In attempts to implement probabilistic survey designs in areas of reduced surface visibility, archaeologists have turned to shovel testing or Test Pit Sampling (TPS). Characteristically TPS involves excavation of small, systematically spaced test pits within larger survey units as a method of searching for archaeological materials that would otherwise go undiscovered. While TPS has been the subject of considerable study most studies have been theoretical in nature. As a result, while the characteristics of TPS are understood generally, it is not known how well the method functions in known archaeological contexts. This article describes the results of research directed at estimating the reliability and validity of the test pit method when carried out on known archaeological sites under varying conditions of artifact density and spatial clustering. Split-half correlations and logistic regressions show that TPS is reliable in the sense that it produces replicable results, but is biased against discovery of small, low-density sites, especially when these sites exhibit high degrees of spatial clustering of artifacts. A model relating TPS to regional survey in general is presented and a means of estimating potential biases of the method is illustrated.

The probability of detecting sites using subsurface testing programs is a serious concern for archaeologists working in the eastern United States. Some have suggested that current test-probe programs provide a poor method for estimating the frequency and distribution of sites. In this article I examine the usefulness of subsurface testing programs by comparing the results of an Eastern subsurface survey with a pedestrian surface survey conducted in the Southwest. The subsurface survey at Shelter Island, New York, was designed so that probability limits could be calculated for detecting sites of varying sizes. These probabilities were then employed to estimate the number and kinds of sites contained in sample units. When these results were compared with those from a pedestrian surface survey in northeastern Arizona, the results suggested that carefully designed subsurface surveys, although extremely labor-intensive, can provide settlement-pattern information as detailed as that collected in surface surveys.

The history of coring and augering at archaeological sites is traced to two periods in the twentieth century. In the first period, Period I (1935-1955), the technique was used primarily to correlate archaeological deposits with river sediments for dating purposes. Rarely were the deposits containing artifacts cored or augered; rather the stratigraphic relationship of cultural to non-cultural deposits was sought. Most of this work was done in the Lower Mississippi River Delta where geologists had calculated absolute dates for river deposits. This period seems to have ended with the availability of radiometric dating and was followed by Period II (1964-present). After 1964 there is a renewed interest in coring and augering, mostly following a shift in archaeological research interests from culture history toward ecological questions. This shift coincides with the availability of a new device: a mechanical corer. During Period II, coring is utilized in many different projects, including reconstructing the environment surrounding sites, collection of samples from subsurface deposits, and locating buried archaeological sites. Following the discussion of the history of coring and augering, a description of equipment, techniques, and data potential is presented.

In this article we develop and apply a method for estimating fertility in paleodemographic study. The proportion D30+/D5+, generated from standard life table calculations, is used to estimate relative fertility rates for eight Woodland and Mississippian populations represented by skeletal series from west-central Illinois. The inferred pattern of fertility increase through time is then considered in the context of key variables that define diet, technology, and sedentism. We conclude that changes in diet or food preparation techniques are implicated in this demographic change. The absence of a significant increment in juvenile mortality in association with the elevated fertility rates suggests that these changes in fertility explain the regional population increase previously inferred from mortuary and habitation site densities.

The manufacture of men"s knives by Alyawara-speaking Australian Aborigines is described.1 The setting is a men's camp at the site of Bendaijerum near MacDonald Downs in central Australia. Obtaining the raw material, the lithic blanks, and the spinifex resin used in manufacture has already been described (Binford 1984; Binford and O'Connell 1984). This essay treats the social context and the technical process of tool production as it was observed among the Alyawara during the winter of 1974. These experiences then serve as the basis for a discussion of the concept of style and for an analysis of some common views regarding settlement typology.

The tandem accelerator mass spectrometer provided critical dating of corn remains in Archaic levels of juxtaposed Archaic and Hohokam occupations on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona. This new radiometric technology confirmed an Archaic placement suggested by stratigraphy and artifact distributions. The small sample of intact remains resembles other directly-dated early corn in the Southwest and reinforces an interpretation of preceramic cultivators in the Sonoran Desert.

In recent research using prehistoric archaeological site data from the Delaware Coastal Plain we have developed techniques to apply Landsat remote sensing data to the generation of archaeological predictive models. Rather than focusing on the specific sensing of archaeological sites, we use a synoptic approach that delineates the likely environmental settings for archaeological sites. The logistical regression statistical technique provides a quantitative link between site locations and environmental variables. By analyzing the environmental variables associated with known site locations, and known non-site locations, the logistical regression provides a probability assessment of an unsurveyed area's potential for containing archaeological sites. Supervised classification of Landsat data generates maps of environmental zones that can be related to the environmental variables used in the logistical regression. The model and the Landsat classifications have been subjected to preliminary tests and they provide accurate assessments of site potential in unsurveyed areas, as well as measures of the accuracy of the assessments. Results can be applied to cultural resource management problems and also yield useful data on prehistoric land use patterns.

Studies of burrowing rodent ecology are reviewed to identify the dynamics of rodent disturbance and to predict its impact on archaeological deposits. Data from a central California site are used to evaluate the proposed effects of rodent behavior. Burrowing activity appears to segregate soil contents by size, causing artificial concentrations of small materials near the surface, and larger materials at depths between 30 and 60 cm. Despite extensive stratigraphic disturbance, rodent burrowing seems to have minimal effects on horizontal material distributions.

Morphological typologies of projectile points in North America have often been employed as time-sensitive prehistoric cultural markers. This article demonstrates that the contingencies of point manufacture, hafting, use, and rejuvenation create morphological changes that may render questionable use of these morphological typologies as prehistoric cultural markers. Thirty projectile points were replicated according to the attributes of a commonly employed typological scheme for the Great Basin. Experiments with hafting, impact, and rejuvenation demonstrate that a single point-type may manifest more than one "time-sensitive" shape within its normal uselife.

Trailside cairns created by Yuroks on religious journeys to mountaintops are shown to be a special case of the extremely widespread practice of establishing cairn trail shrines to which passers-by add stones. Specific comparative data are provided for the California culture area.

This Comment responds to Joseph L. Chartkoff's 1983 article, "A Rock Feature Complex from Northwestern California" (American Antiquity 48:745-760). Chartkoff describes two sorts of rock enclosures, identifying them both by a single Yurok-English name. The Comment points out there are at least two distinct words for such enclosures in the Yurok language, and that this linguistic evidence supports Chartkoff's hypothesis that the two sorts of rock features may be historically or ethnographically distinct.

Three rather redundant papers (Flenniken 1984, 1985; Flenniken and Raymond 1986) recently questioned the efficacy and validity of my research on Great Basin projectile point types (especially Thomas 1970, 1981, 1983b). These articles reflect a distorted view of how lithic studies articulate with today's archaeology, betraying serious misunderstandings about the objectives and methods of contemporary archaeology. While I am generally sympathetic with experimental approaches, these particular interpretations and recommendations require rethinking.

Binford's characterization of the isochrestic model of style seriously misrepresents it, particularly with regard to the assemblage variability problem. Here his criticisms are answered, the real argument of the model reviewed, and the reasons for his misrepresentation explored. It may be pertinent to the latter that the model has been presented in conjunction with a strong critique of his own work on style, which remains unanswered. Equally relevant, however, are the facts that its use calls for kinds of expertise Binford himself may not possess and that in any case his own theoretical preconceptions lead him to confound it with more traditional notions of style and consequently to dismiss it on a priori grounds. In fact, isochrestism may point the way toward a new means for addressing assemblage variability that frees style and function from much of the doctrinaire thinking that now encumbers them.