Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T06:15:48.745Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some Continuing Problems in New World Culture History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gordon R. Willey*
Affiliation:
Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

Extract

To aid in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Society for American Archaeology and its journal, American Antiquity, I was invited to address myself to “Unsolved Problems in New World Culture History.” I have agreed to do this, but, with the editor's indulgence, I would like to rephrase the title as I have, for I think that the word “continuing” more accurately captures the sense of the situation and where our interests lie. As all of us are aware, there are many unsolved problems in Precolumbian culture history—“more holes than cheese,” as the saying goes—but I think I should take a look at some of those with which we are most familiar.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Adovasio, J. M., Donahue, J., Cushman, K., Carlisle, R. C., Stuckenrath, R., Gunn, J. D., and Johnson, W. C. 1983 Evidence from Meadowcroft Rockshelter. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Richard, Shutler Jr., pp. 163190. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
Andrews, E. W., IV 1965 Archaeology and Prehistory in the Northern Lowlands : An Introduction. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 2, edited by Willey, G. R., pp. 288330. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Andrews, E. W., IV 1973 The Development of Maya Civilization after Abandonment of the Southern Cities. In The Classic Maya Collapse, edited by Culbert, T. P., pp. 243268. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Ball, J. W. 1974 A Coordinate Approach to Northern Maya Prehistory : A. D. 700-1200. American Antiquity 39 : 8593.Google Scholar
Bareis, C. J., and Porter, J. W. (editors) 1984 American Bottom Archaeology. University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago.Google Scholar
Bennett, W. C. 1934 Excavations at Tiahuanaco. Anthropological Papers, vol. 34, pt. 3. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Bennett, W. C. 1936 Excavations in Bolivia. Anthropological Papers, vol. 35, pt. 4. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Bird, J. B., and Cooke, R. G. 1978 The Occurrence in Panama of Two Types of Paleo-Indian Projectile Points. In Early Man in America from a Circum-Pacific Perspective, edited by Bryan, A. L., Occasional Papers, No. 1. Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Bischof, Henning, and Viteri, Julio 1972 Pre-Valdivia Occupation on the Southwest Coast of Ecuador. American Antiquity 37 : 548551.Google Scholar
Brochado, J. P. 1980 Eastern Brazil : Ceramic Cultures. In Chronologies in South American Archaeology, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Brochado, J. P., and Lathrap, D. W. 1980 Amazonia. In Chronologies in South American Archaeology, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Browman, D. L. 1976 Demographic Correlations of the Wari Conquest of Junin. American Antiquity 41 : 465477.Google Scholar
Bryan, A. L. 1978 An Overview of Paleo-American Prehistory from a Circum-Pacific Perspective. In Early Man in America from a Circum-Pacific Perspective, edited by Bryan, A. L., pp. 306327, Occasional Papers, No. 1. Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Bryan, A. L. 1983 South America. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Richard, Shutler Jr., pp. 137146. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
Bullen, R. P. 1966 Stelae at the Crystal River Site, Florida. American Antiquity 31 : 861865.Google Scholar
Conrad, G. W. 1980 The Central Andes (Peru-Bolivia). In Chronologies in South American Archaeology, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Cooke, R. G. 1984 Archaeological Research in Central and Eastern Panama : A Review of Some Problems. In The Archaeology of Lower Central America, edited by Lange, F. W. and Stone, D. Z., pp. 263304. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
DeLaguna, Frederica 1936 Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Middle and Lower Yukon Valley, Alaska, American Antiquity 2 : 612.Google Scholar
Di Peso, C. C. 1974 Casas Grandes, A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, vols. 1-3. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon and Flagstaff, Arizona, Northland Press.Google Scholar
Dixon, K. A. 1964 The Acceptance and Persistence of Ring Vessels and Stirrup Spout-Handles in the Southwest. American Antiquity 29 : 455460.Google Scholar
Du Solier, Wilfrido, Krieger, A. D., and Griffin, J. B. 1947 The Archaeological Zone of Buena Vista, Huaxcama, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. American Antiquity 13 : 1531.Google Scholar
Ekholm, G. F. 1953 A Possible Focus of Asiatic Influence in the Late Classic Cultures of Mesoamerica. Memoir 9, Society for American Archaeology.Google Scholar
Flannery, K. V. 1967 Culture History vs. Cultural Process : A Debate in American Archaeology. Scientific American 217 : 119122.Google Scholar
Ford, J. A. 1951 Greenhouse : A Troyville-Coles Creek Period Site in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Anthropological Papers, vol. 44, pt. 1. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Ford, J. A. 1966 Early Formative Cultures in Georgia and Florida. American Antiquity 31 : 781799.Google Scholar
Ford, J. A. 1969 A Comparison of Formative Cultures in the Americas. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, vol. 11. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Gjessing, Gutorm 1948 Some Problems in Northeastern Archaeology. American Antiquity 13 : 298302.Google Scholar
Greengo, R. E. 1964 Issaquena : An Archaeological Phase in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Memoir 18, Society for American Archaeology.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1949 Meso-America and the Southeast : A Commentary. In The Florida Indian and His Neighbors, edited by Griffin, J. W., pp. 77100. Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1978 Eastern United States. In Chronologies in New World Archaeology, edited by Taylor, R. E. and Meighan, C. W., pp. 5170. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1983 The Midlands. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 243302. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Haury, E. W. 1937 A Pre-Spanish Rubber Ball from Arizona. American Antiquity 2 : 282288.Google Scholar
Haury, E. W. 1976 The Hohokam, Desert Farmers and Craftsmen : Excavations at Snaketown, 1964-1965. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Heine-Geldern, Robert von 1959 Representation of the Asiatic Tiger in the Art of the Chavin Culture : A Proof of Early Contacts Between China and Peru. In Adas, International Congress of Americanists, vol. 1, pp. 321326. San Jose, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Hibben, F. C. 1966 A Possible Pyramidal Structure and Other Mexican Influences at Pottery Mound, New Mexico. American Antiquity 31 : 522529.Google Scholar
Ibarra Grasso, D. E. 1953 New Archaeological Cultures from the Departments of Chuquisaca, Potosi, and Tarija, Bolivia. American Antiquity 19 : 126129.Google Scholar
Ibarra Grasso, D. E. 1967 Argentina Indigena y Prehistoria Americana. Typografica Editora Argentine Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Isbell, W. H. 1983 Shared Ideology and Parallel Political Development : Huari and Tiwanaku. In Investigations of the Andean Past, edited by Sandweiss, D. H., pp. 186208. Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
Isbell, W. H., and Schreiber, K. J. 1978 Was Huari a State? American Antiquity 43 : 372389.Google Scholar
Jennings, J. D. 1983 Origins. Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 2567. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Jett, S. C. 1983 Precolumbian Transoceanic Contacts. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 557614. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Johnson, A. E. 1963 The Trinchers Culture of Northern Sonora. American Antiquity 29 : 174176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kehoe, A. B. 1962 A Hypothesis on the Origin of Northeastern American Pottery. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 18 : 2029. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Kellar, J. H., Kelly, A. R., and McMichael, E. V. 1962 The Mandeville Site in Southwest Georgia. American Antiquity 27 : 336355.Google Scholar
Kelley, D. H. 1983 The Maya Calendar Correlation Problem. In Civilizations in the Ancient Americas : Essays Honoring Gordon R. Willey, edited by Leventhal, R. M. and Kolata, A. L., pp. 157208, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Krieger, A. D. 1949 Importance of the ‘Gilmore Corrido’ in Culture Contacts Between Middle America and the Eastern United States. Bulletin 19. Texas Archaeological and Paleontological Society, Abilene.Google Scholar
Krieger, A. D. 1953 Recent Developments in the Problem of Relationships Between the Mexican Gulf Coast and Eastern United States. In Los Huastecas, Totonacs, y sus Vecinos, edited by Bernal, I. and Davalos, E., pp. 497518. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologia, Mexico, D. F. Google Scholar
Krieger, A. D. 1962 The Earliest Cultures in the Western United States. American Antiquity 28 : 138143.Google Scholar
Krieger, A. D. 1964 Early Man in the New World. In Prehistoric Man in the New World, edited by Jennings, J. D. and Norbeck, E., pp. 2881. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1944 Peruvian Archaeology in 1942. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, No. 4, New York.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1948 Anthropology. Harcourt, Brace, New York.Google Scholar
Lange, F. W. 1984 The Greater Nicoya Archaeological Subarea. In The Archaeology of Lower Central America, edited by Lange, F. W. and Stone, D. Z., pp. 165194. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1958 The Cultural Sequence at Yarinacocha, Eastern Peru. American Antiquity 23 : 379387.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1973a The Antiquity and Importance of Long-Distance Trade Relationships in the Moist Tropics of Pre-Columbian South America. World Archaeology 5(2) : 170186. London.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1973b Gifts of the Cayman : Some Thoughts on the Subsistence Basis of Chavin. In Variation in A nthropology, edited by Lathrap, D. W. and Douglas, J., pp. 91105. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1974 The Moist Tropics, the Arid Lands, and the Appearance of the Great Art Styles in the New World. In Art and Environment in North America, edited by King, M. E. and Traylor, I. R. Jr., pp. 115158, Special Publication No. 7. Texas Tech University Museum, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1975 Ancient Ecuador, Culture, Clay, and Creativity 3000-300 B. C. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.Google Scholar
Lathrap, D. W. 1977 Our Father the Cayman, Our Mother the Gourd : Spinden Revisited, or a Unitary Model for the Emergence of Agriculture in the New World. In Origins of Agriculture, edited by Reed, C. A.. Mouton, The Hague.Google Scholar
Lipe, W. D. 1983 The Southwest. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 421494. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Lister, R. H., and Howard, A. M. 1955 The Chalchihuites Culture of Northwestern Mexico. American Antiquity 21 : 122129.Google Scholar
Lumbreras, L. M. 1974 The Peoples and Cultures of Ancient Peru. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Mac Neish, R. S. 1976 Early Man in the New World. American Scientist 63 : 316327.Google Scholar
Mac Neish, R. S., Peterson, F. A., and Flannery, K. V. 1970 Ceramics. The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, vol. 3. R. S. Peabody Foundation, Andover, Massachusetts and the University Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Marcos, Jorge 1980 Ecuador : Hub of the Northern Andean Area. In Chronologies in South America, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Maudslay, A. P. 1892 The Ancient Civilizations of Central America. Nature 45 : (1174) : 617622. London.Google Scholar
McGhee, Robert 1984 Contact Between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse : A Review of the Evidence. American Antiquity 49 : 427.Google Scholar
McKern, W. C. 1937 An Hypothesis for the Asiatic Origin of the Woodland Culture Pattern. American Antiquity 3 : 138142.Google Scholar
Meggers, B. J., and Evans, Clifford Jr., 1957 Archaeological Investigations at the Mouth of the Amazon, Bulletin 167. Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Meggers, B. J., Evans, Clifford Jr., and Estrada, Emilio 1965 Early Formative Period of Coastal Ecuador : The Valdivia and Machalilla Phases, Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, No. 1. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Menzel, Dorothy 1964 Style and Time in the Middle Horizon. Nawpa Pacha, No. 2, pp. 1106. Institute of Andean Studies, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Milanich, J. T., and Fairbanks, C. H. 1980 Florida Archaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Morley, S. G. 1927 New Light on the Discovery of Yucatan and the Foundation of the New Mayan Empire. American Journal of Archaeology 31(1) : 5169, Archaeological Institute of America.Google Scholar
Morley, S. G. 1946 The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto.Google Scholar
Morse, D. F., and Morse, P. A. 1983 Archaeology of the Central Mississippi Valley. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Moseley, M. E. 1975 The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization. Cummings, Menlo Park, California.Google Scholar
Moseley, M. E. 1978 The Evolution of Andean Civilization. In Ancient Native Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 491541. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Muller, Jon 1983 The Southeast. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 373420. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Nelson, N. C. 1937 Notes on Cultural Relations Between Asia and America. American Antiquity 2 : 267272.Google Scholar
Phillips, Philip 1940 Middle American Influences on the Archaeology of the Southeastern United States. In The Maya, and Their Neighbors, edited by Hay, C. L. et al., pp. 349367. D. Appleton-Century, New York.Google Scholar
Phillips, Philip 1966 The Problem of Transpacific Influences in Mesoamerica. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 4, edited by Ekholm, G. F. and Willey, G. R., pp. 277315. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Ponce Sangines, Carlos 1972 Tiwanaku : Espacio, Tiempo, y Cultura : Ensayo de Sintesis Arqueologica. America Indigena 32 : 717772.Google Scholar
Rainey, F. G. 1940 Archaeological Investigations in Central Alaska. American Antiquity 5 : 299308.Google Scholar
Reed, E. K. 1942 Implications of the Mogollon Concept. American Antiquity 8 : 2732.Google Scholar
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo 1980 Colombia. In Chronologies in South American Archaeology, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Reid, K. C. 1984 Fire and Ice : New Evidence for the Production of Late Archaic Fiber-Tempered Pottery in the Middle Latitude Lowlands. American Antiquity 49 : 5576.Google Scholar
Riley, C. L., and Hedrich, B. C. (editors) 1978 Across the Chichimec Sea, Papers in Honor of J. Charles Kelley. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville.Google Scholar
Rohn, A. H. 1978 American Southwest. Chronologies in New World Archaeology, edited by Taylor, R. E. and Meighan, C. W., pp. 201222. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Roosevelt, A. C. 1980 Parmana, Prehistoric Maize and Manioc Subsistence along the Amazon and Orinoco. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rouse, Irving, and Allaire, Louis 1980 Eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and the West Indies. In Chronologies in South American Archaeology, edited by Meighan, C. W., in press.Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A., and Andrews, E. W. V (editors) 1982 Late Lowland Maya Civilization : Classic to Postclassic. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, in press.Google Scholar
Schroeder, A. H. 1965 Unregulated Diffusion from Mexico into the Southwest Prior to A. D. 600. American Antiquity 30 : 297309.Google Scholar
Schroeder, A. H. 1966 Pattern Diffusion from Mexico into the Southwest after A. D. 600. American Antiquity 31 : 683704.Google Scholar
Sears, W. H. 1956 Excavations at Kolomoki, Final Report, University of Georgia Series in Anthropology, No. 5. Athens, Georgia.Google Scholar
Simoes, M. F. 1971 O Museu Goeldi e a Arqueologia da Bacia Amazdnica. Grande Enciclopedia da Amazonia, 6, Estante de Obras Subsidiarias, Antologia da Culturas Amazdnica, Folclore, edited by Rocque, Carlos, pp. 173180. AMADA, Sao Paulo. (Cited from Brochado, Lathrap, 1980.)Google Scholar
Simoes, M. F. 1978 Programa National de Pesquisas Arqueoldgicas na Bacia Amazonica. Acta Amazonica 7(3) : 297300. Belem.Google Scholar
Skarland, Ivar, and Giddings, J. L. 1948 Flint Stations in Central Alaska. American Antiquity 14 : 116120.Google Scholar
Steward, J. H. 1949 South American Cultures : An Interpretative Summary. In Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 5, edited by Steward, J. H., pp. 669772, Bulletin 146, Bureau of American Ethnology. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
St Ubel, Alphons, and Uhle, Max 1892 Die Ruinen-staette von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des Alten Peru. K. W. Hiersemann, Leipzig.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1945 A Survey of the Northern Maya Area. American Antiquity 11 : 224.Google Scholar
Titterington, P. F. 1935 Certain Bluff Mounds of Western Jersey County, Illinois. American Antiquity 1 : 646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolstoy, Paul 1953 Some Amerasian Pottery Traits in North Asian Prehistory. American Antiquity 19 : 2539.Google Scholar
Tolstoy, Paul 1958 The Archaeology of the Lena Basin and Its New World Relationships, Parts I and II. American Antiquity 23 : 397418 and 24 : 6381.Google Scholar
Tolstoy, Paul 1978 Western Mesoamerica before A. D. 900. In Chronologies in New World Archaeology, edited by Taylor, R. E. and Meighan, C. W., pp. 241284. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Uhle, Max 1903 Pachacamac. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Vickers, Chris 1945 Archaeology in the Rock and Pelican Lake Area of South-Central Manitoba. American Antiquity 11 : 8894.Google Scholar
Wasley, W. W. 1960 A Hohokam Platform Mound at the Gatlin Site, Gila Bend, Arizona. American Antiquity 26 : 244262.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1945 Horizon Styles and Pottery Traditions in Peruvian Archaeology. American Antiquity 11 : 4956.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1949 Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 113. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1966 An Introduction to American Archaeology : Vol. I. North and Middle America. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1971 An Introduction to American Archaeology : Vol. II. South America. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R., Culbert, T. P., and Adams, R. E. W. 1967 Maya Lowland Ceramics : A Report from the 1965 Guatemala City Conference. American Antiquity 32 : 289315.Google Scholar
Wilmsen, E. N. 1964 Flake Tools in the American Arctic : Some Speculations. American Antiquity 29 : 338344.Google Scholar
Wintemberg, W. J. 1942 The Geographical Distribution of Aboriginal Pottery in Canada. American Antiquity 8 : 129141.Google Scholar