A program of surveys and test excavations has located 53 prehistoric open midden sites in the Bahamas and procured a large artifact sample from them. Sites in the central Bahamas, concentrated in the eastern islands of the area, are characterized by the shell-tempered Palmetto Series pottery. While sharing specific modes with Antillean cultures, it is an indigenous development, originating in the Caicos where the earliest sites have only ceramics imported from the Antilles. Distribution of sites and ceramic analyses suggest a movement of Antillean Arawaks to the Caicos to secure salt. An indigenous cultural tradition developed there by shortly after 1000 A.D. and spread rapidly to the central Bahamas. Factors affecting the limits of cultural expansion were the temperature and rainfall requirements of bitter manioc agriculture, which eliminated the northern Bahamas, and perhaps, in part, a time factor affecting expansion to the west.

The economic behavior and specialization of Indian groups involved in the fur trade of western Canada before 1763 are examined, and a spatial model of the fur trade is developed. The implications of Indian economic behavior and the spatial structure of the fur trade for current archaeological research in the sub-Arctic and northern Plains areas are then considered. It is posited that the nature of the early fur trade would lead archaeologists to underestimate the importance of the protohistoric period as a time of rapid culture change, and indeed, make it difficult to identify this period archaeologically.

Interregional exchange of commodities appears to have been important in the formation of complex societies. The transition from reciprocal to redistribution economies involved an institutionalization of long distance exchange. Large and important settlements called gateway communities emerged along natural trade routes at key locales for controlling the movement of commodities. A model is constructed that relates long distance trade and regional economics to the emergence of market centers in Formative Mesoamerica. The gateway community model depicts early interregional trade more efficiently than central place formulations. This model is examined in light of data collected from Chalcatzingo in Morelos, Mexico, a community that maintained an important position in both local and long distance trade during the first half of the Mesoamerican Formative.

Sampling design in excavation calls for previous estimates of site dimensions, artifact variability, and density. Sites covered by forest cannot be surface-collected to gain such data. Transect interval sampling provides the data at an early stage of research, at low cost with the collection and processing of soil samples of standard volume taken along a series of transects at regular intervals when the transects extend outward from the known area of the site. The screening of standard-volume soil samples provides a measure of artifact density across space, and empirically discoverable density values can be plotted to create an artifact density contour interval display. An adopted value of artifact density can be used to define site limits for sampling purposes (for example, 0.04 artifacts/liter). Use of such a measure would add to the precision and validity of sampling designs that frequently use more casual ways of estimating site dimensions.

Of the measures currently available for quantifying the abundance of taxa within archaeological and paleontological vertebrate faunas, the minimum number of individuals per taxon is most frequently employed. This paper explores the relationship between the minimum number of individuals (MNI) calculated for a given taxon and the number of specimens (E) from which these values were calculated. Several approaches for controlling for the complex interrelationships between MNI and E are advanced and discussed.

Pomacea flagellata (Say), a large freshwater snail, was eaten by the ancient inhabitants of Tikal. Its shells appear in archaeological contexts datable to the entire circa 1500-year span of permanent occupation. Utilization was heaviest during the earliest and latest periods, a distributional pattern that seems directly related to population growth and decline. Comparison with the freshwater mussels and European land snails suggests that Pomacea snails were probably never more than a supplementary source of protein and calories. However, they could have been important in a marginal diet. Occasionally Pomacea were deposited in ceremonial contexts. They were most frequent during the later Early Classic period when they may have figured in a special votive complex.

The evidence for the production of tecali (travertine) vessels at Tollan, Hidalgo, Mexico is examined and some possible secondary uses for the resultant waste materials are considered. An attempt is also made to show how artifact reuse can confuse the archaeological record, possibly leading to false conclusions.

A recent study of a combination open and closed sascab mine in Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico revealed the techniques used to exploit its deposits of calcareous sand. Tool types used were determined by scars on the face of the deposit and the mine roof. Post production activities involving open sascaberas suggest their use as sunken gardens for both intensive horti-and arboriculture activities.

Little attention has been paid by archaeologists to the important problem of replicability of observational units. The studies presented in this paper involve examinations of discrepancy occurring at various levels in lithic and ceramic classification. Standardized typologies, as well as qualitative and quantitative attributes are considered. The results are discussed in terms of observer bias, influence of training, measurement error, and the implications for the statistical treatment of data.

The special problems of textile analysis in archaeology are reviewed. The present state of the art concerning identification of fibers, analysis of structure and technique, dyes, and analytical techniques is outlined. Suggestions are made for securing comparative collections and for recording archaeological specimens.

In his report on excavations in Costa Rica, M. J. Snarskis interpreted a carbonized fragment of a maize cob, identified as the South American race Pollo, as evidence for contact with South America. It is suggested that this interpretation is invalid because of insufficient material and because the origins and relationships of the race Pollo are unclear.

Data from the United States General Land Office Surveys are frequently used to reconstruct the vegetation existing at the time of European settlement as a basis for biotic models. The vegetation recorded in those surveys had been influenced not only by climatic conditions considerably colder and more moist than the present, but by frequent, widespread burning as well. The effect of such burning on the distribution and composition of forest vegetation was as great as the climatic effects and must be taken into account when building prehistoric vegetational models in the Midwest.