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Society for American Archaeology

A Correction on "Preclassic Metal?"Author(s): Robert E. SmithSource: American Antiquity, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Apr., 1955), pp. 379-380Published by: Society for American ArchaeologyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/277075Accessed: 30/09/2008 23:24

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FACTS AND COMMENTSACTS AND COMMENTSfire-trees and cannot be a major permanent componentof the vegetation in the absence of fires. Therefore, weare inclined to interpret the presence of pine dominancein pollen profiles as an indication of the presence ofhunting Indian cultures, rather than primarily as anindication of a warm, dry climate." If the interpretationof Curtis is correct, I have been barking up the wrongtrees.

It probably will be some time before there is a gen-erally accepted reconstruction of cultural and naturalareas in late glacial times. A variety of opinions alreadyhave been published. Unlike Aschmann, I doubt thatthe certain hypotheses presented in the original paperwill "become established dogma to burden subsequentinvestigations." The mortality rates on my previousdogma are too high.Below are corrections and additions for the referencesin the original paper:For Fairchild (1908) read (1909); for Ritchie (1952)read (1951); for Sears (1942) read (1932); and for Stan-ley (1943) read Greenman and Stanley (1943).Items marked thus (*) should have been listed inthe original paper. Unmarked items are those I haveread since its completion and would like to have in-cluded. In addition I would like to recommend a forth-coming paper by James Zumberge and John E. Potzger,to be published probably by the Geological Society ofAmerica.ANTEVS,ERNST

1954 Geochronology of the Deglacial and Neo-thermal Ages: A Reply. Journal of Geology,Vol. 62, No. 5, pp. 516-21. Chicago.DOUGLAS,MARY C. V. AND R. N. DRUMMOND

1953 Glacial Features of Ungava from Air Photo-graphs. Transactions of the Royal Society ofCanada, Vol. 47, Series 3, Section 4, pp. 11-16.Ottawa.*KULP, J. L., H. W. FEELY,ANDL. E. TRYON

1951 Lamont Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, I.Science, Vol. 114, pp. 565-8. Washington.*KULP, J. L., L. E. TRYON, W. R. ECKELMAN,AND W. A.SNELL

1952 Lamont Natural Radiocarbon Measurements,II. Science, Vol. 116, pp. 409-14. Washington.LAWRENCE,ONALD . AND OHNA. ELSON

1953 Periodicity of Deglaciation in North AmericaSince the Late Wisconsin Maximum. Geo-grafiska Annaler, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 83-104.Stockholm.

LOUGEE, ICHARD.1953 A Chronology of Post-glacial Time in EasternNorth America. The Scientific Monthly, Vol.

76, No. 5, pp. 259-76. Lancaster.

fire-trees and cannot be a major permanent componentof the vegetation in the absence of fires. Therefore, weare inclined to interpret the presence of pine dominancein pollen profiles as an indication of the presence ofhunting Indian cultures, rather than primarily as anindication of a warm, dry climate." If the interpretationof Curtis is correct, I have been barking up the wrongtrees.

It probably will be some time before there is a gen-erally accepted reconstruction of cultural and naturalareas in late glacial times. A variety of opinions alreadyhave been published. Unlike Aschmann, I doubt thatthe certain hypotheses presented in the original paperwill "become established dogma to burden subsequentinvestigations." The mortality rates on my previousdogma are too high.Below are corrections and additions for the referencesin the original paper:For Fairchild (1908) read (1909); for Ritchie (1952)read (1951); for Sears (1942) read (1932); and for Stan-ley (1943) read Greenman and Stanley (1943).Items marked thus (*) should have been listed inthe original paper. Unmarked items are those I haveread since its completion and would like to have in-cluded. In addition I would like to recommend a forth-coming paper by James Zumberge and John E. Potzger,to be published probably by the Geological Society ofAmerica.ANTEVS,ERNST

1954 Geochronology of the Deglacial and Neo-thermal Ages: A Reply. Journal of Geology,Vol. 62, No. 5, pp. 516-21. Chicago.DOUGLAS,MARY C. V. AND R. N. DRUMMOND

1953 Glacial Features of Ungava from Air Photo-graphs. Transactions of the Royal Society ofCanada, Vol. 47, Series 3, Section 4, pp. 11-16.Ottawa.*KULP, J. L., H. W. FEELY,ANDL. E. TRYON

1951 Lamont Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, I.Science, Vol. 114, pp. 565-8. Washington.*KULP, J. L., L. E. TRYON, W. R. ECKELMAN,AND W. A.SNELL

1952 Lamont Natural Radiocarbon Measurements,II. Science, Vol. 116, pp. 409-14. Washington.LAWRENCE,ONALD . AND OHNA. ELSON

1953 Periodicity of Deglaciation in North AmericaSince the Late Wisconsin Maximum. Geo-grafiska Annaler, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 83-104.Stockholm.

LOUGEE, ICHARD.1953 A Chronology of Post-glacial Time in EasternNorth America. The Scientific Monthly, Vol.

76, No. 5, pp. 259-76. Lancaster.

*MACNEISH, ICHARD.1952 A Possible Early Site in the Thunder Bay

District, Ontario. Annual Report of the Na-tional Museum of Canada, Bulletin 126, pp. 23-47. Ottawa.*ROBERTS,RANKH. H., JR.

1951. Radiocarbon Dates and Early Man. Memoirsof the Society for American Archaeology, No.8, pp. 20-2. Salt Lake City.

ROUSE,RVING1952 The Age of the Melbourne Interval. Texas

Archeological and Paleontological Society Bul-letin, Vol. 23, pp. 293-9. Lubbock.

*SEARS, PAULB.1932 The Archaeology of Environment in Eastern

North America. American Anthropologist, Vol.34, No. 4, pp. 610-22. Menasha.REFERENCESCITED

FISK,HAROLD.1944 Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of theLower Mississippi River. War Department, Corps of Engi-

neers, U.S. Army, Mississippi River Commission, Publica-tion No. 52. Vicksburg.FLINT,R. F. ANDOTHERS

1945 Glacial Map of North America. Geological Society ofAmerica, Special Paper, No. 60, Pt. 1. New York.GEORGEI. QUIMBYChicago Natural History MuseumChicago, IllinoisNovember, 1954

A CORRECTION ON "PRECLASSIC METAL?"The evidence for locating the find of sheet copper,reported by R. E. Smith (1944) and commented on byJohn L. Sorenson in AMERICANNTIQUITY1954), hasproved thoroughly unreliable.Since the publication of the above find, which in-cluded 11 pottery vessels and other artifacts, I havelearned that the pottery most probably did not come

from San Miguel Ixtahuacan at all. Nothing even vaguelysimilar has been unearthed from that vicinity. It ismuch more closely related to material from the Salcaja-Momostenango region, as I pointed out in the article.Therefore, if the informant and original owner of thecollection gave inaccurate information as to the proveni-ence of the collection, he may also have been in erroras to copper being found in one of the above pre-Classicvessels.

This material was published in order to preserve thelot as a whole for students, because without regard toits provenience the pottery appeared to be a homogene-ous collection, presumably found in a single grave orvarious graves of the same ceramic period.

*MACNEISH, ICHARD.1952 A Possible Early Site in the Thunder Bay

District, Ontario. Annual Report of the Na-tional Museum of Canada, Bulletin 126, pp. 23-47. Ottawa.*ROBERTS,RANKH. H., JR.

1951. Radiocarbon Dates and Early Man. Memoirsof the Society for American Archaeology, No.8, pp. 20-2. Salt Lake City.

ROUSE,RVING1952 The Age of the Melbourne Interval. Texas

Archeological and Paleontological Society Bul-letin, Vol. 23, pp. 293-9. Lubbock.

*SEARS, PAULB.1932 The Archaeology of Environment in Eastern

North America. American Anthropologist, Vol.34, No. 4, pp. 610-22. Menasha.REFERENCESCITED

FISK,HAROLD.1944 Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of theLower Mississippi River. War Department, Corps of Engi-

neers, U.S. Army, Mississippi River Commission, Publica-tion No. 52. Vicksburg.FLINT,R. F. ANDOTHERS

1945 Glacial Map of North America. Geological Society ofAmerica, Special Paper, No. 60, Pt. 1. New York.GEORGEI. QUIMBYChicago Natural History MuseumChicago, IllinoisNovember, 1954

A CORRECTION ON "PRECLASSIC METAL?"The evidence for locating the find of sheet copper,reported by R. E. Smith (1944) and commented on byJohn L. Sorenson in AMERICANNTIQUITY1954), hasproved thoroughly unreliable.Since the publication of the above find, which in-cluded 11 pottery vessels and other artifacts, I havelearned that the pottery most probably did not come

from San Miguel Ixtahuacan at all. Nothing even vaguelysimilar has been unearthed from that vicinity. It ismuch more closely related to material from the Salcaja-Momostenango region, as I pointed out in the article.Therefore, if the informant and original owner of thecollection gave inaccurate information as to the proveni-ence of the collection, he may also have been in erroras to copper being found in one of the above pre-Classicvessels.

This material was published in order to preserve thelot as a whole for students, because without regard toits provenience the pottery appeared to be a homogene-ous collection, presumably found in a single grave orvarious graves of the same ceramic period.

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AMERICAN ANTIQUITYMERICAN ANTIQUITYThis seems to me an excellent example of why it isbest not to publish doubtful material unless explicitlyso labeled because all finds are doubtful unless one can

vouch for them without a question. In this case, I didnot know the original owner and therefore my informa-tion was second hand. Furthermore, at the time ofwriting the article, I knew nothing about the potteryfrom the San Miguel Ixtahuacan region.SMITH,OBERT.

1944 Archaeological Specimens from Guatemala. Carnegie In-stitution of Washington, Division of Historical Research,Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology,Vol. 2, No. 37, pp. 35-47. Cambridge.

SORENSON,OHNL.1954 Preclassic Metal? American Antiquity, Vol. 20, No. 1,

p. 64. Salt Lake City.ROBERT E. SMITHCarnegie Institution of WashingtonCambridge, Mass.August, 1954

BURINS FROM CENTRAL ALASKA YTrue burins that are directly comparable with a num-ber of Old World types have recently appeared as

prominent elements of a number of collections from theAmerican arctic. Their areal distribution from Alaska(Giddings 1951) to Greenland (Knuth 1952; Meldgaard1952) and possibly Labrador (Harp 1951: 215; 1953: 41),in a variety of coastal and inland sites, shows that thetrait was not a novelty nor a figment of .chance, but anintegral part of several North American flint complexes.In certain instances, and particularly at the Alaskansites, they are accompanied by other implements typo-logically similar to Old World Paleolithic and Meso-lithic forms (Giddings 1951); elsewhere, they are foundin complexes that may be more distinctively American(Knuth 1952; Meldgaard 1952; Harp 1951). Oddlyenough, basal grinding, parallel flaking, fluted points,and other early American traits such as Oblique andEden Yuma points, are more conspicuous in the "Meso-lithic" Denbigh Flint complex than they are in stagesfound farther east, for which there is less evidence forclose connections with the Old World. However, Harpreports a fluted point in a Newfoundland assemblage(1951: 209).It is pertinent, in view of the trait's evident relation-ships with early Arctic cultures, to draw attention tosome burins that were recently identified in a collection

Publication of this note, prepared in the fall of 1953, has beendelayed by my absence during an extended period of field work.Several revisions and additions, made after the appearance ofMacNeish's recent paper (1954) are apparent in the text. Dis-cussion with MacNeish in 1953 resulted in our agreement on most,though perhaps not all, of the points of typology common to theCampus site and Pointed Mountain that are mentioned here.Ivar Skarland and James W. Van Stone, of the University ofAlaska, and Hallam L. Movius, Jr., and Gordon R. Willey, ofHarvard, have kindly read the manuscript and made pertinentsuggestions.

This seems to me an excellent example of why it isbest not to publish doubtful material unless explicitlyso labeled because all finds are doubtful unless one canvouch for them without a question. In this case, I didnot know the original owner and therefore my informa-tion was second hand. Furthermore, at the time ofwriting the article, I knew nothing about the potteryfrom the San Miguel Ixtahuacan region.SMITH,OBERT.

1944 Archaeological Specimens from Guatemala. Carnegie In-stitution of Washington, Division of Historical Research,Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology,Vol. 2, No. 37, pp. 35-47. Cambridge.

SORENSON,OHNL.1954 Preclassic Metal? American Antiquity, Vol. 20, No. 1,

p. 64. Salt Lake City.ROBERT E. SMITHCarnegie Institution of WashingtonCambridge, Mass.August, 1954

BURINS FROM CENTRAL ALASKA YTrue burins that are directly comparable with a num-ber of Old World types have recently appeared as

prominent elements of a number of collections from theAmerican arctic. Their areal distribution from Alaska(Giddings 1951) to Greenland (Knuth 1952; Meldgaard1952) and possibly Labrador (Harp 1951: 215; 1953: 41),in a variety of coastal and inland sites, shows that thetrait was not a novelty nor a figment of .chance, but anintegral part of several North American flint complexes.In certain instances, and particularly at the Alaskansites, they are accompanied by other implements typo-logically similar to Old World Paleolithic and Meso-lithic forms (Giddings 1951); elsewhere, they are foundin complexes that may be more distinctively American(Knuth 1952; Meldgaard 1952; Harp 1951). Oddlyenough, basal grinding, parallel flaking, fluted points,and other early American traits such as Oblique andEden Yuma points, are more conspicuous in the "Meso-lithic" Denbigh Flint complex than they are in stagesfound farther east, for which there is less evidence forclose connections with the Old World. However, Harpreports a fluted point in a Newfoundland assemblage(1951: 209).It is pertinent, in view of the trait's evident relation-ships with early Arctic cultures, to draw attention tosome burins that were recently identified in a collection

Publication of this note, prepared in the fall of 1953, has beendelayed by my absence during an extended period of field work.Several revisions and additions, made after the appearance ofMacNeish's recent paper (1954) are apparent in the text. Dis-cussion with MacNeish in 1953 resulted in our agreement on most,though perhaps not all, of the points of typology common to theCampus site and Pointed Mountain that are mentioned here.Ivar Skarland and James W. Van Stone, of the University ofAlaska, and Hallam L. Movius, Jr., and Gordon R. Willey, ofHarvard, have kindly read the manuscript and made pertinentsuggestions.

of "pre-Athabaskan" age that was taken in the 1930'sfrom the University of Alaska Campus site, near Fair-banks.A re-examination of the Campus site material wasprompted by the announcement of Richard S. MacNeishat the 1952 meetings of the Society for American Ar-chaeology in Philadelphia that he had discovered, nearFort Liard, Northwest Territories, burins, prismatic flakes,and prepared polyhedral cores. The assemblage lookedquite different from the Denbigh Flint complex, wherethese forms occur. However, inspection of a few ofMacNeish's specimens and later the photographs which

appear in his paper (1954) showed a detailed, and Ithink, significant, resemblance between some of hisPointed Mountain material and types characteristic ofthe Campus site. In particular, MacNeish's "tongue-shaped cores" (p. 239), as distinguished from his sub-conoidal variety, are strikingly similar to cores from theCampus site where subconoidal cores do not occur.MacNeish has listed a number of other parallels, ofvarying significance. A search was made of the Campussite collection for additional similarities, with the resultthat 2 burins and a burin spall were identified. Anothertype found, which can be described as a flake gouge,may also have parallels in the Pointed Mountain com-plex, in the form of MacNeish's "lamellar flakes withretouched rounded ends" (p. 242). These implementswill be described here so that they can be includedin the typology of the Campus site. No attempt hasbeen made to compare the whole assemblage with thePointed Mountain complex.The Campus site was excavated during the period1934-36 by Charles E. Bunnell, then president of theUniversity, John Dorsh, Froelich G. Rainey, and severalundergraduate assistants. Reports on the excavations andthe material recovered have been presented by N. C.Nelson (1935, 1937) and Rainey (1939). A small typecollection is at the American Museum of Natural His-tory; the rest of the material is now in the Museum ofthe University of Alaska. The Campus site is on thebrow of a hill which drops off steeply to the broad levelfloor of the unglaciated valley through which the TananaRiver follows a course at present some 4 miles to theeast. Cultural remains were found throughout most ofthe area of 100 m. radius in which test pits were dug.These are regarded by both Rainey and Nelson as com-prising a single artifact complex devoid of recognizableintrusives.

No hypotheses have been advanced as to the actualage of the material. However, Rainey (1939: 388; 1953:43-4) regards it as typologically distinct from the Atha-baskan collections because it lacks copper and artifactsmade of organic substances. Moreover, it contains semi-lunar scrapers chipped on one face, cleavers, and smallelliptical biface blades, none of which occur in the oldestknown Athabaskan site in Alaska, Dixthada. There arealso 34 prepared polyhedral (microblade) cores out ofa total of 353 implements. This further distinguishes itfrom the mixed Dixthada collection, in which only 2of the 496 implements are prepared cores. Nelson (1937)

of "pre-Athabaskan" age that was taken in the 1930'sfrom the University of Alaska Campus site, near Fair-banks.A re-examination of the Campus site material wasprompted by the announcement of Richard S. MacNeishat the 1952 meetings of the Society for American Ar-chaeology in Philadelphia that he had discovered, nearFort Liard, Northwest Territories, burins, prismatic flakes,and prepared polyhedral cores. The assemblage lookedquite different from the Denbigh Flint complex, wherethese forms occur. However, inspection of a few ofMacNeish's specimens and later the photographs which

appear in his paper (1954) showed a detailed, and Ithink, significant, resemblance between some of hisPointed Mountain material and types characteristic ofthe Campus site. In particular, MacNeish's "tongue-shaped cores" (p. 239), as distinguished from his sub-conoidal variety, are strikingly similar to cores from theCampus site where subconoidal cores do not occur.MacNeish has listed a number of other parallels, ofvarying significance. A search was made of the Campussite collection for additional similarities, with the resultthat 2 burins and a burin spall were identified. Anothertype found, which can be described as a flake gouge,may also have parallels in the Pointed Mountain com-plex, in the form of MacNeish's "lamellar flakes withretouched rounded ends" (p. 242). These implementswill be described here so that they can be includedin the typology of the Campus site. No attempt hasbeen made to compare the whole assemblage with thePointed Mountain complex.The Campus site was excavated during the period1934-36 by Charles E. Bunnell, then president of theUniversity, John Dorsh, Froelich G. Rainey, and severalundergraduate assistants. Reports on the excavations andthe material recovered have been presented by N. C.Nelson (1935, 1937) and Rainey (1939). A small typecollection is at the American Museum of Natural His-tory; the rest of the material is now in the Museum ofthe University of Alaska. The Campus site is on thebrow of a hill which drops off steeply to the broad levelfloor of the unglaciated valley through which the TananaRiver follows a course at present some 4 miles to theeast. Cultural remains were found throughout most ofthe area of 100 m. radius in which test pits were dug.These are regarded by both Rainey and Nelson as com-prising a single artifact complex devoid of recognizableintrusives.

No hypotheses have been advanced as to the actualage of the material. However, Rainey (1939: 388; 1953:43-4) regards it as typologically distinct from the Atha-baskan collections because it lacks copper and artifactsmade of organic substances. Moreover, it contains semi-lunar scrapers chipped on one face, cleavers, and smallelliptical biface blades, none of which occur in the oldestknown Athabaskan site in Alaska, Dixthada. There arealso 34 prepared polyhedral (microblade) cores out ofa total of 353 implements. This further distinguishes itfrom the mixed Dixthada collection, in which only 2of the 496 implements are prepared cores. Nelson (1937)

38080 [ XX, 4, 1955XX, 4, 1955