A method of using the Mesoamerican pecked cross as a 365-day or 365 1/4-day calendrical device is proposed. The method consists of placing, removing, and discarding objects in the pecked holes of the arms of the motif in a prescribed sequence. This use does not preclude other uses or meanings of these figures, nor their function in calendrical reckonings more complex than the solar year.

This study examines the variability in Ocmulgee Fields ceramics from 2 nearly contemporaneous Upper Creek Indian sites at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in central Alabama. The intent is to demonstrate that differences between the 2 pottery assemblages reflect differences in the social settings at the 2 sites. Frequencies of ceramic types and of selected attributes are tested for statistical significance using chi-square, and the strength of the assumed relationships are evaluated using 1 or more measures of association. The tests support a contention that ceramic vessels in use at the temporary, warrier-refugee settlement of Tohopeka were more frequently of utility forms and were generally larger and less decorated than vessels in use at the permanent, family-structured settlement of Nuyaka. It is suggested that similar studies of ceramics from sites for which the historical record is not as complete as it is for the Horseshoe Bend sites might reveal potential distinctions in social structure and behavioral patterning that would be developed primarily from the archaeological record.