for the study of social organizational-settlement relationships. I take this somewhat belated opportunity to call it to the attention of American archaeological colleagues. Most of us, including myself, do not consult Oceania in the ordinary course of events. I am grateful to a colleague, S. W. Miles, and to a graduate student, Kwang-chih Chang, for bringing the article to my notice.

In July, 1956, I was requested by Harry B. Robinson, Chief Park Naturalist of Glacier National Park, to investigate 3 archaeological features reported to have been discovered in road construction through Marias Pass, along the southern boundary of Glacier Park. Boyd B. Gordon, Resident Engineer of the Bureau of Public Roads, in charge of the project, took me to the features in northwestern Montana, approximately 12 airline miles west of the Continental Divide, on Marias Pass between the Lewis Front Range and the Flathead Range. The site is situated on 2 flat benches high above the deep gorge of Crystal Creek and the floor of the Flathead River valley, about VA mile east of the juncture of the creek with the Middle Fork of the Flathead; its elevation is approximately 3600 feet, but it is surrounded by higher peaks such as Nyack Mountain, 4 miles southwest, which reaches 7760 feet.

The stimulus for the development of the Oklahoma Archaeological Salvage Project came from 3 sources: The U.S. Bureau of Public Roads Policy and Procedure Memorandum, No. 20–7; the New Mexico Highway Salvage Program; and the Society for American Archaeology's Committee on Highway Salvage Archaeology. Like all programs it was the result of several stages of growth in which a number of individuals participated.

Detailed medical surveys recently concluded have shown Guatemala, and particularly the Guatemalan highlands, to have one of the highest incidence rates for endemic goiter in the world (Muñoz, Pérez, and Scrimshaw 1955a: 36–43; 1955b: 963–9). At the present time only the tropical and sparsely populated northern Department of Peten is without goiter as a serious public health problem. The incidence in the other departments varies from 21% to 68%.

Waterfall Ruin (N.A. 2676), a cave ruin in the Chinlee Valley about 12 miles south of Poncho House, has been briefly described by Guernsey (1931: 32–6) and was the subject of further excavation by Peabody Museum parties led by Oliver La Farge in 1924 and by the senior author in 1933. A number of modeled clay objects obtained in 1933 are of interest as tending to bridge the gap between the Basketmaker III clay complex and certain later manifestations. The earliest structures at the site are Ba.sketmaker III. The main occupation, characterized by continuous building and rebuilding, was in Pueblo I to early Pueblo II, the pottery being predominantly Deadman's Black-on-red and Kana-a Gray and Black-on-white, with some Black Mesa Black-on-white and all-over corrugated ware.

The Manakaway site, situated at the tip of Greenwich Point in Greenwich, Connecticut, is a shell midden about 40 by 120 feet in extent, with a depth of about 20 inches. It was excavated by the author during a 3-month period in the summer of 1956 (Suggs 1956a, 1956b).

During the 1956 Pecos Conference at the Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff, a group active in the study of archaeological remains in the western Southwest met to perform one of the original functions of the Conference. Participants agreed upon some standard concepts with which to order existing knowledge of this western area and to clarify the tasks of future research there. Agreement was reached on the basic cultural content of a prehistoric cultural unit and its geographic distribution and name.

On page 179 of American Antiquity for October 1956, Aaron J. Cosner describes some experiments on the fire hardening of wood. Perhaps, in this connection, the following experience may be of interest.

During my boyhood in Michigan, corn was harvested entirely by hand. In the process we always used a husking peg to remove the husks from the ears.

In recent years there have been some differences of opinion among archaeologists as to the probable use of artifacts shaped like arrowheads but larger than the small so-called “bird points” and ranging in length up to 4 or 5 inches. Some think they are too large and heavy for arrowpoints and must be either knives or spear points. In an attempt to throw some light on this question, tests were made using points varying in weight from that of the smallest “bird points” up to that of spear heads.

Since publication in 1955 of a comment by R. F. Heizer and the present author concerning fired clay figurines in California (Heizer and Pendergast 1955), some additional data have come to light which are suggestive of a need for revision of views on the distributional pattern of this trait on the Pacific Coast.

In March of 1956 Roscoe Barkhurst of Tulelake, California, submitted to the author for analysis 2 fragmentary figurines which had been collected at a site near Sara, Washington, in 1932.

An open file report of the U.S. Geological Survey, “Glacial Features and Surficial Deposits of the Malaspina District, Alaska,” by George Plafker and Don J. Miller, 1957, not only indicates some of the periods when the Icy Bay-Yakutat Bay area was open to habitation, but seems to confirm native traditions of great antiquity. I am indebted to Don Miller for bringing this report to my attention.

During the summer of 1956 an excavation was conducted by the Lower Susquehanna Chapter of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology in cooperation with the Pennsylvania State Museum. The work was done on the Oscar Leibhart farm, 6 miles south of Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, at Long Level, on a hill top overlooking the Susquehanna River. From a preliminary study of the trade goods recovered from this excavation, and an analysis of the grave materials previously uncovered by the Leibharts, it is evident that this is the site of a Susquehannock village of about 1650 to 1675.

In the October, 1956, issue of American Antiquity (Vol. 22, No. 2) a report was made on preliminary excavations made in 1955 at Cerro Mangote, a preceramic site in Panama. During the 1956 season 6 additional weeks were spent at this site with financial assistance from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Briefly, the results of this more extensive work were as follows:

Approximately 300 cu. m. of material were excavated, an estimated one-third of the total content of the site. A few sherds were recovered on or immediately below the surface in the same general area as those found the previous year.

During recent excavations in the archaeological deposits in Russell Cave, Jackson County, Alabama (Miller 1956), we reached a depth of 13 feet. From this level we collected a large sample of charcoal found in association with chert projectile points whose shape suggests a placement at the end of paleo-Indian times and the beginning of early Archaic times.