Pleistocene societies are viewed in this paper as manifestations of band society from which Paleolithic archaeologists can generate hypotheses about this cultural system and against which they can evaluate the validity of general cultural explanations. A general model is posited toward the isolation of Paleolithic societies in the archaeological record. Their numerical size is predicted from Monte Carlo simulations of model populations, and ways are discussed in which distinguishable equilibrium states of such societies can be predicted in time and space. Under the assumption of maximal constraints, simulations are used to predict the size and longevity of social units. The frequency of settlements produced during an equilibrium state of a society is simulated and the utility of survey for activity areas outside the settlements is demonstrated. The models developed in this paper are intended to stimulate deductive research in Paleolithic archaeology.

The view that technological advance was the prime cause of the early civilizations is examined and rejected. Instead, it is argued that civilization was an organizational solution to specific social and ecological problems. Even where technology gave an impetus to the rise of civilization, it can be shown that the tools or weapons involved were themselves developed in response to societal demands. Thus, the invention of the steam engine, which led to the Industrial Revolution, can be traced back to the need by feudal states in Europe to cope with a severe shortage of labor. This interpretation is presented, not as a repudiation of cultural materialism, but as an elaboration on it.

A model is presented which describes the transition from mixed rainfall-dependent agriculture with animal husbandry to specialized modes of production based upon irrigated agriculture and nomadic pastoralism. This model emphasizes selective pressures for mixed farming before irrigation agriculture had expanded in the arid alluvial zones of Mesopotamia, and selective pressures for specialization after irrigation agriculture had become established in that zone. It goes on to describe dynamic interaction between specialized groups once such specialization has become institutionalized.

It has come to be common for scientists to study the history of scientific thought. But too often even today, we assume our present theories are "Truth." Scientific histories usually describe intellectual events as either having enhanced or impeded discoveries consistent with modern theory. However, by applying the same standards to Western thought that we apply to non-Western cosmologies, we find that the development of Western worldview closely reflected its own changing social structure. The idea that nature was fixed permanently by God during the creation gave way to the idea of a constantly changing, evolving world-and, at the same time, the fixed class system of European society gave way to an industrialized society characterized by class mobility. This paper will analyze British scientific theories and biohistoric models from the Reformation to Darwin's Origin of Species.

Techniques for pragmatically interpreting arrays of radiocarbon dates are given. These include weighted averaging, statistical rejection of data, and the evaluation of contemporaneity. Commonly encountered situations are discussed with several actual examples to illustrate these procedures. This paper is Contribution No. 70, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona.

Classification is discussed as a procedure for maximizing information about a cultural system from archaeological data. This concept is made rigorous by defining typologies in terms of assumptions about patterning among variables that result from different artifacts being manufactured for use in different activities. Interval-scaled and nominal-scaled variables are considered independently, as the problem to be solved is different in the 2 cases. For continuous variables, the question is what divisions can be made, and for nominal variables, it is what divisions should be made. Two definitions for typologies are given, 1 for continuous variables and 1 for nominal variables. Cluster analysis and analysis of interaction and residuals in contingency tables are outlined as procedures for discovering types with continuous and nominal variables, respectively. Examples of each technique using archaeological data are given.

This article is based on 2 observations. First, I note the quality of certain traditional archaeological studies, focusing on evaluation of results obtained and of information used. Second, I observe the incoherence of many of the constructions of "analytical" archaeologists, who sometimes naively imagine that it is possible to substitute sophisticated algorithms for analysis of the logic and archaeological meaning of problems in prehistory.

The goal of this work is twofold: (1) to set up a model for analysis of traditional archaeological works that resolves the linguistic and logical difficulties encountered during extraction of the information they contain; and (2) to give an example of the way in which "description" and "calculation" may be integrated into a logical analytical scheme, so that the problem of "interpretation" (that is, of proceeding from formalisms to meaning) is resolved without reproducing the shortcomings of traditional discourse. These shortcomings include a preponderance of personal intuition, an absence of explicit justifications, and numerous incoherences.

This paper is meant to be a contribution to efforts to reestablish the bases of archaeological reasoning in their historical continuity, beyond the mechanistic oppositions tending to mask the dialectic between "new" and "traditional" archaeology.

The paper is translated from its original French by Claudine Farrand.

One kind of R-mode analysis, the examination of the co-occurrence of particular artifact classes across a number of collections, facilitates the identification of recurrent artifact clusters. Its use with proportional data, however, requires the safeguard of equalizing collection sizes, which in turn may necessitate the use of some statistic other than the product-moment coefficient of correlation. Two examples of R-mode analysis are given, both using an average-linkage clustering procedure. The first uses proportional data from unmixed collections of a southwestern Alaskan phase of the Arctic Small Tool tradition, permitting a definition of artifact groups that may represent specialized activities, and highlighting 1 cluster that may have specifically temporal significance; some results of factor analysis are compared. The second example employs presence-absence information from surface-collected ceramics from Tlaxcala, Mexico, and makes possible a refinement of the ceramic sequence.

A model consisting of a sequence of 4 interrelated hypotheses is presented as a framework within which exploitation of animal populations by Middle Mississippi groups can be considered. Faunal data recovered from a series of 7 Middle Mississippi sites is presented to facilitate the development of the model. The model proposes that Middle Mississippi exploitation of animal populations was selective, was seasonally oriented, and was concentrated on those sections of the biotic community that would provide a maximum meat yield with a minimum of effort.

Pollen recovered from the sediments of Guila Naquitz Cave, Oaxaca, is compared with pollen representing modern ecological patterns in the Valley of Oaxaca. This allows the reconstruction of both vegetational and climatic patterns for the period of preceramic occupancy of the cave: roughly, 6000-8000 B.C. A generally cooler yet more xeric climate apparently prevailed, as had been suggested by faunal analyses at Coxcatlan Cave near Tehuacan, Puebla. However, the floral and faunal resources available near the cave today were available there at the time of occupation. Pollen representing a plant that is closely related to modern maize is recognizable from the pollen record. The distribution of this pollen among the samples, as well as the macrofossil remains associated with the pollen and the reconstructed ecological pattern, indicate that the maize-like plant was being cultivated.

Dietary and paleoecological data from the Clydes Cavern site has provided information concerning man's adaptations in a desert environment. Moreover, this information reveals certain of the processes involved in the Archaic-Fremont transition in Utah, especially as this transition relates to the utilization of wild grass seeds and the introduction and development of maize horticulture. Although horticulture and wild plant collecting were practiced during the Archaic inhabitation of the site, the coprolite sequence and the alluvial chronology suggest that a greater dependence upon these subsystems developed in a Fremont context, possibly in association with a period of improving alluvial conditions. During the Fremont occupation, the site seems to have functioned as a farming and collecting station within a larger system of regional adaptation.

Nearest neighbor analysis, a method which quantifies the deviation of a body of data from a random toward either a clustered or an anticlustered distribution, was utilized to study aspects of a settlement system. Data from a surface survey of 241 Pueblo I-III sites on the middle Rio Puerco of the East, New Mexico, corroborated the hypothesis of a direct correlation between house location and presence of arable land, assuming use of akchin farming methods. A smooth curve of population growth and decline was correlated with a decrease, then increase, in site agglomeration. Presumably these changes reflected adjustment of site locations to a deteriorating environment resulting from the shift to a summer rainfall cycle. Statistical tests corroborated the validity of these observations. Arrangement of the ceramic types according to their corresponding degree of aggregation produced a tentative local ceramic chronology.

The differential longevity of ceramic vessel forms affects the frequencies of these forms in an archaeological midden. The observed frequencies of modern Conibo vessel forms in use are projected into the archaeological record and the results are compared to the frequencies of antecedent forms from archaeological sites on the Upper Ucayali. Some of the variables, other than differential longevity, needed to account for the differing frequencies are discussed. The utility of longevity data for estimating the population needed to produce an archaeological midden is also explored.

This paper presents an alternative to Naroll's formula for estimating population size from settlement area. It uses an allometric model modified for hunter-gatherer camps. In this model, the parameters are derived theoretically to describe mean area per person and the geometric properties of population distribution. The proposed model is then tested on 16 !Kung Bushmen settlements.

Extensive radiocarbon analyses have been made of dendrochronologically dated wood. The resultant radiocarbon data are not in total agreement with the conventional solar calendar as exemplified by the tree-ring chronology. The discrepancy reaches a maximum between 4060 B.C. to 7350 B.C. when radiocarbon dates are too young by 800 to 870 yr. Using a compatible set of 549 dated samples as a working base, a calibration table has been derived for conversion of conventional radiocarbon dates to calendar dates. This conversion table covers the period of time from A.D. 1600 to 5400 B.C. Data are also given to facilitate the calculation of the accuracy of the corrected date by a simple, illustrated method.

The increasing popularity of archaeology courses has brought many persons susceptible to coccidioidomycosis into areas endemic for the fungus which causes this disease. The high incidence of infection in susceptibles can be averted by adherence to recommendations developed by the California State Department of Health. A concurrent beneift will be the reduction of potential legal action against universities.

Some implicit assumptions in Whallon's mathematically rigorous method for reproducing Ritchie's traditional Owasco pottery typology are pointed out, and some of the “validity limits” of his conclusions are discussed.

A mechanical device for making scale drawings of excavation sections is described. In limited testing the machine has shown itself to be capable of substantially reducing the time required for this operation, while increasing the accuracy of the results.