Radiocarbon dates for the Arctic thus far determined by Arnold and Libby represent four time levels. The latest dates are for the Eskimo period. These are derived from wood samples from five sites in northern and northwestern Alaska ranging in age from 912 ± 170 (Ipiutak) to 2258 ± 230 years (Okvik). Johnson's site in Yukon Territory, Canada, dated at 1519±150 years, would also fall within this period if the assigned date is correct; however, the site is probably considerably older than this. Next in age is an early site in the Aleutian Islands with a date, from charcoal samples, of 3018±230 years. The age of the Trail Creek cave on Seward Peninsula is given as 5993±280 years. This is a pre-Eskimo site related to the Denbigh Flint complex; the latter has not as yet been dated. Two dates have been obtained from the Pleistocene muck deposits near Fairbanks, one sample at 12,622±750, and another at over 20,000 years (Arnold and Libby, 1951).

In view of the present turmoil in North American archaeology caused by the continuing release of radiocarbon dates, it is most difficult to maintain an understanding of the preceramic occupations. What seems like a good guess today is tomorrow relegated to the realm of unwarranted speculation. The continual excavation of preceramic sites in North America and the constant revision in geological and climatological theories also force us to be cautious in making interpretations and to be willing to change any of them. Yet the evidence now available for reconstructing the preceramic traditions in some instances appears to be sufficient and reliable enough to justify certain interpretations, even though reservations must be kept in mind. In particular the relative chronology of several cultural complexes is slowly taking form.

Kolomoki is about six miles from the Chattahoochee River, in extreme southwestern Georgia. One of the larger southeastern sites, it covers approximately three hundred acres, including a rectangular truncated pyramidal temple mound 56 feet high, a plaza about 40 acres in extent, and 7 dome shaped mounds ranging in height from 4 to 20 feet. Three of the latter mounds have been excavated, two of which, D and E, were burial mounds and supplied parts of the data for this study (Sears, 1951b). The third excavated mound probably covered the site of a ceremonial structure and crematory area (Larsen, n.d.).

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of excavations conducted in 1933, as yet unreported, and to correlate the findings with present knowledge of Jamaican and other West Indian prehistory. Descriptions of the sites and specimens may be of value to archaeologists in this area.

Since 1933 great strides have been made in archaeological knowledge of the West Indies. Irving Rouse has correlated known cultures in most of the Greater Antilles and in some of the Lesser Antilles. He has established seven arbitrary time periods, I, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, and IVb, for the area (Rouse, 1939, 1941, 1948, 1951, 1952) on the basis of stratigraphy, sedation of modes, establishment of style sequences, and cross-dating of trade objects. During these periods four cultures existed. The period I culture is preceramic and is associated with the Ciboney Indians who may have come from North America. The first ceramic culture, Igneri, is associated with the Arawak Indians, who pushed north and east from the Orinoco Valley in period II. It lacks the ceremonial complex which distinguishes the two later ceramic cultures, sub-Taino and Taino, which developed in the Greater Antilles during periods III and IV, the former as a simpler variant of the latter.

The Bintz site is a small village site located on the left bank of the Ohio River at the mouth of Twelve-Mile Creek, Campbell County, Kentucky, on property belonging to Mrs. William C. Bintz. The village consists of two parts – the “lower village,” at the immediate edge of the river, just downstream from the mouth of the creek, and the “upper village” about two hundred meters from the river and the creek on a terrace about four meters higher than the flood-plain where the “lower village” is located (Fig. 87). The cultural material found at both areas is identical, and it appears that both areas were occupied by the same people and at the same time. With the exception of a small amount of Woodland material found on the surface and in the excavations at the “upper village,” all the material is definitely of the Fort Ancient type. Since the pottery types link the site specifically with the Madisonville and Fox Farm sites, we classify the Bintz site as a component of the Madisonville focus (Griffin, 1943).

Until the past few years the Poverty Point horizon was known solely through its manifestation at the type site, Poverty Point Plantation, on Bayou Macon, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. Webb (1944), in connection with the description of a cache of stone vessel fragments found near the large Poverty Point mound, pointed out the apparent cultural content of the site, which had previously been mentioned in archaeological literature by Moore (1913), Fowke (1928) and Ford (1936). In 1948, in a description of nonpottery cultures in the state, a further attempt was made (Webb, 1948) to clarify the Poverty Point cultural period as expressed at this site.

Since the scientific recognition of a paleo-Indian occupation of the Southwest and high Plains, beginning with the Folsom discoveries in 1927 (Roberts, 1940), the presence of man in the eastern United States prior to the earliest demonstrated cultures of the Archaic period has been suspected on the evidence of random surface finds of fluted points. Some of these artifacts have typologically been equated with the Clovis Fluted form (Krieger, 1947, pp. 10-13), while the greater number, showing considerable stylistic variability, have provisionally been designated “Ohio Fluted points” (Shetrone, 1936, pp. 240-256; Wormington, 1949, pp. 33-35).

The discussion of pit houses in the Old World and in North America by Hiroshi Daifuku (American Antiquity, Vol. 18, pp. 1-7) prompts me to add a note concerning certain pit house sites which I explored in northern Japan during the spring and summer of 1951.

While searching the Yamagawa River Valley near Furumaki-machi in Aomori Prefecture for early Jomon sites, I encountered several pit house village sites. I had previously been advised of the general location of these by Major Howard McCord, formerly of Misawa Air Force Base, who had done considerable archaeological work in that region.

The ceramic material from the Bintz site, as MacCord has indicated, belongs to the Madisonville focus of the Fort Ancient aspect. He has given the Ceramic Repository for the Eastern United States at the University of Michigan a representative sample and in addition has allowed me to examine the negative painted specimens from the site. The pottery which is now available for study and my impressions of the site at the time I visited it indicate that it is more closely connected to Fox Farm than to Madisonville. The fabric impressed salt pan is more common at Bintz than at any other Fort Ancient site, and in this regard conforms more to the rare appearance of fabric impression on salt pans at Fox Farm. A common decorative style at Bintz is on vessels which can be called Madisonville Cordmarked. The incised decoration on these specimens is similar to that at Fox Farm (Griffin, 1943, Pl. CVI, Figs. 1-5).

A number of archaeological sites, particularly in the northwestern part of the continent, have yielded smooth ovoid stones which look suitable in every way for use as hammerstones, but which show no signs of having been used. In excavating a site it is a common experience to come across one of these, thinking one has found an actual hammerstone, only to discover, after it has been washed, that it is merely an ovoid cobblestone. Yet it is quite clear that the stone is part of the archaeological series and not merely a stone lying in situ. So frequent are these in some sites that students on the dig have adopted the habit of calling them “unused” hammerstones.

The partial dog skeleton comes from site SJo-68 (formerly C68) near Thornton, California. The remains consist of the cranium and mandible, the atlas and several cervicals, pelves, tail vertebrae, and two femora. These parts lay in anatomical articulation so that we may assume that the partly dismembered skeleton, still bound by integument, was buried. The archaeology of the site as known in 1948 has been published. (Heizer, 1949, p. 7.) The dog remains lay at a depth of thirtyfour inches from the surface, solidly imbedded in calcareous hardpan, and in proximity to human burials. Indeed, the whole deposit was heavily charged with human skeletons, and it is reasonable to assume that the dog had been intentionally buried. Animal burials are not uncommon in later culture horizons in the same area (Heizer and Hewes, 1940).

Has the time arrived when we can set up another horizon marker in the archaeology of western United States? An examination of the literature reveals that a projectile point which we will call the Stemmed, Indented Base Point may be so considered. This short note contains a compilation of but some of the references to this type of point in western United States and is written in hopes of stimulating comments and additional information. No attempt has been made to present an exhaustive distributional study of this artifact, but the accompanying chart lists some of its reported occurrences in order to point out its wide geographical spread as well as its estimated age and various terms by which it is known.

The site of Cedefio is on the south bank of the Orinoco River, approximately 1 km. northeast of the boat landing area of the town of Caicara. The Orinoco at Cedeño is marked by a series of boulders that reach, from the south bank, 100 meters or more into the river. These are uncovered during the summer (dry season) and contain petroglyphs in the form of spirals, mazes and other figures. The river at this point is marked by vertical banks 3-5 meters high. The top of the vertical bank represents the usual high-water mark of the Orinoco; beyond this bank is a more or less level stretch of mixed fields and woodland. The river banks extend in two stages to a sloping river beach. As the water level of the Orinoco varies 10 meters or more between wet and dry season, this beach is above water for a considerable distance during dry weather.

Campbell and Ellis in their article on the Rio Grande Atrisco Sites (American Antiquity Vol. 17, No. 3, 1952) say: “Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the type (5 out of 8 specimens) is its tendency to show a definite rifling or beveling which would presumably insure its whirling in flight.” This is an amazing statement to find in a serious report made by two competent modern archaeologists.

Beveling the edges of points is a very ancient trait. Fluted points have been found with beveled edges. However the reason for this beveling was not to insure the spinning of the shaft in flight; beveling is not productive of that effect. In fact, aerodynamically, there is not enough force generated against the surface of these bevels on any point small enough to serve as an arrow or atlatl dart tip, to spin the shaft. Spinning is achieved by the set of the feathering, but we know of no use of unfeathered arrows on this continent. Even the early atlatl darts seem to have been feathered at the nock end.

A stone face about 2 m. high was observed and photographed on Floriana (Charles) Island in the Galapagos by Philip H. Lord while on a cruise in February, 1949. The face was reported as being at an elevation of between 300 and 400 meters at which altitude potable water occurs. Within 100 meters is a small cave containing marine shells, whether naturally occurring or transported not being determined. The face is covered with lichen which may provide a further clue to its antiquity.

The dating of the Lake Mohave artifact assemblage relative to the fossil beaches on which the material was found has been in dispute since Malcolm Rogers (1939) published a monograph disagreeing with several findings given in the original report (Campbells, Antevs, Amsden and Bode, 1937). Mr. Rogers' critique was never answered by the original authors, and his findings have been accepted consequently by most authors who have attempted summaries of the material (Martin, Quimby and Collier 1947, p. 437 and Fig. 122; Wormington 1949, pp. 84-87; Roberts 1951, p. 126). Rogers agreed with the Campbells that the great majority of the artifacts found (Rogers, p. 42, puts it at 95 per cent) are restricted to the surfaces of the fossil beaches. Rogers questioned, however, the Campbells' conclusion that human occupation was contemporaneous with times when the lake stood at the overflow level, which is that of the beaches. Rogers' most crucial evidence was given as follows: “There is splendid evidence that this condition did not prevail, because of the presence of a large encampment on the 937'-940' bay bar which extends directly across the outlet channel. Man could not have camped in this section during any period of overflow.” (Rogers 1939, p. 43). This “beach bar site” was previously reported by the Campbells. Rogers' statement, in contrast to Bode's original determination (Campbells et al., p. 108), implies that the bar actually blocks the old outlet, and thus that it, and its occupational evidence, must postdate the period during which the lake overflowed.

With considerable interest I have read Daifuku's “The Pit House in the Old World and in Native North America” (American Antiquity, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 1-7, 1952). Although he did not refer to South America except in passing, citing only the finds of Bird in northern Peru, it is of interest to point out that there are numerous ethnographic references to the use of the pit house in the southern half of this continent, and that these references are confirmed by archaeological finds.

Metraux (1929) in his study of the Huarpe, primitive inhabitants of the Cuyo region of Argentina, gave a summary of the definite references to the use of the pit house in South America and attached a distribution map. He listed, in addition to the Huarpe, the Kaupe, Tsirakua, Matsikui, Kitsua de Cojata, Obacoatiara, Guaranaguacu, Piraguayguaquig, and Wayana. The first three are found in Paraguay; the remaining four are in eastern Brazil. For some of the tribes mentioned the references in question are very clear; for others, such as the Tsirakua and Wayana, they are doubtful.