Extinct subspecies of Bison were taken in mass kills with the aid of natural and artificial traps during Paleoindian times. A succession of chipped stone projectile points diagnostic of different cultural complexes was used. Bone projectile points can now be added to the fluted stone points of Folsom weaponry.

This paper questions the historicity of Carib migrations in northeastern South America, especially from the Guianas to the West Indies, on the basis of (1) recent chronological work on the late prehistory of the Lesser Antilles, and (2) a critical reexamination of ethnohistorical data on the Island Caribs (migration myths, linguistic dimorphism, distribution, early European contacts). A new interpretation of the previously elusive Island Carib pottery complex allows for a reevaluation of cultural continuities and affiliations. The question is further approached through a more precise definition of the Island Carib as an ethnic group in relation to other groups in the Guianas.

Several lines of archaeological evidence are presented in this paper to suggest the existence of class warfare among the Classic Maya and of issues that historically have been associated with class conflict. This evidence indicates that class warfare may have halted the rule of the monument-producing, or Classic, elites and precipitated the depopulation of the lowland area. The theory is evaluated quantitatively by testing for time-related mathematical patterns that have been found to characterize large-scale conflicts in historical societies. The information used in the evaluation involves the time series data on the duration of rule by Classic elites as inferred from the production of monuments with Long Count dates at a sample of 82 ceremonial centers. The analyses confirm that the Maya data do exhibit the temporal and geographical patterns predicted from the class conflict explanation of the Classic Maya collapse. Alternative predictions from the other theories are considered but generally not found to be supported by these data.

A counting index of the average degree of extreme settlement pattern change and stability is presented. Data from regional archaeological settlement pattern surveys in the Basin of Mexico are used to illustrate it.

To enable systematic interpretive studies of community organization and population, two techniques are advocated: (1) a probability sampling technique for the selection of at least a portion of a site's excavation units and (2) the systematic recording of architectural space. A substantive example is drawn from the investigations of a historic period town in northern Morocco, Qsar es-Seghir. Analyses of architectural remains produced information on the overall nature of land use, general layout of the community, and two alternative methods of estimating population.

The conventional carbon-14 method relies on the accurate measurement of a beta-ray decay rate to determine the age of the sample. The new method instead uses an ultrasensitive mass spectrometer to count the individual carbon-14 atoms in a sample. The advantages of this approach are many. The problem of cosmic ray background does not arise. Shorter counting times on samples 1,000 times smaller will be possible. One result will be the production of more accurate age determinations. The new method will permit a great expansion in the types of archaeological materials that can be dated because only milligram samples will be required. Research on the design of a dedicated carbon-14 atom counting machine is presently in progress.

Outwash from very heavy rains on the eastern slopes of the Southern California Peninsular Ranges in September of 1976, caused by tropical storm "Kathleen," cut an almost vertical cliff on the north bank of the Yuha Pinto Wash, just north of the international border in Imperial Valley. Some 80 Paleolithic flaked stone tools and utilized flakes were discovered solidly in place just above the base of the cut, overlain by alluvial, aeolian, and riverine deposits over 21 m thick. Three specimens of bone were recovered: one in place and associated with the artifacts but fragmentary and not identifiable as human, and two surface finds at the base of the exposure that were identified as human bone, but which had been washed out by the flood and were not positively relatable to the artifact level. Time of deposition of the artifacts is considered to be more than 50,000 B.P. by some unknown amount, based on pedological and geomorphic observations and radiocarbon dating of related features.

One shortcoming of the archaeological study of prehistoric societies is a failure to pursue the behavioral correlates of social distinctions. This paper shows, through a study of Middle Woodland mortuary populations, that analysis of degenerative joint disease is a productive approach to investigating status-linked behavior in archaeological populations.

Recent research within the Quiche Basin of Highland Guatemala has revealed at least 117 sites with remains suggestive of Paleoindian and Archaic periods of occupation. Partly because these artifacts are predominantly of a gray, fine-grained basalt rather than obsidian, we have been able to rapidly recognize surface indications of these occupations. Tentative settlement patterns for these time periods are discussed. These patterns-particularly the Archaic pattern-suggest that early human occupation may have been somewhat different in the Quiche Basin from patterns defined for other areas of Mesoamerica. This may be due to the environmental conditions of the areas involved.

A large sample of Gallinazo cobs from Huaca Prieta is classified using a set of five variables. Some types of Gallinazo maize recovered there seem to have been new to the Peruvian North Coast; some types of the preceding Salinar phase are not known from this site. Further changes occur in the Chicama-Viru area when Moche influence appears. In several ways Gallinazo maize seems more related to maize occurring today further north and east than to modern highland or coastal maize to the southeast.

The case made by Thomas (1978) for avoiding the use of multivariate techniques is critically reviewed. The purpose of these techniques and the nature of archaeological data are argued to be quite different from what he proposed.

Rhoades’ critique of the ecotone and edge effect concepts is discussed. While his conclusions about archaeological misuse of these terms are insightful, the assessment of their status in ecology and wildlife management is challenged. These constructs can be put to better use if substantive limits of their definitions are clear. More importantly, archaeologists should decide which aspects of environmental variability are meaningful to human adaptation before using them.

Although Davy has defended the ecotone concept, it remains open to question on ecological grounds. A number of weaknesses in Davy's arguments are discussed. Davy's comments are themselves an illustration of the greater problem—the abuse of concepts borrowed from ecology.