Various scholars have considered the problem of Mesoamerican cultural influences in the eastern United States. They agree in general on a Mesoamerican origin for temple mounds. Eastern temple mounds are later than the earliest ones from Mesoamerica and, like them, are characterized by groups of four around a plaza, super-imposed construction, frequent eastward orientation of the principal platform of a group, and capping by a temple structure. The Huastec region of northeastern Mesoamerica seems to show the closest architectural similarities to the southeastern United States. At the same time, authorities do not concur on the origin of funerary mounds, which occur in the Preclassic of Mesoamerica at Aljojuca (Puebla), at La Venta (Tabasco), at Kaminaljuyu (highland Guatemala), and probably at many other sites. Many of these were constructed prior to the earliest burial mound sites in the United States. Since Chard has refuted the hypothesis of Asiatic origin for burial mounds, a Mesoamerican origin seems even more likely. Art motifs diffused along with the mound concept. Both are manifest in art that is considered to be hieratic, which points to possible migration of an elite group. How such diffusion took place remains unanswered, but the possibilities of maritime connections merit consideration. Contacts between Mesoamerica and the eastern United States appear to have been frequent, varied, and early.

Radiocarbon dates for samples from three buildings at Tikal, Guatemala, the lintel beams of which bear Maya hieroglyphs, are presented. These include dates recently determined at the University of California at Los Angeles and two UCLA and University of Pennsylvania inter-laboratory cross-checks. Two dates from the inner and outer portions of a sapote log have been determined in order to assess the growth rates of the logs from which the temple beams were fashioned and thereby help to explain some of the differences among radiocarbon dates which were previously determined. The dates for samples considered to be reliable continue to support the Goodman-Thompson-Martinez “Correlation B” hypothesis for Temples IV and I, but they also indicate that the previous chronological interpretation of the hieroglyphs of Structure 10 should be revised.

A square, gauze-weave fabric, folded diagonally and ornamented on the two short sides with sewed-on pattern-weave bands, was found by Uhle beneath the Pachacamac temple and is probably the oldest gauze reported from Pachacamac. This unusual, triangular, scarflike cloth, with a style previously reported only from Ancon, indicates the use of still another type of made-up article at Pachacamac and the presence of another style category in this region. It suggests that the variety of sewed-to-form textiles produced in pre-Columbian Peru was greater than has been generally believed.

An unusual cache of unfired-clay basketry effigies and human figurines was uncovered by a windstorm near Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Monument. These specimens and others from nearby archaeological sites demonstrate a more extensive use of sun-dried articles in the Death Valley region than hitherto suspected. The unbaked-clay industry appears to come into the area by way of the Great Basin extension of Anasazi culture around A.D. 900-1100 and to have persisted into the second half of the 19th century.

The analysis of 975 burials indicates that the inhumations of the Point of Pines region conformed to the flexed Mogollon pattern prior to A.D. 1000. Subsequently, extended burials appeared concurrently with a complex of traits diffused from areas to the north. At the same time, cremation became established as a part of the mortuary complex as a result of contact with Hohokam peoples to the south. Additional evidence of this contact consists of Hohokam material culture items and a ball court. Ceremonial killing of the crematory vessels was extensively practiced and included a new method, notch-killing. The variability of forms and methods of disposal suggests rapidly changing patterns and alternatives in burial practices.

This paper presents data on the age and origin of the dugout canoe in Ontario derived from Indian informants and Euro-Americans, from the literature, and from information in the files of the Department of Ethnology, Royal Ontario Museum, University of Toronto. Accounts of two dugouts from Ontario have been published, but the problems of the age and origin have not been investigated. Indians and Euro-Americans both made and used dugouts during the last century and the first part of this one. It is suggested that the Euro-Americans brought the idea with them from Europe. The Indians, it is believed, adopted the dugout either from the Euro-Americans or from Indian immigrants from the south, where the dugout is known to have existed since the time of contact. The Indians were now leading a more sedentary life, negating the necessity for an easily portable craft, such as the birchbark canoe. Another factor was the increasing difficulty of getting adequate supplies of birchbark for canoe-making because of the destruction of the forests by lumber companies. Furthermore, the recently acquired iron tools facilitated their manufacture.

Archaeological, geological, and biological observations, including a quantitative midden analysis, of a shell midden on the Connecticut shore support the inference that a Woodland manifestation, probably of the East River aspect, was preceded by an Archaic, possibly Transitional, horizon. The deposit was formed during a lower sea stand; both global and regional sea-level data are cited in support of chronological placement.

It is not true that stirrup-spout bottles are absent in the Old World. The Brooklyn Museum possesses an ethnographic specimen of a stirrup-spout bottle collected in 1930 among the Mangbetu in the northern Congo. This bottle is strikingly similar in many features to Cupisnique style stirrup-spout bottles from the north coast of Peru. There is another Mangbetu style stirrup-spout bottle in the R. H. Lowie Museum in Berkeley.

Using the Tlatilco-Cupisnique case above mentioned as an example, it might be argued that a stirrup-spout bottle is a perfectly natural ceramic form to invent more than once; if so, then one would expect to find it in those parts of the Old World where vessels were used to store liquids. On the contrary, this form was evidently unknown in the Eastern Hemisphere, suggesting diffusion from a single point of origin as the most reasonable hypothesis to account for its distribution in the Western Hemisphere (Coe 1963: 103).

The archaeological record of the Cochise culture does not support the theory proposed by Martin that no major climatic fiuctuations have occurred in the Southwest during the past 10,000 years.

Two instances of birch-bark “scrolls” in archaeological contexts are reported from the Head-of-the-Lakes region of Ontario. One site in Rainy Lake yielded numerous examples; another in Quetico Park produced several other specimens. Archaeologists should be aware of the possibility of making such finds in the paper-birch area.

In an attempt to compare a large number of fluted points in the Eastern United States, metric data were coded on punch cards and analyzed statistically. A sample of fluted points from Virginia was tested in a trial study. It was found that some attributes showed significant but predictable clustering. The variation in fluting pattern between geographical areas within the state was significant.

Finding sites of U.S. Army outposts of the Seminole War period (1835-42) in Florida is difficult under the best conditions. Little in the way of occupation residue is generally visible to indicate the presence of these sites in the heavily vegetated lowlands of Florida. One of these posts, Fort Stansbury, headquarters for the 3rd Regiment of the U.S. Infantry during the Florida Wars, has been relocated. The methods used and the military artifacts leading to its discovery are described.

Finds of Cody knives, Agate Basin, Allen, Clovis, Eden, and Meserve points indicate that the Colorado Front Range was occupied at least 7000 to 8000 years ago. Apparently Folsom hunters avoided the higher altitudes, but Clovis hunters may have crossed the Continental Divide.

In his reply to de Borhegyi's review of his book Los Mayas Eternos, Girard succeeds in bringing greater confusion to the picture of Quiché and Maya cultural and history. In this rebuttal to Girard's reply, some pertinent archaeological facts relevant to the Classic period in Highland Guatemala are used to point out weaknesses in Girard's untenable theory that the Quiché-Mayas were responsible for the origin and development of such Mexican high cultures as Classic period Teotihuacán and Postclassic Tula.