The Identification of Non-Artifactual Archaeological Materials (1957)

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The Identification of Non-Artifactual

Archaeological Materials (1957)
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66 pages | 7 x 10 | PAPERBACK
ISBN 978-0-309-34897-3 | DOI 10.17226/20752
CONTRIBUTORS
Walter W. Taylor, Editor; Committee on Archaeological Identification; Division
of Anthropology and Psychology; National Research Council
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The Identification of Non-Artifactual Archaeological Materials
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THE IDENTIFICATION OF
NON-ARTIFACTUAL
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS
Report of a Conference held in Chicago March 11-13, 1956 by the Committee

on Archaeological Identification, Division of Anthropology and Psychology,
National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council, with the sup-
port of the National Science Foundation.
Edited by
WALTER W. TAYLOR
Publication 565
National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council
Washington, D. C.
1957
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in Mexico by IMPRENTA NUEVO MUNDO, S. A.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Epiror’s FOREWORD .
Or
CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD
DD
STATEMENT OF GENERAL OBJECTIVES .
coosnrT
GENERAL SUMMARY, Edward S. Deevey .
List OF SPEAKERS . 10
The Identification and Interpretation of Materials Pertaining to, and/or Deriving from,
Archaeological Research: Problems and Procedures
What the Archaeologist Needs from the Specialist, Walter W. Taylor 11
Means toward an Understanding of Human Behavior before the Present, Robert J. Braidwood 14
The Problem of Obtaining Adequate Identification, Emil W. Haury . 17
The Current Status of the Identification Problem: The Archaeological Viewpoint

Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Stephen Williams . . 18
Peabody Museum, Yale University, B. J. Rouse . 20

Chicago Natural History Museum, Paul S. Martin . 22
The Old World: Palaeolithic, Hallam L. Movius . 23
The Old World: Post-Palaeolithic, Robert J. Braidwood 26
The Independent Investigator, Richard S. MacNetsh . 28
The Current Status of the Identification Problem: the Non-Archaeological Specialist Viewpoint
The Tree-Ring Laboratory and the Geochronological Program, University of Arizona, Emil W. Haury . 30
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Rutherford J. Gettens . 32
Botany, Volney H. Jones . 35
Hugh C. Cutler . 39
Zoology, Barbara Lawrence 41
Charles A. Reed 43
Paul W. Parmalee 45
William H. Burt 47
Geology, Sheldon Judson . 48
Herbert E. Wright, Jr. . 50
Metallurgy, William C. Root . 52
Carbon-14 Dating, H. R. Crane . 54
General Comments on Specialists’ Position, Frederick Johnson 57
Suggested Solutions to the Problem of Identification and Interdisciplinary Studies

A Center for Archaeological Identifications, Harry L. Shapiro
Improving the Use of Existing Facilities, James B. Griffin. . 59
A Clearing House or Central Agency, Walter W. Taylor . 61
Epiror’s SUMMARY . 63
RESOLUTION OF THE CONFERENCE . 64


EDITOR’S FOREWORD
As Editor of these Transactions, I believe a word is in deliberations. In regard to factual content, there has
order concerning the papers to follow. Of the thirty been no effort to make corrections of inconsequential
persons who spoke more or less formally during the misstatements or of instances where shades of meaning
course of the Conference, all but four have contributed do not seem to follow exactly the original course of
to the present volume. It is to be expected that, the discussions or to reproduce the general tenor of the
within twenty-six papers covering similar topics and Conference. Probably all of these will be apparent to
stemming from a meeting wherein there was such the reader, and to have modified them according to my
remarkable unanimity of opinion, there should be own views would have been to extend my editorial
considerable duplication, even repetition. In editing, license beyond what I considered the proper bounds.
I have been guided by the belief that, within certain However, there is one matter which I do wish to
limits, this repetition is not bad but rather serves to clear up. In his account published in Science and re-
emphasize the unanimity and to strengthen the gen- printe here, Deevey says that the resolution passed
eral point of view expressed by so many scientists. y the Conference was drafted by Braidwood, Reed,
Therefore, only a modicum of cutting has been done Movius, Lawrence, and Deevey. This is true of the first
upon the papers. | but not of the final draft. Taking the preliminary re-
The sequence of articles follows roughly that of the solution written by the above people, Judson and Tay-
speakers at the Conference. There have been some lor wrote the final Resolution which was signed by
minor changes which, it is my belief, help to clarify Chairman Kelley and submitted to the National Re-
and sharpen the intended and actual outlines of the search Council.

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD
J. Charles Kelley
At an informal meeting of several archaeologists and mediately clear; (7) improvement in communication
other research workers in Durango, Mexico, in the between archaeologists and research workers in related
summer of 1954, in connection with the Anthropolog- fields appears to be one high priority goal which might
ical Field Session of Southern Illinois University, Dr. be attained.
Walter W. Taylor discussed the difficulties encountered The specific recommendations of the Committee
by archaeologists in obtaining adequate identifications were as follows:
for the materials encountered in archaeological exca-
vation. He also pointed out the potential value of such ‘That inasmuch as human cultures may not be completely
materials to research workers in other fields and the understood without regard to their environment and _ inas-
inadequate use that archaeologists make of those iden- much as the study of their environments depends primarily
tifications which they do obtain. He outlined a possible on competences which anthropologists very seldom possess,
solution for this multi-faceted probiem through the the Committee on Archaeological Identification believes that
creation of a clearing house. At that time I was serving there exists a need for expanding collaboration between
as one of the representatives of the American Anthro- anthropology and other disciplines and recommends:
pological Association on the National Research Coun-
1) That consideration be given to establishing a clearing
cil, Division of Anthropology and Psychology, and I house for archaeological identification under the aus
offered to bring this matter to the attention of the pices of the NRC.
Council.
I presented this problem to the Division of Anthro- 2) That a subcommittee on clearing house functions be
pology and Psychology at its annual meeting in May, established to represent anthropology, geology, zoology,
1955. [he matter was received with considerable sym- botany, physical anthropology, chemistry, and physics.
pathy by Dr. Harry Shapiro and Dr. Glen Finch, who
pointed out that this problem had been called to the 3) That the clearing house maintain a small office with
attention of the Division on more than one occasion. current lists of specialists available and attempt to es-
The Division voted to establish an Exploratory Com- tablish contact between the archaeologist and the ap-
mittee on Archaeological Identifications, and I was propriate specialist. It would not have the function of
asked to serve as its chairman. Establishment of this andling the actual specimens.
Committee was approved by the Academy Council,
and it was officially formed in the late fall of 1955. 4) That the clearing house be charged with seeking ad-
Members of the Committee as finally constituted vance information of rojects going into the field, alert-
ting them as to needs of specialists, and encouraging
included Dr. Robert Braidwood (Old World Archae- archaeologists to take with them representative special-
ology), Dr. Hugh C. Cutler (Botany), Dr. Sheldon ists in other fields, For this purpose, the clearing house
eee (Geology and Paleontology), Dr. J. Charles might publish periodically an informative bulletin.
elley (Chairman), Miss Barbara Lawrence (Zoology),
Dr. Georg K. Neumann (Physical Anthropology), Dr. In addition, it was recommended that the Committee give
William C. Root (Metallurgy), and Dr. Walter W. consideration to preparing a handbook of instructions for
Taylor (American Archaeology). archaeologists.
After some preliminary correspondence and research, It was agreed that the Committee might select one area for
a pilot study, and a tentative budget was set up on a yearly
the Committee met in Washington, D. C., February, basis for a three-year period.
1956, with all members present. The problem was dis- It was voted to recommend to the Division that such a clear-
cussed in some detail. The general conclusions of the ing house be established and that funds be sought to support
meeting were as follows: (1) a very real problem exists; the activity as outlined above.
(2) the intensity of the problem varies somewhat from It was believed that, after the three-year period had elapsed.
region to region, institution to institution, and between such a clearing house could become self-maintaining.
disciplines; (3) the archaeologists are not making full
utilization of the information which they obtain, and I presented the findings and recommendations of the
the specialists in related disciplines are dissatisfied with Committee to the Division of Anthropology and Psy-
the use which the archaeologists make of the data chology at its annual meeting in Washington in April,
which they give them; (4) the problem does not appear 1956. The Division approved the recommendations of
to be serious in the fields of geology, paleontology, and the Committee but recommended further study. The
metallurgy, and present demands could be handled in Committee was therefore continued for another year
botany and physical anthropology by increased finan- with the same membership and chairman. In Septem-
cial support of existing facilities; (5) in zoology, espe- ber, 1956, at the suggestion of Dr. Clyde Kluckhohn,
cially mammalogy, the problem appears to be quite Chairman of the Division, and Dr. Glen Finch, Exe-
serious since mammalogists have no interest in the cutive Secretary, and with the aid of the Committee, I
archaeological materials and do not fee] that the pro- developed plans for a conference to consider the prob-
vision of additional funds and facilities would appre- lems of archaeological identification on a somewhat
ciably improve the situation; (6) the need of improved broader basis. It was felt that consideration by a larger,
interdisciplinary cooperation was obvious to all, but more representative group of archaeologists and related
the means of obtaining this objective were not im- specialists was imperative. .

After some modification by Kluckhohn and Finch, them were viewed as unique collections of scientific in-
plans for the meeting were approved, and Finch formation of potential value in several fields. The
presented a request for funds to support the proposed problem then became one of assuring that the data and
conference to the National Science Foundation. This specimens reached the interested scientists on the one
request for funds was approved in January, through hand and, on the other, of assuring through improved
the support of Dr. Harry Alpert of the NSF, and orga- interdisciplinary cooperation that the fullest possible
nization of the present conference proceeded. use would be made of specimens and data. Provisions
I wish to note that from the very beginning the for implementing this level of cooperation were re-
Committee on Archaeological Identifications concept- cognized as important but as secondary to the basic in-
ualized the identification problem on a high level. The tellectual operations and considerations involved.
Committee members saw the problem not simply as It is the hope of the Committee that the Conference
one of working out means to provide more and longer will examine the problem in its entirety and take what-
lists of species for archaeologists but as a much broader ever steps appear desirable toward improving the exist-
one. The specimens and the appropriate data regarding ing situation.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL OBJECTIVES

A. To explore and evaluate the problem of obtaining
adequate and speedy extra-cultural identifications
of archaeologically derived materials.
B. To bring to the attention of archaeologists the im-
portance of modifying their techniques of collecting
and recording non-cultural materials in order to
make these materials more valuable to the collabo-
rating specialists in terms of current trends in re-
search in their fields. .
C. To explore possibilities for intensified interdisci-

plinary studies on archaeologically derived ma-
terials.
D. To explore possibilities of improving the existing
situation an to make recommendations as to ap-
propriate procedures for implementing the most
plausible plans.
E. To bring to the attention of both archaeologists
and specialists in pertinent fields the problems and
possibilities involved, through publication of the
papers and discussions of the Conference and distri-
ution of these to appropriate institutions and in-
dividuals.

GENERAL SUMMARY
Edward S. Deevey
(Reprinted from Science, Vol. 126, No. 3270, 30 August, 1957.)
A committee of the National Research Council has reasons within his own discipline for solving problems
spent 2 years in intermittent discussion of identifica- that arise within the other disciplines.
tions provided to archeologists by specialists in such ‘There was no agreement on the name by which this
fields as zoology, botany, geology, physical anthropol- collaborative study should be called; paleoecology, his-
, and metallurgy, and especially of the interdisci- torical geography, and the neologism archeo-ecology
plinary problems that such collaboration raises. The each had some supporters, and both archeology and
work of this Committee on Archaeological Identifica- ecology could, in principle, be extended to cover the
tions, under the chairmanship of J. Charles Kelley whole subject. What was clear was that the barriers be-
(Southern Illinois University), culminated in a gen- tween parts of the subject are breaking down, that
eral conference, held at the Oriental Institute, Univer- paleoecology has an ever-increasing number of practi-
sity of Chicago, 11-13 Mar. 1957, under the auspices tioners, and that it not only requires but rewards the
of the National Research Council (Division of Anthro- services of biological, physical, and social scientists of
pology and Psychology) and of the National Science many kinds.
oundation. The exacavation of the Mesolithic site of Star Carr
More than 40 invited participants attended. All in Yorkshire by Grahame Clark and others was in-
were North Americans, but research interests in South stanced several times as a model of successful collabora-
America, Europe, and the Middle East were repre- tion. The theme of the conference was epitomized in a
sented by such men as Junius Bird, Irving Rouse, Hal- remark of Volney Jones: an archeologic site is a unique
lam Movius, Herbert Wright, Sheldon Judson, Robert historical document, not only for the development of
Braidwood, and Charles Reed. Informal papers were culture, but for a segment of the history of the earth;
presented by Paul Martin, Bird, Stephen Williams, archeologists have no need or desire to reserve these
John Champe, Emil Haury, Rouse, Richard MacNeish, records for themselves, particularly when the culture
Braidwood, Movius, Rutherford Gettens, Walter Tay- that is recorded is less impressive or less significant than
lor, Clyde Kluckhohn, Erik Reed, Volney Jones, Hugh the noncultural remains. Since this is so, many sites
Cutler, Edward Deevey, Barbara Lawrence, Paul should in principle be excavated by botanists or zo-
Parmalee, Reed, William Burt, Georg Neumann, ologists, who could send the artifacts to “cultural ar-
Judson, Wright, H. R. Crane, W. C. Root, Fred- cheologists” for identification.
erick Johnson, Harry Shapiro, James Griffin, and Apprecation of these ideas, however, is not yet wide-
Glen Finch. However, substantial unanimity on the spread among all the various fields, and the conference
central points emerged very quickly, so that later evoted considerable attention to the cross-disciplinary
speakers heard their theses anticipated by others and educational probiem. The problem varies greatly ac-
iscarded their prepared texts to discuss and largely cording to the degree of specialization needed, and
to eliminate minor disagreements and misunder- according to the degree of historical mindedness that
standings. prevails among the specialists. Thus no archeologist
The point on which universal agreement was should have serious trouble finding a petrographer to
reached was this: The “identification problem,” as distinguish flint from chert; this is the “identification
such, has no intellectual standing and is not the prob- problem” in its crudest and most unidirectional form.
lem at issue. Instead, it is recognized that when a zo- Glacial geologists, particularly the generation trained
ologist identifies a collection of animal bones or a by the late Kirk Bryan, are taking greatly increased
botanist identifies plant remains from an archeologic interest in collaborative studies with archeologists, and
site, such a specialist is (or should be) just as inter- qualified graduate students can be found in many ge-
ested in the ancient environment as is the archeol- ology departments for summer projects, usually for
ogist. The glacial geologist or geomorphovogist is modest salaries and sometimes simply for expense
likewise concerned with understanding former envl- money (Judson, Wright).
ronments, and whereas culture has not always and In botany and zoology the difficulty is much greater
everywhere been a major force shaping environments, and reflects the generally low esteem in which taxo-
the interaction of cultural, geomorphic, and pedologic nomic work has been held in the United States (Cutler,
rocesses is a legitimate and necessary subject of study Lawrence). Mere naming is never considered to be
y a Pleistocene geologist as geologist. New techniques rewarding in itself; the taxonomist who regards him-
in geochemistry, both isotopic and analytic, are finding self as primarily an evolutionist is not greatly interested
increased application in archeology, and geochemists in the short time- pan that archeology provides, at least
in their turn depend on archeologists for more than in the Americas. ‘The taxonomist who is primarily an
purely historical knowledge if basic ideas are to be ecologist is potentially more useful to the archeologist,
tested in the geochemistry of soils, lakes, the ocean, and but there is a serious shortage of such workers. Most
the atmosphere. Hence, when the various specialists animal ecologists are concerned with pressing problems
come together in the study of archeologic sites, there of applied ecology (fisheries, wildlife management)
exist the necessary and sufficient conditions for intel- and have no strong interest in paleoecology, and, in
lectually satisfying collaboration: each specialist finds _addition, they are mammalogists, ornithologists, or ich-

thyologists, not general or even vertebrate zoologists. exist In any museum or group of museums (Lawrence).
Systematic botanists are similarly overspecialized and On a regional scale, however, it is possible for a small
occupied in problems of their own. It is understandable museum or a single investigator to acquire adequate
that identifications provided by such specialists are reference collections and sufficient ecologic knowledge
given grudgingly and after long delay (Taylor) and to deal with relatively large sections of the biota, such
that their accuracy varies inversely with the distance as all vertebrates or all angiosperms. Bones of most
(geographic and Phylogenetic) between the specimen fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals can be identified at
and the specialty. All the archeologists present empha- the Illinois State Museum (Parmalee), provided that
sized that identifications of this sort, of uneven quality they live or have lived in Illinois.
and not backed by ecologic interpretation, are of little The encouragement of regional paleoecologic re-
if any use to them. Yet, if paleoecology is an exciting search was therefore regarded as the most important
and challenging field, as the paleoecologists present recommendation of the Conference. The University of
agreed, it will attract able and interested workers in Arizona, with its program of geochronology and den-
due course. drochronology, is an example of the regional research
The shortage of paleoecologists can be alleviated to institute that deserves assistance. Investigators in other
some extent by the training of archeologists themselves. regions also need and deserve support; for example,
It was pointed out (Deevey) that several European pol- provision of a research assistant to the Ethnobotanical
len stratigraphers are in fact archeologists, and that a Laboratory of the University of Michigan not only
Ph.D. thesis project involving pollen stratigraphy at would permit the staff to work through the backlog of
one or more archeologic sites is neither improper nor unidentified specimens in less than the estimated 14.8
inconceivable as professional training for an arche- years but might even allow new projects to be under-
ologist. Similarly, vertebrate osteology and ethnobot- taken.
any are not so recondite as to be beyond the capabilities A standing committee of the National Research
of an archeologist. But whereas any one of these spe- Council was considered to be the most appropriate
cialized forms of archeology could be undertaken as a agency to further the aims of the Conference. Such a
career, and probably will be in the near future, no dig- committee should consist of not fewer than three, nor
ging archeologist can be expected to command more more than seven, members, drawn from biological and
than a fraction of the techniques and special knowl- earth sciences as well as from anthropology. It should
edge that are needed for the whole enterprise (Kelley, therefore be appointed by the president of the Na-
Johnson). tional Academy of Sciences, with advice from all the
Although there was some support for the idea of a relevant divisions of the National Research Council.
national research center, staffed. y specialists of many Its functions should be to encourage in all possible
sorts and presumably attached to one of the great mu- ways the interdisciplinary approach to the study of
seums (Shapiro), or for a “clearing house” that would man’s past environment—for example, by assembling a
organize identifications on a national or international directory of qualified and interested specialists willin
scale (Taylor) , the majority of the conferees believed to collaborate with archeologists, by suggesting an
such schemes to be unworkable and undesirable. Pa- advising on proposals for grants-in-aid by fund-grant-
leoecology, like other kinds of ecology: requires exact _ ing agencies, and particularly by recommending new
and comprehensive knowledge of the physiography, appointments and financial support to strengthen the
climate, and biota of a region. If raccoon bones turn staffs of various regional research centers concerned
up in a site, for example, it is essential to their inter- with archeology (‘the study of the old”) in all its as-
retation to know whether the nearest raccoon habitat pects.
1s 2 or 20 miles away (Taylor), and the statement “does A resolution was drafted by Braidwood, C. Reed,
not occur in the region today” is meaningful only when Movius, Lawrence, and Deevey and presented by Grif-
it is made by an ecologist who is able to define the fin; it called upon the president of the National Acad-
region and to infer the reasons for the presence, ab- emy of Sciences to appoint a standing committee on
sence, or relative abundance of particular species. No [name of subject?], to encourage research on this rela-
imaginable corps of specialists could provide such inter- tively new and exceptionally broad field. On learning
pretations for all regions of the world, nor do the ref- from Finch that such a resolution would be proper and
erence collections that are necessary for identification reasonable, the Conference passed it without dissent.

LIST OF SPEAKERS
junius B. Bird, American Museum of Natural History. Clyde Kluckhohn, Harvard University.
obert J. Braidwood, Oriental Institute of the Univer- Barbara Lawrence, Harvard University.
sity of Chicago. Richard S. MacNeish, National Museum of Canada.
William H. Burt, University of Michigan. Paul S. Martin, Chicago Natural History Museum.
John L. Champe, University of Nebraska. Hallam L. Movius, Harvard University.
H. R. Crane, University of Michigan. Georg K. Neumann, Indiana University.
Hugh C. Cutler, Missouri: Botanical Gardens. Paul W. Parmalee, Illinois State Museum.
Edward S. Deevey, Yale University. Charles A. Reed, University of Illinots.
Glen Finch, National Research Council. Erik K. Reed, U.S. National Park Service.
Rutherford J. Gettens, Freer Gallery of Art, Smith- William C. Root, Bowdotn College.
sonian Institution. B. I. Rouse, Yale University.
James B. Griffin, Universtty of Michigan. Harry L. Shapiro, American Museum of Natural Hts-
mil W. Haury, University of Arizona. tory.
Frederick Johnson, R. S. Peabody Foundation. Walter W. Taylor, U. S. National Museum; Instituto
Volney H. Jones, University of Michigan. Nactonal de Antropologia e Historia, Méxtco.
Sheldon Judson, Princeton University. Stephen Williams, Harvard University.
J. Charles Kelley, Southern Illinots University. Herbert E. Wright, Jr., University of Minnesota.
10

THE IDENTIFICATION AND INTERPRETATION OF MATERIALS PERTAINING TO,

AND/OR DERIVING FROM, ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH:
PROBLEMS AND PROCEDURES
WHAT THE ARCHAEOLOGIST NEEDS FROM THE SPECIALIST

Walter W. Taylor
Before we can determine what the archaeologist needs basically non-cultural. The wood, stone, metal, clay,
from the specialist, we must find out for what pur- fiber, and other substances are natural, not cultur-
pose there is a need. We must make explicit certain al, and only attain cultural significance by human
basic premises and come to some conclusion as to just manipulation. Basically, their study lies within fields
what are the aims of archaeological work and what is of investigation and knowledge that are usually not
the nature of its data that the archaeologist should re- within the scope of the archaeologist’s competency. In-
quire information beyond the reach of his own com- deed, the very modification of these natural substances
petency. Toward this end, I shall assume that the work during the acculturating process is often beyond the
of the archaeologist, defined as a minimum standard, ability of the archaeologist to determine. The archae-
pertains to the study of culture. I shall assume that, in ologist many times must have specialist assistance in
order to be studied with any possibility of under- order to tell exactly what, and how, modifications were
standing, culture must have context. And finally, I made by human, i.e. cultural, activity upon the basic,
shall assume that the construction and understanding natural substances.
of cultural contexts requires both cultural and natura Furthermore, many of the relationships which the
information, in short, requires a study of human ec- archaeologist must define are non-cultural and thus,
ology in the broadest sense. usually, require non-anthropological information and
n the basis of these assumptions, as I see it, the interpretation. In constructing a picture of a former
archaeologist has three minimum tasks. The first is to environment, for example, the presence of racoon
produce from their resting places both natural and bones in decreasing frequency from bottom to top of
cultural data to construct contexts as nearly as possible a stratigraphic column may appear to be significant,
as they existed and as they were interrelated in the but the archaeologist may not ualified to interpret
past: to define the human ecology. The second is to exactly what this significance might be. He thus must
elucidate the temporal and cultural relationships of his enlist the services of a biologist to tell him that racoons
material: the first of these yields comparative chron- rarely stray far from running water or their swampy
ology or chronicle, the second establishes the cultural habitats; with these data, the archaeologist possesses
relations of his material with other cultural materials added information with which to assess the significance
and includes cultural taxonomy. The third task is to of the raccoon bones and to make inferences as to the
provide some sort of absolute dating so that, amon environment, the cultural practices of the aborigines,
other things, studies of cultural change may be faci- and the relationships between the two in former times.
litated and comparisons made across areas over which For another example, an interpretation of the forms
no direct, one-to-one cultural comparisons are possible. of projectile points cannot be made, at least with any
Given these archaeological purposes and tasks, we assurance, without knowledge of the varying qualities
may return to the original question: why does the ar- of the lithic substances themselves: the differing frac-
chaeologist need the non-archaeologist? Basically, it is tures of quartz and of chert make the handling of the
because of the nature of archaeological data. The ar- two materials very different and unequal matters, and
chaeologist deals with the unseen and unseeable past. an analysis of chipping techniques must take into con-
While, for example, the ethnographer may observe and sideration such petrographic and crystallographic qual-
record the interaction of people, between themselves ities which, normally, are outside the archaeologist’s
and with their natural environment, the archaeologist competencies.
is not able to do so. Within certain limits, the ethno- I would like to point out just one more aspect of this
grapher may take certain aspects of the cultural and topic. Since the archaeologist works almost entirely by
natural context for granted without specific descrip- inference and constructs his contexts by the “‘if-then”
tion. But this is not possible for the ar-haeologist. In method, he rarely, if ever, comes up with incontrover-
all honesty, the archaeologist may take nothing for tible fact but works toward “ever closer approxima-
granted but must start from scratch to construct tion.” Therefore, more than social scientists who work
the natural and cultural environments of his material. on living and observable cultures, the archaeologist is
In order to do this, the archaeologist has only the in need of every last bit of data he can marshall. Since
material results of human behavior and their affinities, his approximation to past actuality is almost always
that is to say their qualitative, quantitative, and spatial relative, hardly ever absolute, the degree of his ac-
characteristics and relationships. The significant point curacy depends upon the quality and quantity of his
is that most of the “results of human behavior” avail- inferences which, in turn, depend upon the quality
able to the archaeologist are material objects and and quantity of his empirical data. Since he himself
11

can be expected to control only a relatively small pro- tapped field and one which has been neglected be-
portion of the fields of study pertinent to the vast cause of the lack of foresight and imagination on _ the
range of his cultural and natural materials, it is ob- part of archaeologists. Without specialist study, how
vious that he must employ the knowledge of other spe- can the archaeologist be sure that significant, even
cialists. He must force his imagination to envision vital, data may not be obtained from study of such
every possibly pertinent line of investigation and then things as the relationships of materials available and
proceed to obtain relevant information from those the materials used by his various cultural entities?
who are qualified to give it. The vastness of this work Petrographic analysis of stone implements as well as
is, I realize, staggering, and limitations are imposed of ceramics, botanical analysis of fibrous and woody
which dictate the measure of attainment and which, materials, the attribution of origin to marine shells
therefore, inject a factor of discouragement into the and animal bones may turn up preferences which can-
outlook and enthusiasm of the archaeologist. Never- not be accounted for on environmental bases but which
theless, the fact remains that the more information have cultural significance. While ultimately the con-
obtained and utilized by the archaeologist in the conclusions as to cultural relationships will be the task of
struction of his cultural and natural contexts, the the archaeologist as student of culture, the basic data
closer the approximation to past actuality he may be for his conclusions will have to come from information
expected to attain. The goal ts certainly there, and the and interpretation provided by non-cultural disci-
percentage of attainment is a measure of the success of plines, the number and variety of which (and thus the
the archaeological investigations. amount of information available) will depend on the
Now let us turn back to the three minimum tasks of vision and breadth of viewpoint possessed and utilized
the archaeologist and see why, and in what ways, the by the archaeologist. Of course, it is hardly necessary
archaeologist needs non-cultural experting from non- to mention that it will also depend upon the time and
anthropological specialists. In regard to the third task, finances which he has at his disposal.
that of obtaining some measure of absolute time for The archaeologist’s third major task is the construc-
his materials, it is perfectly obvious that here, in most tion of a cultural context through which his cultural
if not all instances, the archaeologist, unless he has ac- and taxonomic inferences take on depth and credibil-
quired skills over and beyond his usual anthropolog- ity. I should like to point out at this time that the
ical training, will have to call in specialists to handle purpose of developing cultural context, of forming
his dendrochronology, his Carbon-14, his varve studies, detailed pictures of past cultures, is not merely ‘“‘to
and even his documentary or archival studies, al- contribute to the pleasure of similarly conditioned
though in the last instance he more often will have savants” as Ford has decried in his fantastic misun-
sufficient competence. I do not believe that further dis- derstanding or misrepresentation of my point of
cussion is needed here. It might be pointed out, how- view (Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Devel-
ever, that the example of dendrochronology emphasizes opments in the Southeastern States, American Museum
another aspect of the archaeologist’s problem: that of of National History, Anthropological Papers, vol. 44,
time. In the past, not a few practicing, field archaeol- 3, 1952, pp. 317-19.). For the student of culture and even
ogists have been competent in dendrochronological for the cultural taxonomists, the meaning of cultural
work thanks to their training under Dr. Douglass at traits and specifications can only rarely be understood
the University of Arizona. But these people found that without reference to a large body of context. The fail-
time, among other things, did not permit them both to ure to use such context has been at the bottom of the
accomplish their strictly archaeological work and at trouble with many problems in American archaeology.
the same time to do their own dendrochronological re- Similarly, the cultural, as opposed to the taxonomic,
search—much less that of other archaeologists who meaning of such bodies of data as art designs has
needed dendrodates but who did not have the training. seldom been investigated in archaeology: obvious re-
The second major task is the elucidation of chron- lationships have been used to support taxonomic
ological and cultural (taxonomic) relationships of the structures, but the cultural meanings of such relation-
material. In regard to the chronological part of this ships (for example, whether there are adhesions with
task, certainly the archaeologist should be able to the complexes of war, status, religion, or other cate-
make his own strictly stratigraphic studies: that is gories) have remained largely uninvestigated. In an-
part of his specific training as an archaeologist. How- other instance, the pronouncements on the so-called
ever, when it comes to the study of geologico-climatic Great Drought in the Southwest have mostly been
chronology, it is usually necessary to call in specialists. based on a single source of evidence, namely tree-rings,
And this is true even though many archaeologists do while vast resources of information lie locked up un-
have training and/or competency in these two fields. valued in zoological and botanical materials which
For one thing, although the archaeologist may be per- were, and aie still being, neglected—even destroyed
fectly competent, his published work carries much without invesiigation.
more ‘weight if a geologist is given as authority for Further, it is a truism that in many instances the
geological analysis and conclusions. More or less the cultural significance of a trait cannot be determined
same conditions prevail in regard to pollen, flourine, or understood without taking contextual factors into
and other studies such as conchologica! climatology. account. For example, until 1t was demonstrated that
In regard to cultural relationships, here again the the individual hairs of certain balls of hair encoun-
archaeologist is primarily responsible, or should be. tered in the depths of a cave in Mexico were human,
On the other hand, as the ceramic work of Anna Shep- had been cut at both ends, and were all of an identical
herd has shown, there is much that does not meet the and smail range of length, it was uncertain whether
strictly archaeological eye. Here is a relatively un- these balls represented non-human and/or non-cul-
12

tural objects or, if human, whether they were combings to be mutual understanding between the archaeologist
or purposefully cut. Similarly, it was not idle curiosity and the specialist. Perhaps the best way of accomplish-
that led to an inquiry as to whether certain rattle- ing this is to develop mutual problems upon which
snake rattles in the same cave were naturally shed or both can work to their individual advantage. But fail-
whether they had been cut off; the determination by ing this, the archaeologist needs to point out his re-
a specialist that all had been removed by cutting in- quirements and convince the specialist of their value
fluenced their cultural interpretation vitally. in terms of cultural studies. There needs to be edu-
In conclusion and speaking broadly, what the ar- cation on both sides. I suggest that one way of doing
chaeologist needs from the specialist is data from this is by just such conferences as this. Another way is
which cultural inferences may be made. Often, the through the indocrination of students while their
archaeologist does not permit his imagination free ideas, disciplinary affiliations, and research commit-
enough rein to envision the full potentialities of his ments are still relatively uncrystallized.
materials. More often, the nature and significance of Without further elaborating these points which, I
his material is incomprehensible to the non-anthro- am sure, will be treated at length and in more perti-
pologist: one physical anthropologist asked me “what nent detail by other speakers, I should like to put the
difference does it make whether five or fifty people case in a nutshell: the archaeologist needs information
were buried in that cave”! At other times, the specialist which can only come from specialists in other fields; in
tends to look upon the materials of the archaeologist order to obtain this information he requires the under-
with indifference, even callousness: I have had entire standing cooperation of the specialist; in order to get
collections of carefully excavated and (to me) impor- such cooperation, the archaeologist must communicate
tant objects lost through careless handling on the part to the specialist his problems and ideas and in turn
of the specialist. Other collections of mine have lain must receive communication from the specialist as to
in disregard for many years, not because of any work the latter’s requirements and interests and potential-
burden on the part of the specialist but merely be- ities. Basically, the future of interdisciplinary studies
cause he could not see the significance of the questions such as we are proposing here depends upon interdis-
I wanted answered and was, therefore, quite unin- ciplinary communication and understanding. Toward
terested. this end, we as archaeologists must work, because it is
Here, of course, is probably the greatest problem we that have the greatest need and because it is our
facing the archaeologist: communication. There needs material which provides the basis for study.
13

MEANS TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

BEFORE THE PRESENT
Robert J. Braidwood
In 1946, in a short essay called ‘Anthropology: Uni- interests of the anthropologist. I have rephrased some
ty and Diversity’, Robert Redfield made use of a sim- of the original wording and suggest two adjacent axes
ple four-quadrant device to illustrate the variety of of interrelated disciplines (fig. 1).
Geology
Human Physical General
Paleontology paleontology Anthropology Biology
Racial histo Human biol
P aleobotany of man ry OBy Genetics
Etc. Populations,
emography
A A
BIOLOGICAL Geography
§ < o
g
,
zg
eZ
= a
Geography f © Z s Psychology
—
g
2
2
ce
5 :
4 Economics
a, m
" Sociology
Political
Science
urisprud
CULTURAL Jurisprudence
V V
Etc.
History
Archaeology ‘al
Philology Ethnology Anthropology
Aesthetics Historical | General _
Linguistics Linguistics
Etc.
Fig. 1
Adapted from: Robert Redfield,
“Anthropology: Unity and Diversity”, 1946.
In recent years, anthropological interest has tended like, however, to call attention to an increasing burden
to shift increasingly toward the concerns of the right- the trend throws on those of us who still operate with-
hand side of Redfield’s device and, indeed, rather in the concerns of the left-hand side of Redfield’s de-
overwhelmingly into the lower right-hand quadrant. vice, who ask ourselves how human behavior got that
With certain notable exceptions, the attentions of an- way in the first place! Implicit in what I have to say is,
thropologists appear to trend toward the behavioral of course, a sense that valuable contributions to the
science axis which I have appended on the right side understanding of man do still lie buried in the data
of Redfield’s original device. on the left-hand or historical side of the device. As
It is of no interest to me to evaluate this trend. I knowledge grows on the scientific side, I am heartened
suspect it is a worthy one. I also suspect it reflects the to find ever more penetrating questions being directed
obvious: that human behavior may best be understood back to the historical side. Thus it becomes an increas-
by observing it as a functioning, living whole. I should ing embarrassment to those of us left on the historical
14

side not to be able to keep step with our “‘scientific” courses in biology and the earth sciences (the classical
colleagues. ; or oriental archaeologist probably has had none!), but
In dealing with a contemporary society, the anthro- his education will have been concentrated primarily
pologist’s ability to secure all pertinent data is rein the cultural-historical realm. Clearly, even the an-
stricted only by his own ingenuity, ability to establish thropological archaeologist will have gained no great
rapport, and his preparation for making observa- sophistication in all of the behavioral sciences. He may
tions. With respect to the horizontal subdivision of also be downright naive concerning the many inter-
Redfield’s device, if, for example, the contemporary pretative potentials in the biological and physical sci-
anthropologist is not prepared to make observations ences, although he may possibly have been forced to
in the biological realm, he can arrange to have such gain some comprehension of one or two. In fact, a dab-
observations made for him by a biologist, because the bling acquaintance with some aspect of geochronology
data are available for observation. is now fashionable for younger archaeologists. I know
In dealing with a culture which flourished some time of no archaeologists, however, who are masters of their
in the past, a number of screens begin to intrude be- own trade and jacks of all others. Hence, the archae-
tween the anthropologist and his ability to observe ologists themselves become, unwittingly, a further
and interpret his data. For the “ethnological present”, screen between the data and knowledge of how cul-
the question of the veracity of old informants and of tures once functioned. But archaeology remains the
the accounts of missionaries and the necessary process means by which understandings of extinct cultures
of “historical criticism’’ of documentary evidence be- may be achieved—if the understandings are to stem
come a first screen. As the culture to be examined lies from research rather than metaphysics.
in a still more remote time, the relative order of com- There is a heartening growth of comprehension on
pleteness of the archaeological record becomes a sec- the part of a few biological and earth scientists that
ond screen. It is with the aids needed by the archaeol- specialized but fascinating problems exist jointly for
ogist for his interpretation of extinct cultures through them and the archaeologists. But these exceptions are
the screens which lie between him and his data that I few—the individuals involved do not departmentalize
concern myself here. readily and there are very few respectable jobs avail-
With the exception of the aid the archaeologist may able in the field of their joint interest with archae-
anticipate from the human paleontologist, it would ology. Thus the few biologists and earth scientists of
appear that the archaeologist’s business 1s to good will who are interested must bootleg the time
they invest in projects of joint interest. As a general
1. cope with the mechanics of sound excavation rule, however, biologists and earth scientists tend to
procedure and drudgery of classification and publi- side-step problems which are “culture-linked”. Once
cation of the artifactual remains of his culture, and the hand of man has been laid on the objects of their
concern, an imponderable has been introduced for
2. be prepared to interpret, or sense the possibilities them, and they seem to find the research uncongenial.
of interpretation, of all his data in both the bio- Something must be done to make the “‘culture-linked”
logical and cultural realms and throughout the problems in biology and the earth sciences academic-
spectrum of concerns pertinent to the behavioral ally more respectable.
sciences. To the degree that a culture can only be understood
in terms of the total environment in which it flour-
Since archaeologists are not superhuman, none has ished and to the degree that an extinct culture may
ever been prepared to make all the necessary obser- well have flourished in a now extinct or significantly
vations. different environment, the archaeologist’s data demand
For example, an ethnologist in the field study of a interpretation in both the non-cultural and the cul-
contemporary people finds these people making cer- tural realms of Redfield’s device. I submit that it is
tain implements of obsidian. The ethnologist may es- uneconomical (and humanly impossible) to expect that
tablish, by enquiry, whence the obsidian comes and the archaeologist be prepared to observe and interpret
discover what are the economics of the trading system with sophistication in both realms. I believe that the
which brings it. The archaeologist, finding obsidian in training of the archaeologist should be concentrated
his excavations, must turn to a petrographer for its in the cultural realm and that mechanisms should be
analysis, probably must aid him in securing samples of developed to give him effective aid in the realm of
raw obsidian from natural occurrences of obsidian,
must analyze his own obsidian yield in terms of size biology and the earth sciences. Some archaeologists
and quantity of rejected chips as a clue to trade in un- may, in fact, choose to be “natural-science archaeolo-
worked nuclei or pre-finished tool-blanks, and must gists” rather than “social-science archaeologists’’—this,
search the archaeological literature for other examples also, would be good, providing their educations con-
of obsidian along the probable route of trade. Thus sciously reflected this choice. I even suspect that, subtle
the archaeologist may approach, through hard work and difficult of access as some of the interpretations in
and the aid of the petrographer, what the ethnologist the realm of natural history may be, they are still more
learned by simple enquiry. That is, the archaeologist susceptible of early solution than are interpretations
may do so if he realizes the interpretative possibilities in the cultural realm.
of obsidian and the earth scientist’s role in this inter- The goal of such natural historical aid to archaeol-
pretation. ogy would be the interpretation of the totality of any
The anthropologically oriented archaeologist will given extinct environment. From this as a base line,
have had perhaps several general undergraduate cultural interpretation could then proceed with vastly
15

greater reliability. As things stand, the archaeologist ogy” or “paleo-environment” or “Quatern geogre
struggles, usually blindly, to extricate the data of one Byrd shall not attempt to name a) would definitely
realm from that of the other, grasping at such aid as include Man as an element in, and a factor acting up
his restricted comprehension of the potential allows on, the environmental scene. I believe it would fit on
him to seek from individual natural historians of good Redfield’s device as an axis adjacent to the border of
will, if he can find them. J. G. D. Clark’s Star Carr is the historical concerns of anthropology, just as I have
a distinguished example of what may be accomplished added the behavioral sciences as an axis on the right-
by an excavator who was enabled to enlist the interest hand border of the device.
of a group of biologists and earth scientists of good What does seem to me to be worth the attempt is to
will. But Star Carr is the shining exception and not place most of the archaeologists of the future in a posi-
the rule in archaeological reporting. tion so they may deal primart'y with cultural phe
It seems to me that in reaching for the goal, a new nomena and thus be enabled to give time depth to the
field, perhaps “Pleistocene ecology”, might come into concerns of the behavioral sciences. They cannot do
focus, allied to archaeology (and human paleontology) this unless the complementary field suggested here is
but setting the archaeologist himself somewhat more fully conceptualized and made respectable and unless
free to deal with matters of culture. This field or axis the two interests establish and maintain easy commu-
of interrelated disciplines (perhaps ‘Pleistocene ecol- nication with each other.
16

THE PROBLEM OF OBTAINING ADEQUATE IDENTIFICATION

Emil W. Haury
The emphasis in this part of the Conference’s discus- important motive is rooted in the expectation that the
sion is on the problems and the difficulties of obtaining archaeologically derived materials are important to
adequate identification of phenomena of essentially the specialist. A good example of this is Dr. Cutler’s
non-cultural nature. It should be obvious that the evi- interest in corn. He is dependent upon the archaeol-
dences of a bio-geographical and climatic nature, on ogist for materials that will give him insight into the
which the archaeologist is keenly dependent if he is to early history and development of corn, and for that
comprehend the environment of his site fully and if reason he is always willing to help out.
he is to understand all aspects of the dating problems, A second difficulty arises from the fact that some
are not easily or quickly read. This is an area in which non-cultural phenomena, as, for example, the geomor-
the specialist is not content to give an offhand opinion. phology, must be observed in the field. This presents
Anyone expected to assess a geological problem, or one problems of another sort. Does the expert himself have
in paleontology, or to provide the identification of pol- the interest and time to go to the field, and does the
len in a profile, is not going to do so without having archaeologist have the money to support this venture?
given these matters lengthy and serious consideration. The importance of field observation cannot be under-
‘The task, therefore, of finding someone who is willing rated. The time must come when the budget of every
to devote the time and energy necessary is not an easy archaeologist should be sufficiently ample to allow him
one. to bring to the field any and every specialist who is
I have used the word adequate, and I put the ques- expected to contribute significantly to the understand-
tion: What is adequate identification? For non-cul- ing of the story.
tural materials, it appears to me that first of all an Lacking the advantage of specialist cooperation in
adequate identification should mean the accurate iden- the field, the archaeologist is faced with yet another
tification of a particular phenomenon. Without this, difficulty: that of employing proper collecting tech-
obviously, the archaeologist cannot proceed. Further- niques. Poorly collected materials tend to destroy the
more, adequate identification should be of such com- specialist’s enthusiasm for the problem and may well
leteness that the relatedness to other phenomena can lead to a waste of his time and, of equal importance,
be worked out. Since the archaeologist is not always loss of important data for the archaeologist. It seems to
aware of the wider significance of phenomena outside me that any archaeologist who expects and has enlisted
his field, I would infer further that an adequate iden- the assistance of an expert in another field should re-
tification means that the identifier must himself help ceive from such a person specific instructions for the
in the interpretative process. A pollen specialist may field collection of the data.
give his results to the archaeologist, but the archaeo- In the smaller institutions, where facilities are often
logist does not ordinarily have the background or the limited and where some of the fields which may po-
experience to extract the full significance from the tentially offer assistance to the archaeologist are not
data. In sum, then, it is my opinion that adequate represented, it becomes necessary to seek outside help.
identification means cooperation in depth, not the The eographical scattering of people involved in
off-the-cuff kind of help that goes so frequently with contributing to a single project may lead to vexing
the mere identification of a material or an object. problems. The lack of intimate contact between the
Now it is evident that there are some difficulties in archaeologist and the specialist means, first, oftentimes
the way of achieving this kind of cooperation. First, it a failure to comprehend or to communicate fully the
is not always easy to find the expert who is willing to interpretative values, especially the chance to explore
do the job, who has the time and heart. Here is where the more, subtle meanings of the material; and, sec-
motivation plays an important part. Perhaps an expert ondly, the geographic remoteness of the various par-
can be persuaded to help one out on a personal basis, ticipants makes it easier for one to procrastinate in
or one may appeal to his sense of duty. But these mo- supplying the wanted results. This is particularly true
tives are not apt to lead to an all-out effort. The most in the matter of writing reports.
17

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEM:

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT
PEABODY MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Stephen Williams
The situation at the Peabody Museum is generally These examples will offer some sort of an indication
unstructured, with the burden of obtaining identi- of procedures that have been used at the Museum in
fications falling primarily on the interests of the in- the past. They can be summarized, as I stated at the
dividual researchers. I have made a brief survey of the beginning, as a generally unstructured situation but
members of the staff, and the information that was with the necessary help coming either from people con-
derived indicates some rather striking differences in nected with Harvard University as a whole, or from
the basic problems and how they can be solved. The interested scholars, mainly in Europe. I cannot com.
Museum has carried out archaeological research in a pletely agree with Kelley when he says it seems that
number of areas of the world; and in terms of resources the large institutions do not have much trouble getting
of identifiable material, the Museum has vast un- identifications. They have previously been able to get
touched quantities in this category, such as the thou- away with a hit or miss situation, but that is surely no
sands of animal bones from the Madisonville site in solution. |
southern Ohio collected at the end of the last century. One of my basic views about the whole nature of in-
Since we already have detailed lists of faunal remains terdisciplinary studies is that, despite the added burden
from this particular site, there certainly is a distinct to the participants, it is both necessary and most satis
question as to whether further work should be ex- factory if the major participant, be he an archaeologist
anded on such a collection. But the problem of the or an historically-minded botanist or zoologist, come
uture disposition of such material must be faced. at least half way in the research program. ‘That is to
In the process of the world-wide archaeology men- say, an archaeologist engaged in an interdisciplinary
tioned above, several incidents from the past will illus- study, bringing together archaeology and geology, must
trate some of the procedures used by various members learn sufficient of the geological problems and prin-
of the staff. During the Museum’s extensive excava- ciples to make a number of the interpretations by
tions in Ireland, literally tons of animal bones were himself with, of course, advice and counsel from the
collected, and fortunately a specialist in Dublin was interested geologist. Likewise, the archaeologist who
found to take care of the identification of these bones, wants to make some worthwhile contributions from
while Danish scholars were available to do the pollen data presented to him in the form of a faunal list
analysis. Somewhat the same situation obtains in re- must be sufficiently familiar with ecology to make the
gard to excavations at the caves in Tangier, where the majority of the interpretations on his own.
animal bones were identified by a French specialist correlary to this position is that an archaeologist
and the marine and fresh water shells by Harvard Uni- interested in the basic questions of site ecology must
versity specialists. A general conclusion from this rapid increase his own knowledge so as to be able to produc
survey of the European situation indicates that Eu- a well reasoned synthesis of the archaeology, zoology,
ropean scholars and specialists are required for the and ethnobotany. Perhaps not everyone will want to
majority of archaeological identification in that area. take such an interest in this aspect of archaeology,
The situation in the Near East, as I understand it, is but there certainly is a trend toward a broader ap
somewhat different. Due to certain historical factors, proach.
there are few native scholars trained to make the neces- Of course, for archaeologists trained as American
sary identifications, and most of the American archae- anthropologists, there is an already established pattern
ologists working in the area have utilized American for a broad training in quite diverse fields; and i!
scholars for making identifications. Robert H. Dyson, would not be, it seems to me, an impossibility to adda
working originally at the Peabody Museum and now course or two to the present curriculum to give future
at the University Museum at Philadelphia, has taken archaeologists a greater awareness of some of the prob
the problem by the horns and spent considerable time lems we will be discussing at this conference. This so
and effort on early domesticated animals in the Near lution does not mean that these students would have to
East, because he found that a lot of the identifications become well-rounded zoologists. But they should have
that had been made were either incorrect or difficult to
use because of lack of synonomy in the nomenclature. enough factual background so that they can make le
I will return to his particular type of solution later. gitimate contributions to such fields in terms of site
In the American Southwest, the Peabody Museum ecology and so forth. However, we have to watch out
has been fortunate to have the cooperation of Miss for simple identifications going wrong because the ar
Barbara Lawrence of the Museum of Comparative chaeologist thinks he knows more than he does. A cast
Zoology in the identification of the animal bones from in point is that of a bone illustrated in a recent archa¢
Awatovi, as well as the help of Rutherford Gettens, ological volume and termed a woodpecker bill, when
formerly of the Fogg Museum, in the identification of in fact the object was a catfish spine.
pigments from the kiva paintings. Another solution to the problem would be that
18

hiring on a term basis a qualified zoologist or ethno- field party. But I will let the zoologists develop that
botanist to 0 along on excavations, but this will be, I possibility, if it seems feasible.
feel, generally beyond the limited means of most ar- Most of these remarks have been, in a sense, on a
chaeological projects here in the States. I might sa procedural level. The real problem, speaking for my-
that this is a place where I feel that local or state insti- self, and not my institution, is one of clarifying our
tutions may have a definite advantage over what the objectives as archaeologists so that our often long-suf-
Committee has termed the Large Research Institution. fering colleagues in the other specialties can know
In these more regional organizations, it is quite likely what kinds of information we want and can use and so
that one will find a specialist, for instance in the local that we can provide them with worthwhile data as
fauna, who can, if properly persuaded, help with prob- well. It is not enough for the archaeologist to append
lems confronting the archaeologists. a faunal list to a site report. He must integrate this
If neither of these solutions is available, a last resort, zoological information into his archaeological recon-
which could best be labeled a pipedream, would be to struction if he has had the interest or has felt sufficient
catch a graduate student from zoology and provide scientific pressure to get the faunal identification made
him with a field opportunity with an archaeological in the first place.
1g

PEABODY MUSEUM, YALE UNIVERSITY
B. I. Rouse
While Yale is a large university, its Peabody Museum atory, which undertakes radiocarbon analyses. ‘This is
of Natural History is relatively small and does not an interdepartmental organization; its board of di-
contain a full roster of specialists. Members of the staff rectors includes members of the Anthropology, Chem-
are willing to identify specimens within their own istry, Geology, Physics, and Zoology Departments, as
fields of specialization, providing that they are not well as a man from History of Art. Its services are
overloaded with this type of work, but they do not like available to all of these departments, and it has pro-
to venture into other fields. For example, it is fairly duced dates for most of them. However, its interde-
easy to obtain identifications of mammal bones but partmental nature has proved to be a disadvantage
impossible to do anything with fish remains. In a university which is strongly departmentalized.
The identification of mammal bones is facilitated Financial support is difficult to obtain under such
by the existence of a good type collection in the Ver- circumstances, and outstanding personnel cannot be
tebrate Paleontology Department of the museum. We attracted since, not being attached to any one depart-
are attempting to build up our own type collections of ment, they lack the opportunity to ascend the aca-
other materials, especially shells, in the Anthropology demic ladder towards a permanent appointment. This
Department. Published keys, such as that of the late is, of course, an example of the difficulty in providing
George Brainerd, are also helpful, but there are not the specialist who strays outside of his own field with
enough of them. With sufficient type collections and recognition and job security.
keys, the archaeologist might be able to make routine In 1954, we took a second step towards interdisci-
identifications himself, so that he would only need to plinary cooperation by establishing an interdepart-
consult the specialist in unusual cases or when in ment’ ot in the Yale Graduate School. It is
doubt. entitled “Pleistocene Stratigraphy, Biogeography, and
Yale is a national institution in the sense that it Archeology” and is conducted jountly by FS: Deevey,
draws its student body from all over the country. Sim- a zoologist; R. F. Flint, a geologist; P. B. Sears, a bot-
ilarly, its specialists are encouraged to work wherever anist; and myself, an archaeologist. It is listed as a
they prefer, instead of concentrating on the local scene, course in each of the four departments and draws stu-
as is done, for example, in state universities. This dents from all of them. Its main contribution, in my
means that the archaeologist at Yale rarely finds a spe- opinion, has been to give both the students and the
cialist colleague who is working in the same area as participating faculty a better understanding of what
himself. To take my own case, I concentrate on the the specialists in the other disciplines are trying to do
Caribbean area and know of only one specialist else- and how these disciplines may or may not contribute
where in the university, a botanist, to whom I can go to one’s own field research. To mention a simple mat-
for information about that area. ter of terminology, we found that the archaeologist
The period with which one’s investigations are con- - and the geologist mean very different things when ey
cerned is also important in this conection. For ex- speak of stratigraphy. Personally, I did not find so
ample, when I was working on the problem of the much overlapping among the fields as I had antici-
correlation of man with the extinct, Melbourne fauna pated but now have a much better idea of what kind
of Florida, it was necessary to have identified an exten- of assistance I can expect to obtain from the other
sive collection of animal bones from our principal ar- disciplines and of what they need from me. It is our
chaeological site in order to determine whether extinct hope that the seminar will give the students an interest
forms were included. The vertebrate paleontologist at in interdisciplinary problems which will lead them to
Yale could not be asked to do this, since he specializes carry on that type of research when they leave the
on the earlier, Tertiary fauna of the western United university.
States. Fortunately, I was able to interest Dr. George As a third step in interdisciplinary cooperation at
Gaylord Simpson, of the American Museum of Nat- Yale, we are attempting to set up a formal rogram for
ural History, since he had previously worked on the research on the Pleistocene epoch. Like the Geochro-
Melbourne fauna, and he arranged for a research as- nometric Laboratory and the interdisciplinary semi-
sistant to study our collection. nar, this is a project involving the Departments of
This experience prompts me to suggest that it would Anthropology, Geology, Plant Science, and Zoology,
be helpful to set up rosters of the specialists interested among others. We have approached several founda-
in each area and period. They would assist the archae- tions with requests for money for this program, but so
ologist in finding specialists willing to work on his far without success. If obtained, the money would be
problems. Another possibility would be to organize in- used not only to finance research by the members of the
terdisciplinary conferences or seminars on an area or various departmnts who are interested in the Pleisto-
period basis, in which the archaeologist and the spe- cene epoch but also to add more Pleistocene specialists
cialist could exchange information and establish bases to the staffs of the departments.
of cooperation. If our university had more of a local orientation, it
Yale has taken several steps towards interdisciplin- would probably be easier to obtain support for this
ary cooperation on a more general level. The first program within the university itself. If we were a state
step, in 1951, was to set up a Geochronometric Labor- university, for example, we would have on our staff a
20

series of specialists on the local area who would be able partmental research programs for the study of specific
to cooperate more effectively because their interests areas, like my specialty the Caribbean, as well as single
and problems would be more alike and who could periods, such as the Pleistocene. This, however, does
draw support from an administrative emphasis upon not seem to be practicable in a university such as ours,
the local scene. Ideally, it seems to me that even a where the departments are largely autonomous and
general university like Yale should organize interde- tend to go their own way.
21

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Paul S. Martin
In this museum, obtaining identifications of rocks, type of scholarly work. Dr. Cutler came to New Mexico
minerals, metals, plants, and animal bones is not dif- and spent parts of two seasons with us. We have pub-
ficult. We consult with the roper specialist, discuss lished a brief summary of his studies on maize and
with him the problems involved, and ascertain if he other plants, and he is preparing a monograph on
will undertake to help us. these subjects. Dr. Lawrence Kaplan, his colleague,
Usually, the identification is just simple identifica- undertook the examinations and analysis of our beans
tion and nothing more. This is partly my fault, per- and has already published a paper on this subject. The
haps, for not acquainting our expert with our needs, enthusiasm and talent for envisaging a multitude of
hopes, and problems. This perfunctory result is also problems, for providing answers to many of our ques
due to the fact that the expert has his own interests, tions, and for shedding light on the history and de
identifications, problems, and researches to carry on velopment of maize and its effects on the Mogollon
without being harried by our problems. Then, too, our culture are experiences we shall never forget.
types of problems may not interest him at all, and I In addition to the maize and bean researches, the
cannot blame him for not wanting to shift his research identified wild plants from the caves permitted us to
interests to ours. If he could add ours to his, that reconstruct the environment and hence the climate of
would be a happy solution. the area at various times. I should think that the same
It is sometimes assumed—due in part to our carefree types of analysis and seriation of animal bones might
attitude—that we are ideally situated for obtaining all make it possible to make similar deductions concern
the help we need on identifications. Although we do ing food preferences, climate, and methods of butch-
have coverage in many fields in natural history by first- ering.
class and well-trained experts, we do not have staff for - Full information on any of these materials would
many areas of specialization, and we do not possess help in making inferences concerning trade and cul-
adequate type collections for all the identificaions we tural relationships. Identification of stone as related
want. to our knowledge of the local geology would deter-
The identifications obtained range from perfunctory mine whether the material is local or lugged in; anda
to excellent. By perfunctory, I mean a simple identifi- seriation based on this material might indicate popu-
cation of the specimen but no guesses or interpreta- larities in certain types of rock in certain phases. Geo
tions of a wider order—no implications concerning chronology, climatic conditions and changes have been
habitats, distributions, climatic changes or differences, worked out in great detail for us by our association
chronological or geographical significances. Here, as with our Research Associate, Dr. Ernst Antevs. He
I said above, criticism is to be directed at the system came to the field and made his identifications 1 loco.
rather than at the expert. I see no reason for a spe- If we could ask for the moon, we should like to have
cialist, who has little enough time for research anyhow, every specimen, cultural and non-cultural, of rock,
necessarily to take any interest in our problems, ques- plant, wood, metal, and bone intensively studied and
tions, or approaches. In fact, if a geologist were to all samples of pollen and soil horizons analyzed and cor-
bring me several hundred projectile points for clas- related with the analysis of other materials. The infor-
sification, I should most likely render the most super- mation thus put together would yield clues as to the
ficial kind of identification mostly because projectile interaction of habitat and culture and probably other
ints, per se, do not interest me. I realize that, in the
significant conclusions or hypotheses. We would like to
ands of an expert, much useful information can be
obtained from them. have the active interest of the collaborating specialist,
The use of the identication varies from field to field if we can show him how our data may help him and us.
and from year to year. When we asked Dr. Cutler for But, in the last analysis, most of the synthesis, inte-
help in identifying botanical materials from our cave- gration, and interpretation would fall on the shoulders
digs, he went far beyond helping us. He led the way. of the archaeologist. In consultation with his specialist:
He told us what to do and how. We learned a tremen- collaborators, he ought to be able to do a first-class job.
dous amount about careful collecting from him, plus Perhaps separate monographs, such as John Hack’s and
the significant results that may be obtained from his Hugh Cutler’s, would be born.
—
22

THE OLD WORLD: PALAEOLITHIC

Hallam L. Movius
I think it is no exaggeration, and certainly I trust I fast specialist was called in, who visited each locality
will not be accused of boasting, when I state that pro- and had an opportunity of studying the section and
bably I have encountered fewer difficulties with respect seeing some of the material in situ. At the conclusion
to the identification and study of non-cultura] mate- of each project, the invertebrate materials were turned
rials from the Old World localities where I have work- over for study, and we were always able to count on an
ed than is true in the case of any other archaeologist excellent report in return.
present at this Conference. This is definitely due to the At Hencken’s sites, on the other hand, bones were
act that in each instance we have been fortunate in extremely abundant. Since the identification of these
finding one or more regional specialists in the various was not difficult, an assistant from the staff of the Na-
branches of research bearing on the Pleistocene Epoch, tural History Museum—who welcomed the opportunity
who were not only ready but willing to do the identif- of spending the summer in the country—actually work-
cations in question and to submit a report on their fin- ed in the field with him. In this manner, most of the
dings for publication, either as an appendix to the main routine identifications were completed on the spot, so
excavation report or separately. But in order to accom- that after the material had been recorded, it could be
plish this, it seems to me that one should always turn to disposed of. Only the best specimens were taken to
the specialists of the region or country where one is Dublin, together with those unusual remains which re-
currently working and not return to one’s parent ins- quired further study.
titution with crates full of odd-shaped dusty bags and Now it seems to me that the essential point to em-
dump them down in someone else’s laboratory and say: phasize here is that in each case the people who worked
here you are; now what can you make out of this lot. with us were regional specialists who knew the local
In France and many other European countries, a faunas and floras intimately and at first hand. For even
person who works on all phases of prehistoric archaeol- Jessen, with his extraordinarily broad grasp of the
ogy—normally over 95% of this relates to the Paleo- whole paleobotanical sequence in Northern Europe,
lithic Period—is called a prehistorian. These people had to spend several seasons in Ireland investigating
move in entirely different circles from the archaeolo- the living plants before he felt he was able to under-
gists, who confine their interest to sites belonging to stand and interpret the prehistoric occurences.
periods within the range of written records, most of One of the finest demonstrations of integrated re-
which (in the case of France) concern the Gallo-Roman search by a team of specialists was accomplished by the
and later occupations of the country. Now a prehistori- so-called Fenland Research Committee, which was
an is not trained as an anthropologist; rather, in order mainly made up of scientists from Cambridge Univer-
to qualify for his doctorate, he is held responsible for sity, England, under Grahame Clark and Harry God-
all the aspects of prehistoric archaeology that he is like- win during the 1930's. Some of their reports are models
ly to encounter during the course of his field work. of their kind and should serve as an inspiration to all
Notwithstanding its obvious shortcomings, this system of us. This is parnicular'y true of Clark’s latest mono-
has a good deal to commend it. For within certain lim- graph setting forth the results of his excavations of the
its a prehistorian is able to do his own geology and Early Maglemosean site of Star Carr, Yorkshire.
most of the identifications of ordinary vertebrate, in- Since World War II, the British Council of Archaeo-
vertebrate, plant, etc., remains. But there are also spe- logy has been set up. In part, it is a clearing house for
cialists in each of these fields to whom the prehistorian important publications that appear in local journals,
may turn for help and advice. Indeed in the final analy- and in part it serves as a sort of central registry where
sis, he must depend on such specialists (rather than on enterprising graduate students can find summer jobs on
his own background) for help with respect to the spe- excavations. Otherwise, one of its main functions is to
cialized problems that arise. The essential point here, give advice regarding identification, and this is done by
however, is that his training permits him to recognize putting the field worker (who in many cases is an
these problems and know to whom to turn for help and amateur) into touch with an appropriate specialist.
advice as to their solution. However, no actual research and study is conducted by
Excavating in Ireland with Hugh Hencken before the Council itself.
the war, we always had wonderful cooperation from Of course, as you all know, in Denmark we have
local specialists in a wide range of fields of natural his- the classic example of the team approach to archaeolo-
tory, including vertebrate paleontology, invertebrate gical problems. Here, during the past century, a syn-
aleontology, and paleobotany. It so happened that our thesis of scientific information, nearly unparalleled, has
investigations there coincided with a very ambitious re- been applied to the interpretation of archaeological
search project involving the systematic investigation of materials. Accordingly, it 1s here that we should turn
the peat bogs of Ireland, which was under the direction for an appreciation and understanding of the methods
of Professor Knud Jessen of Copenhagen. Therefore, and techniques involved. Indeed, it is fair to state that
we benefited by his presence, and as a result, many of in this small country more has been learned of the
our sites where polleniferous deposits occurred were ac- development of the environment during Post-Glacial
tually visited and studied by Jessen and his associates. times and its bearing on the interpretation of the pre-
At the coastal Mesolithic sites of Northeastern Ire- historic archaeological sequence than is true anywhere
land, there were almost no bones, although quantities else. I do not intend to summarize the results of the
of molluscan remains were recovered. Here a local Bel- work itself; however, I should like to consider briefly
23

what factors have made it possible. We must bear in ly, Albert's son had absolutely no interest whatsoever
mind three facts that have a very important and direct in the problems of Early Man and, as far as I can see,
bearing on the situation: this also appries to Rainier. But the Institut de Pa-
leontologie Humaine still houses magnificent collec.
1. the extraordinary conditions of preservation that tions, although the income from the initial subsidy
prevail in the marsh, lacustrine, and marine deposits has now dwindled to the point where it is barely
of this area; sufficient to cover the cost of maintaining the buil-
2. the fact that the last ice-sheets entirely denuded ding and paying the salary of one very ancient jan-
the major part of the country of all pre-existing itor.
deposits right down to bed-rock, and hence all the
soils and other sediments found there are of Post- I feel that potentially such institutes can accomplish
Glacial age; more within a limited period of time in connection
g. the fact that a great deal of this research is sub- with a given research problem than would be true in
sidized (by the Karlsberg Breweries). the case of single individuals representing a series of
different institutions working for the same period of
In Czechoslovakia, even before World War II when time on a given locality and with comparable financial
a Western form of democratic government was in pow- support. Furthermore, the degree of integration accom-
er, archaeology was exceedingly well organized under lished by such a team in working together on a month-
the State Archaeological Institute, which had a good- in, month-out basis certainly cannot be approached
sized staff and a very competent Director. Similarly on when the interflow of information is dependent on
the Geological Survey, there were specialists on the long-range communication.
Pleistocene, who worked with the archaeologists and Returning now to France—in particular to my own
participated with them in the excavation of prehistoric project, the excavation of a large, Upper Palaeolithic
sites. Since the Communists took over, however, this rock-shelter at Les Eyzies (Dordogne)—what I hope to
system has been very greatly expanded. Indeed, our be able to find out from my colleagues in various bran-
Czech colleagues have never had it so good as during ches of natural science dealing with the Pleistocene may
the past four or five years. From a staff of ten or a dozen, be summarized as follows:
the Director of the State Archaeological Institute now
has over sixty people working for him. And the Geolo- 1. Geology. Relative dating of the deposits in terms
gical Survey has undergone a comparable expansion. of the Alpine glacial sequence, as well as something
The main result of this is that it is now unnecessary for about deposition processes operative during the time-
anyone doing archaelogical work to devote a large a- interval covered by the various occupations. Of
mount of time to the raising of funds, and the excel- course, it is hoped that a good series of samples for
lence of the reports that are being published—many of C-14 dating will be recovered to make possible an
which are very lavish—tends to make one somewhat en- absolute chronology.
vious. In any case, under these conditions, there seems 2. Pedology. From a study of the soils accumulated
to be no difficulty whatsoever with regard to iden- at the site, it should be possible not only to establish
tification, a situation which is definitely due to a very the origin of the various sediments but also the agent
adequate government subsidy. In this connection, it 1s or agents of deposition in each case. This will be of
of course only fair to point out that in a Nationalist fundamental importance in connection with tying
State of this sort, archaeology has tremendous propa- the various occupations to the geologic sequence.
ganda value. 3. Palaeobotany. In addition to the obvious identi-
In addition to large appropriations from industry in fication of charcoal fragments found in the actual
the case of Denmark and very generous government hearths at the site, as well as such items as seeds that
subsidy in the case of Czechoslovakia and other “Iron may come to light in the occupation layers, an effort
Curtain” countries, there are two outstanding instances will be made to locate and identify pollen grains
in the Old World of broad-scale research on problems preserved in the deposits. A technique for doing this
of Palaeo-anthropology and related Pleistocene studies was being worked out in Germany before World
that have been singularly successful. Both of these in- War II, and recently it has been perfected by the
volve private institutions, one in China and the other French. We intend to give it a try. Furthermore, we
in France. I refer to: will conduct special investigations on unaerated de-
posits—peats, lacustrine clays, silts, etc.—that were
1. The Cenozoic Research Laboratory in Peking, accumulated in the region during the Late Glacial
which was set up under the Geological Survey of and Early Post-Glacial times.
China with special reference to the investigations at
the famous site of Choukoutien. Here, a team of These are the main problems with which we will be
Chinese and European scientists representing a broad grappling during the next five or six years, and a team
range of specialized disciplines and interests accom- of specialists has been organized for the purpose of
plished an outstandingly fine record of field-work accomplishing these objectives. In addition, other in-
and publication during the years 1929 to 1937. vestigations will be carried out, including:
2. The Institut de Paleontologie Humaine in Paris,
created in the early 1900's with a large subsidy from 1. An attempt to establish the source or sources of
Albert I of Monaco. Their work at the Grimaldi the raw materials used for implement manufacture.
Caves and the Grotte de l’Observatoire was, and stil] From thin-sections of random samples of flint found
is in many respects, a model of its kind. Unfortunate- at the site, the micro-organisms which it contains in
24

abundance will be studied and identified. In this Here we are especially fortunate in having the services
manner, it should be possible to determine the exact of a very competent and brilliant young French palae-
source of supply, inasmuch as no two outcrops that ontologist, Dr. Jean Bouchud. His work is entirely
have been studied so far have produced the same supported by the Centre National de la Recherche
forms of micro-fossils in comparable frequencies. Scientifique, and he spends his summers at Les Eyzies.
This method, which has been successfully used in Furthermore, his thesis was on the age changes in the
Denmark, has recently been introduced in France. dentition of the reindeer, the main source of food of
2. All invertebrate faunal remains that are found the Upper Palaeolithic peoples of the Dordogne.
will be identified for the purpose of determining Out of all this, it is my firm conviction that the re-
their source and obtaining information bearing on quisite data for a reasonably complete reconstruction
prehistoric trade routes. For instance, pierced Medi- of the total environmental picture will inevitably
terranean shells used as beads have been reported emerge. As a result, we should be able to obtain new
from several Aurignacian I sites in the Dordogne. and important information that will contribute to a
However, none of the Upper Palaeolithic stations better understanding of the culture dynamics involved.
excavated in that region to date have yielded data But I should like to emphasize that this approach to
indicating that the essentially hunting occupants an archaeological problem is by no means new. As I
ever depended on molluscs as a source of food. have stated, it was originally developed in Northern
Europe with reference to the rich sites of the Mesolithic
The sum total of the data from these various fields cultures of Early Post-Glacial time. Later it was extend-
of study will, of course, be used in an attempt to es- ed into Britain by Clark, Godwin, and others of the
tablish the relative age of the successive occupations at Fenland Research Committee. All we will try to do is
the archaeological site. It will also be used to determine to apply the same principles and techniques to the
the processes involved in the accumulation of the sedi- Upper Palaeolithic. But it should be emphasized that
ments. In addition, we will try to find out as much as we do not have unlimited funds, nor government sup-
ossible about the animals that constituted the major ort, nor a privately endowed research institution be-
ood supply of the occupants of the site: ind us. Thanks to the generosity of the National
Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation,
1. when they were hunted—that is, during what however, we are definitely assured of financial support
seasons of the year; for at least two full field seasons. Although this seems to
2. how they were hunted—what methods and weap- me to have a very real and direct bearing on the whole
ons were employed in the chase; problem, in the final analysis it depends on the indivi-
g. what animals were particularly sought after and dual investigator’s ability to conceptualize the pro-
under what conditions were they hunted—how old blems that arise during the course of the actual field-
were the individuals at the time of death, what work, which in turn reflects his own training and
parts of them were eaten, etc. experience.
25

THE OLD WORLD: POST-PALAEOLITHIC

Robert J. Braidwood
I restrict myself to a brief appraisal of the available tendencies towards cavalier treatment by most exa
materials, and the (often very slight) use to which they vators. The situation in Egypt is considerably better,
have been put in (a) the developmental range from the and we have Angel’s work in Greece. The European
“archaic” into the “formative” (Willey-Phillips sense) situation 1s spotty.
or from the ‘“‘mesolithic” into the “early bronze age”’
(Old World sense), in (b) the area from the Indus to B. VEGETABLE
the Atlantic. This range of time and area brackets
(for the antecedents of the Western cultural tradition) 1. Outstanding work has been done in Europe on
the problem: how was the village-farming community the paleobotany of post-glacial times. This is only be-
way of life effectively established. ginning in western Asia.
I classify my remarks in terms of the old parlor game, 2. The notion of western Asia as a center of domes.
animal, vegetable, and mineral. tication of the cereal grains and of some other food
plants also reaches back into the last century. Cer-
A. ANIMAL tainly somewhat more ‘“‘systematic’’ collection has been
done for plants than was the case with animals, even
1. I am not conscious of an extensive literature re- before the large scale collecting done by the Russians.
garding the moment of disappearance of the larger Nevertheless, the distribution maps remain spotty and
Pleistocene animals (comparable to that which con- references to habitat, preferred altitude, etc., of the
siders the last of the giant sloth, Bison taylort, etc., in wild plants are often vague. According to Helbaek,
the New World). Observations certainly exist, for ex- most collections were made as traverses along main
ample, on the aurochs still being in Poland in the 18th roads and were fully effective only during the relatively
century and on the onager in Iraq until the 1920's. short times when the plants were ripening: Again the
2. There has been general agreement since the end question of the adequacy of the available corpus of
of the last century that western Asia is the region where wild plants is an issue. The potentialities of the identi
domestication of the sheep, goat, pig, and cow (plus fication and interpretation of forest cover, by means
horse?) took place. However, remarkably little atten- of charcoal, are only beginning to be realized.
tion has been given to the problem on the spot. Until Archaeologically, somewhat more attention has been
Reed went into the field on a National Science Foun- paid to carbonized grain than was given to animal
dation grant in 1954-55, no systematic zoological collec- ones, although the available specimens are usually
tion, pointed at the problem, had yet been done in the those from the less frequent finds such as burned
core area. The result is that a corpus of animal bones storage Jars or caches. Here again, the archaeologists
(both wild and domestic) for purposes of comparative have asked for (and received from good-willed bota-
study is only now being collected, unfortunately about nists or directors of experimental farms) Latin-name
twenty-five years too late because of extensive hunting lists. I know of no completed studies of a cache of
from automobiles and the ubiquitous rifle. grain as a whole unit, with reference to proportions of
Archaeologically, animal bones have been saved from cereals and field weeds in the unit (indicating possible
about one site in twenty—and then, usually only the field conditions). As might be expected, the quantity
more rare finds of whole bones or skulls of larger ani- of identifications from Egypt is much greater than
mals. Little or no attention has been given to the from western Asia.
smaller fauna, invertebrates, etc., so valuable as clues g. For the prehistory of the Classical lands, the sit-
to the environmental situation. The reports, with very uation is like that of western Asia. For example, in-
rare exceptions, are restricted to Latin-name lists, done teresting plants are reported from Thermi on Lesbos
by zoologists of good will, working blindly without a but, typically, as a Latin-name listing with very brief
corpus of comparative material and almost invariably comments on morphology.
without communication with the archaeologist as to 4. Europe is again much more adequately handled
context, general problems, etc., save the simple ques- with reference to interpretative possibilities.
tion, “are these bones of domesticated animalsr”’. Egypt
(with its good preservation and mummification) is C. MINERAL
somewhat an exception but was evidently outside the
core area. 1. For the range of post-glacial readaptation in Eu-
3. The general situation in the Classical lands ap- rope, the situation is satisfactory as far as I can assess it.
pears to be about like that for western Asia. 2. In western Asia, earlier geological surveys were
4. The general situation in Europe is many degrees supplemented to some extent with very definite con-
better. Reference to Clark’s Prehistoric Europe: The temporary economic overtones. The economic surveys
Economic Basis indicates a sophisticated and quanti- have been carried on by present governments and
tative handling of at least some of the materials, with also by oil companies. There are definite economic-
overtones of interpretation and not simply identifi- — political overtones to these studies, and some of the
cation. national surveys receive questions from foreigners with
In regard to human paleontology, the situation in suspicion. Information on soils and clays (i.e., pot
western Asia is relatively bad; the material generally fabrics), utilizable and decorative stones (i.e., celt
has been fragmentary, and this has encouraged natural blanks, beads), metals, bitumens, etc., hardly exist, at
26

least in any systematic fashion. Matson, in 1954-55, D. GENERAL COMMENT

made a beginning with reference to the substances of
pot fabrics. The farther east of western Europe one goes (in the
‘Toward an understanding of immediately post-gla- range of time and cultural complexity on which this
cial land-forms and climatic conditions, the Oriental note focuses), the worse our understanding becomes.
Institute (at Dr. Movius’s suggestion) made the first This is true in the face of the most reasonable assump-
direct move by sending Wright to Lebanon. Wright tion: that western Asia was the nuclear area for the
has since been supported by two successive Wenner- formation of the village-farming community way of
Gren grants in Iraq Kurdistan. Otherwise, casual (al- life of the western cultural tradition. Difficulties may
though often very important) contributions to the be listed:
understanding of late-glacial and post-glacial physio-
graphy and climate have been made by itinerant Eu- 1. The almost complete lack of comprehension, on
ropean geologists, civil servants, and oil geologists. anyone’s part, of the necessity of understanding the
Archaeologically, little attention has been given the environment as a functioning whole before cultural
interpretative potential of this whole field, outside the interpretation may proceed.
usual identification of metal and a few petrographical 2. The almost complete lack of information on the
identifications of the materials of more spectacular natural occurrences and inherent characteristics of
stone objects. These are of the Latin-name variety al- the materials in each of the three categories (animal,
though not much more can be done at the moment due vegetable, mineral) discussed here. Such bodies of
to lack of comparative data. data must become available before culturally mean-
In some cases, aspects of this category are a bit better ingful interpretations (and not simply Latin-name
handled in Egypt than in western Asia. identifications) can be drawn.
3. For Greece (although perhaps not for all Magna 3. The almost complete lack of comprehension—on
Graecia and ttaly), due to the detailed interests of the the part of natural scientists of good-will—of what
Classical archaeologists and the availability of some the archaeologists really want to learn from “non-
contemporary economic records for the periods later artifactual”’ identifications. This results in a relative
than we treat here, we are somewhat better off. Metals, scarcity of natural scientists of “good-will” with in-
pot fabrics, and certain aspects of petrography have terest in “culture-linked” problems.
received considerable attention. 4. The almost complete lack of comprehension—on
4- In Europe, the situation is relatively good, al- the part of the archaeologists—of the full interpret-
though spotty. ative potential of the ‘“non-artifactual’’ categories.
27

THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR

Richard S. MacNeish
For those who do not know me or my work a brief versity of Michigan, who, with the co-operation of
introduction is necessary. Although I have worked in Dr. J. Hooper and Dr. Henry Van der Schalie of the
numerous places for a number of institutions, the area same institution, identified these remains. The 1954-
where I have done independent research, with which 55 materials are being identified by Dr. Karl Koop-
we are here concerned, is northeastern Mexico, in the man of Queen’s University and Dr. Paul Martin of the
State of Tamaulipas. Here, three seasons were under- University of Montreal. Snails are being identified by
taken: in 1945-46, under the auspices of the University Mr. Robert Drake of the University of Arizona, who is
of Chicago, initial survey of the area was made; in interested in the northern Mexican and southwest
1948-49, under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foun- area.
dation, excavations were made in the Canyon Diablo Studies of the geology of our area have been under-
area of the Sierra de Tamaulipas; another field season taken, but a good deal more work needs to be done. I
was initiated in 1954-55 under the auspices of the was most fortunate in having Dr. de Terra and Dr.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Glen Evans visit the 1949 excavations, but unfortu-
Philosophical Society, and the Botanical Museum of nately no geologists worked with me during the other
Harvard University, to dig in more caves in southwest seasons. For actual dating of materials, I turned to
Tamaulipas for more early agricultural remains. This Carbon 14. Originally, Dr. Libby dated three speci-
last project was set up with the co-operation of Dr. mens at the University of Chicago laboratory, while
Paul Mangelsdorf of the Botanical Museum of Har- more recently Dr. Crane of the University of Michigan
vard University. has done eleven more. These latter were paid for,
Now the question arises as to just how I went about and I believe that archaeological field budgets
getting specimens identified and what sort of people should include provision for paying for Carbon 14
assisted me with this work. As previously mentioned, analyses.
the project was set up with Dr. Mangelsdorf and Dr. One of the important problems of our excavations
W. C. Galinat to obtain early corn material, so there was the changes in subsistence patterns in our long
was no problem along this line. The corn remains sequence from Tamaulipas. Identification of occupa-
from the 1949 excavations had been studied and pub- tional debris by zoologists and botanists is, of course,
lished in the Botanical Museum Leaflets of Harvard necessary for undertaking such studies. However, we
University; another paper is being prepared for the soon found out that only an analysis of feces could
same series on the 1954-55 corn material. Identification give us conclusive data concerned with what the
of other materials came about in a more or less hit or ple actually ate and were the best check on the refuse
miss fashion. With the squash and gourd remains, Dr. materials. ‘This is a facet of archaeological identifica-
Whitaker, Dr. Cutler, and myself have prepared a Pe tions that I do not believe has been as adequately ex-
per for American Antiquity. Originally I thought that plored. Dr. Cameron and Dr. Callan of MacDonald
there might be some troubles getting these materials College of McGill University, in cooperation with bo-
written up; but a sequence, from 8200 B. C. to about anists and pollen analysts, have undertaken a study of
1750 A. D., of squash and gourd remains was of inter- our 3000 feces from our eight sequential periods. Th
est to these botanists, and they were glad to identify believe that they not only will be able to identify
and write up the materials. At the present time, Mr. actual food particles from the pollen and undigested
Lawrence Kaplan is working on the bean materials remains but, by analysis of the consistency of the feces,
that range from 3600 B. C. to 1750 A. D., and event- make relative statements about proteins, carbohy-
ually we hope to have a joint paper on them. Other drates, and fats of the ancient inhabitants. Already
vegetable materials have been a little more trouble- these latter studies have yielded results on ancient
some. However, Dr. C. Earle Smith, then a student of food habits: there is evidence of a shift from eating
Dr. Mangelsdorf, identified the 1949 materials, while squash seeds before 1500 B. C. to eating both seeds and
Dr. Robert Dressler of the Gray Herbarium has under- meat after that date and a shift from chewing whole
taken the 1954-55 plant material. The latter’s identifi- green ears, 2400 to 1800 B. C., to eating kernels and
cations are being done in conjunction with some re- ground corn after 1500 B. C.
search Dr. Dressler expects to do in this part of Mexico. The final part of the prehistoric food studies, which
The idea of having specialists working in the exact I hope to do in the future, will have to be done in con-
area of the archaeological excavations, I believe, junction with a nutritionist. Dr. Harris of Massachus-
should be explored further. sets Institute of Technology has been most willing to
Zoological material represents a little more difficulty. assist me. Eventually, between zoologists, botanists,
This is due to the fact that much of the archaeological parasitologists, and nutritionists, we should have a
material is so scrappy that the average zoologist doesn't pretty good idea of changes in diet and of how they
want to bother with it and in part due to the fact that correlate with cultural and environmental changes.
many zoologists are interested in problems that are This is the sort of study that has not often been done,
quite different from those relating to archaeology. though archaeologists speak as if they really under-
However, in spite of these difficulties, I have had a fair stood what were the changes in ancient subsistence
degree of success with the identifications of the 1949 and food habits.
bone materials. These have been sent to Dr. C. W. It is readily apparent that independent investigators
Hibbard of the Museum of Palaeontology of the Uni- have not done too badly with identifications. Further-
28

more, I have learned by trial and error what should their material to the specialist in such a way that the
be done in terms of identifications. Thus I shall pass specialist can publish on it, either alone or in conjunc-
on a series of recommendations and items for discus- tion with the archaeologist.
sion. 3. As my studies went along, I began to realize that
1. First and foremost, I had a great deal of trouble identifications were best done by individuals who were
finding, and wasted a good deal of time looking for, real specialists. This point, I believe, needs some em-
just the right scientists to undertake the various kinds phasis and should be taken into consideration when
of identification. Therefore, I would recommend that one is planning a project.
somewhere there be a list of what scientists are avail- 4. I believe, also, that some attempt should be made
able in various areas and in various disciplines, so that to have the specialist visit the archaeological excava-
one would know where to send the actual materials. tions when they are in progress and also have a chance
If such a list seems impracticable, then at least there to see the area in which the work is being done.
should be a committee that could steer archaeologists 5. I have the feeling that after the identifications
to the correct specialists. are all completed and the field work all done, there
2. Very often I found that the archaeologist’s ap- should be some sort of conference by the various
proach to the specialist was very wrong. First of all, specialists and the archaeologists to discuss the Paleo-
not enough data about materials were sent to the ecological problems of the particular area. The ar-
specialist. Second, the archaeologists often did not in- chaeologists, with their finer means of dating, could
dicate just exactly why they wanted these materials contribute to studies of the botanists, zoologists, and
identified. Third, archaeologists did not seem to rea- geologists. Of course the reverse would be true also.
lize that the specialists often were interested in the In conclusion, I believe that if archaeologists going
identifications for very different reasons, and no effort to the field would take into consideration these five
was made to present material so that its identification oints, there would be considerably fewer problems in
could be usetul to the specialist. Finally, I feel that identifications, and perhaps the final reports might be
archaeologists should make a conscious effort to give a good deal better than they are.
29

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEM:

THE NON-ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECIALIST VIEWPOINT
THE TREE-RING LABORATORY AND THE GEOCHRONOLOGICAL PROGRAM,

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Emil W. Haury
I am concerned here with the status of the Tree-Ring lead to a better comprehension of the archaeological
Laboratory at the University of Arizona. This Labor- story of the sites involved. Furthermore, new climato-
atory is now the main depository for archaeological logical data would also accrue from such a study.
tree-ring specimens. Together with the specimens that Obviously, tree-ring dating is an established part of
have been gathered over the years, the Laboratory has the archaeological process, and it is a field that ought
been given extensive collections from the Flagstaff to grow. But to grow, we must seek adequate financial
area by the Museum of Northern Arizona and also support. We hope that this and other advances will
large numbers of samples that were originally housed come about under the aegis of the Geochronology
at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe. All Program, in regard to which I should like to say a few
told, there are on file about 50,000 archaeological speci- words.
mens of a tree-ring nature. Furthermore, as far as I Paleo-Indian studies in the Southwest, beginning as
know, ours is the only active dendrochronology labor- early as 1927, showed the existence of many problems
atory in the country. It will be apparent from this that solvable only by the cooperative effort of men from
a terrific burden is imposed upon if. different disciplines. It soon became apparent that it
A review of a few of the problems that face the Lab- was not enough merely to identify rocks as having
oratory is in order. First, in spite of the importance of been modified by man but that evidence of fauna,
tree-ring dating to archaeology, finding adequate help flora, geology, etc., were equally important to an un-
has been a disappointing experience. ‘The demand for derstanding of the total picture. The idea of this
men trained in tree-ring dating has not been heavy interdependence of disciplines was discussed at the
because no other schools are actively engaged in this University of Arizona in the lates 1940's, principally in
work; so students have not been willing to specialize in the form of informal conferences among those persons
this field. On this acount, the Laboratory is running representing fields that might conceivably assist. It was
about ten years behind in the processing of specimens. obvious that, if we were to work effectively, it would be
There are approximately 25,000 undated specimens on necessary to develop a home team of people interested
hand. This situation will presumably continue until in a common problem, each participant realizing that
such a time as attractive job offers will persuade stu- something would accrue which would benefit his own
dents to go into tree-ring studies. specialty. Over-riding the desirability of such a co-
Another problem is the difficulty of finding financial operative venture was also the feeling that the disci-
support. In the last ten years, the University of Arizona plines, compartmentalized largely from administrative
has employed three people in the Laboratory. While necessity, must be brought together again. Only in this
these staff members do not give full time to the dating way could we ever hope to come closer to a real study
of specimens sent in by others, they nevertheless con- of a site and its total environment or to the under-
tribute in time approximately $9,000 per year as a standing of a period of time in all of its aspects.
service. From the administrative point of view, the The ground-breaking effort along these lines at the
continuance of this situation is difficult to justify. In University of Arizona was inaugurated in 1952 with
some cases, fees have been levied. But funds from such the appointment by the President of the University of
sources fall far short of meeting costs. A complication a Geochronology Committee. This Committee had on
arising from this method of financing is the dissatisfac- its panel a botanist, a geologist, a paleontologist, a
tion voiced by clients when results are not obtainable. chemist, a dendrochronologist an anthropologist, and
Occasionally, for technical reasons such as unusable the Dean of the Graduate College. Terah Smile ,
kinds of wood represented in the sample, dating is im- chronologist of the staff of the Laboratory of Free
possible; but the analyst’s time must be paid for never- Ring Research, became the chief organizer and catalyst
theless. in the endeavor.
An important task that faces the Laboratory is re- The objectives, simply spelled out, were as follows:
viewing old work, going back over some 25,000 dated first, the devolpment of mutual interest in specific
specimens. The justification for doing this is that there roblems among the specialists on the campus by help-
have been new advances in tree-ring dating. New re- ing others, first of all, in this broad problem of identi-
ional chronologies have been built, and there have fication; second, to learn other points of view about
een extensions in time of the Central Pueblo Chron- one’s own material; third, to keep abreast of new tech-
ology on which most tree-ring results to date have been niques in other fields. A fourth objective was to intro-
based. There is no reasonable doubt but that many duce a course, or a series of courses, leading ultimately
specimens which have gone undated all these years can to an interdisciplinary curriculum. It was envisioned
now be dated. The additional results would certainly that instruction in a survey type of course would be
30

iven by men in different fields and that students tak- comprising this laboratory, there is ample space to es-
ing such work would acquire some familiarity with the tablish various phases of the work. Already in opera-
methods, potentialities, and applications of the various tion is an office, a pollen laboratory, a paleontology
subjects involved. The hope was expressed that stu- laboratory, and it is expected that the dating end of
dents from geology, botany, chemistry, anthropology, tree-ring studies, which now still resides in the Uni-
and like disciplines would be interested in pursuing versity Stadium, will soon be moved to these new fa-
such a course. cilities. Similarly, the Carbon-14 Age Determination
The present status of the geochronology program at Laboratory, presently housed in the Chemistry-Physics
the University of Arizona is as follows: The Commit- building on the campus, will also be moved to these
tee operates under the guidance of the Dean of the new quarters. A significant, proposed addition is a geo-
Graduate College, who is also the Coordinator of Re- chemistry laboratory with a mass spectroscope, for
search. The curriculum, of an interdisciplinary nature, which the money is now available. A full-time geo-
now includes some thirty-five hours of course work and morphologist will be added to the staff in the coming
unlimited credit hours are available in research activ- year. In addition to the formally appointed members of
ities. It is possible for a student to earn a Master of the University faculty, who cooperate in this geo-
Science degree in Geochronology, and Geochronology chronology program, approval has also been received
is also acceptable as a minor in several fields for the from the administration to appoint Research Asso-
Ph.D. level of work. The experience of the last five clates.
years indicates that this was a healthy academic step In sum, the development of the geochronology pro-
and one which ought to produce a number of students gram at the University of Arizona has been one of “self
who have a much wider comprehension of the prob- help”. So far, it has been a successful interdisciplinary
lems of archaeology, of geology, botany, etc., than program as far as it has fone. Obviously, there are
would be possible otherwise. certain problems which still require help from the out-
The research facilities for this program may be side. I seriously doubt if it will ever be possible in any
quickly summarized as follows: the physical plant of institution to find the expert to answer all the prob-
the former Carnegie Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc lems, but we believe that by a local concerted effort
Hill in the western outskirts of Tucson, in recent years we may go a long way down the road to the more thor-
used by the U. S. Forest Service, has been acquired by ough and intelligent understanding of the data that
the University of Arizona. In the several Quildings concern us.
31

FREER GALLERY OF ART, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Rutherford J. Gettens
It is difficult to say just when the serious identification oratory of the Belgian Museums in Brussels, at the
of the materials of artifacts began. It has been shown Louvre in Paris, and at the Instituto Centrale del Res
by E. R. Caley that archaeological chemistry started tauro in Rome, early bronzes and other artifacts are
with the German chemist M. H. Klaproth, who in the regularly examined and analyzed. In Germany, Dr.
mid-eighteenth century pioneered in the analysis of Helmut Otto and others have done much work on the
Greek and Roman antiquities and was the first to ana- analysis of prehistoric copper and bronze objects.
lyze a coin from the Far East. Similar investigations Chikashige, Dono, Yamanouchi, and other chemists in
were carried on by H. Davy, M. Faraday, M. Berthelot, Japan have been diligent in the analysis of Far Eastern
and others through the nineteenth century. It was not copper and bronze. In the United States, laboratory fa-
until this century, however, that systematic collection cilities for making archaeological identifications on a
of the findings of archaeological chemistry and scien- wide variety of materials are available at the Museum
tific investigation of museum holdings began to get of Fine Arts, Boston, Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge,
under way. Perhaps the greatest systematic study has Carnegie Ceramics Laboratory, Boulder, and more
had to do with Egyptian artifacts. In 1926, A. Lucas, recently at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington,
formerly chemist in the Department of Antiquities, D.C. Since most of the American institutions maintain-
Egypt, published the first edition of his famous work, ing laboratories are privately supported, their labor-
“Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries”. Here he atory staffs are small, and they cannot take on much
collected and summarized identifications that had been outside work from other institutions.
made by himself and a whole generation of Egypto- On first thought, it might seem that the field of ar-
logists. Lucas’s classic work was soon followed by J. R. chaeological identifications is rather limited in scope.
Partington’s misnamed but eminently useful book This is not true. There are large geographical areas
entitled, “The Origins and Development of Applied where technical examination of cultural materials has
Chemistry”. This rather uncritical history of technol- hardly begun. This can be said of China and the Far
ogy covers Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Eastern Medi- East. There are cultural horizons which have been ex-
terranean from the Neolithic Age to the beginnings plored archaeologically but whose cultural remains
of written history. R. J. Forbes, Amsterdam, covered have been given little technical study, for example, the
the history of technology in his “Bibliographia Antt- Maya culture of Central America. There are entire
qua”, which lists numerous references to reports on classes of material which have great variety and cul-
identification of cultural materials among some 14,000 tural significance but which have been little analyzed,
bibliographical items. Singer and coauthors, in their for example glass.
recent five-volume work on the “History of Technol- There have been developed within the past half
ogy’, base many of their conclusions on archaeological century a number of new Investigative methods and
identifications. Scientific as well as archaeological jour- analytical techniques which are capable of producing
nals are publishing more and more data on identifica- much significant data and information. These spe-
tions, thanks to the modern equipment and faster cialized branches of science include: metallography,
analytical procedures that are being brought to bear chemical microscopy, spectrochemical analysis, x-ray
on archaeological material. a diffraction, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Carbon-14
In the beginning, archaeological identifications were analysis, and so on. The contributions that these
made mostly by amateurs or by professional scientists highly developed techniques can make to archaeology
as a hobby. Chemists and mineralogists made simple are well recognized. Recently at Oxford University, a
identifications for their archaeologist friends. A. Lucas, Research Laboratory for Archaeology was set up to
already mentioned, seems to be the first professional exploit these newer analytical techniques. Modern
archaeologist-chemist. A number of professors of chem- equipment is costly, and it requires trained specialists.
istry in the universities have given time and skill to the It is beyond the means of a small laboratory in a pri-
chemistry of ancient materials. Today, Professor Earle vate institution to provide all of them.
R. Caley of Ohio State University and Professor Wil- A greater problem than equipment is trained per-
liam C. Root of Bowdoin College are active in publish- sonnel. Although museums of art and archaeology
ing analytical studies on ancient metal objects. Anna O. have slowly come to realize the value of technical
Shepard of Boulder, Colorado, and Professor Frederick studies, they have made little effort to encourage scien-
B. Matson of Pennsylvania State College are well tists to make careers in the museum field. Scientists
known for their petrographic and chemical studies on and archaeologists are reluctant to cross beyond the
ancient ceramics. Dr. Marie Farnsworth of the Metal boundaries of their own disciplines. A change of at-
and Thermit Corporation regularly contributes ana- titude, however, is gradually taking place.
lytical data on materials, principally from the classical Some years ago the need for better understanding of
field. the materials of cultural holdings became apparent
The number of institutions in the world that are to the Director of the Freer Gallery of Art. It was felt
concerned with the identification of archaeological that a knowledge of materials and structures of objects
materials is small, but it is slowly increasing. Per- was a necessary accompaniment to the general schol-
haps the largest center is the Research Laboratory of arly activities carried on there. This need led to the
the British Museum, where a wide variety of materials establishment in the Gallery of a Laboratory for Tech-
come under routine examination. At the Central Lab- nical Research.
32

The Freer Gallery of Art houses a notable collection black, doubts and questions about composition have
of Old World antiquities ranging in origin from the often been raised. The identification of jade minerals
Far East to the Near East. Nearly all the objects have by petrographic methods is slow and laborious, and
been acquired by purchase on the New York art mar- frequently a thin-section of the stone is required. Iden-
ket. Most have been selected for their importance as tification by specific gravity method is not too reliable.
objects of art or for historical interest. ‘They are main- By means of x-ray diffraction analysis on a micro-sam-
ly of high quality on the theory that the higher the ple of the stone, it is possible to get a quick and sure
quality of an object the better it serves as a cultural answer. We are now in the process of subjecting to
document. The exact provenience of only a small num- x-ray diffraction analysis all of our questioned jades.
ber of the Oriental objects in the collection is known, This will permit us gradually to build up a jade iden-
hence there are no “‘site” problems. In spite of lack of tification file. In addition, we are gathering informa-
contact with field archaeology, the Freer collection tion about the altering and weathering of jade stone
does present many problems that can benefit from the and about the effects of high temperature on jade
finding of field archaeology and from general technical minerals.
investigations. CeRAMIcs: The Freer Laboratory has worked little on
The main purpose of the Freer Laboratory is four- Far Eastern ceramics in spite of the fact that ceramics
fold: (1) to acquire knowledge of the materials from seems to offer an inexhaustible field for research. Those
which ancient objects are made and the way they are who have studied Miss Anna Shepard’s recent mon-
used in order to compliment the interpretations of art ograph, “Ceramics for the Archaeologist”, probably
scholars based on form, style, epigraphy, iconology, realize that many of the technical problems in New
and _ historical evidence; (2) to supply information World pottery discussed there must exist in connection
bearing on the physical condition of objects necessary with Old World ceramics, perhaps multiplied several
for their rational preservation and conservation; (3) to fold. Others, who have followed reports and articles in
gain from objects in the collection knowledge about the Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, must be aware of
the history of technology; and (4) to tell the true from the numerous technical problems that exist in connec-
the false. tion with the glazed earthenware of the Han and
The Freer Laboratory for Technical Research, in- T'ang Dynasties and also those problems that come
stalled in 1951, was equipped primarily for the physical out of studies on the more sophisticated porcelain
and chemical analysis of archaeological specimens. A ware of the Yiian to Ming Dynasties—including bodies,
secondary purpose is to deal with conservation and pre- slips, glazes, and glaze coloring materials. We have
servation problems. The scientific equipment is used lately, however, become much interested in the history
for microscopic, microchemical, metal ographic, photo- of cobalt, the metal which in oxide form was used to
micrographic, x-ray diffraction, and quantitative chem- color glass, pottery glaze, and the vitreous pigment
ical analysis. Co-operation has been established with called smalt, a deep and permanent blue. We wish to
other government laboratories where the services of know more about the earliest use, the early sources,
specialists and specialized equipment are available. and the distribution of cobalt all over Asia. We are col-
These include: National Bureau of Standards, U. S. lecting specimens of blue glass and glaze that range in
Geological Survey, U. S. National Museum, Food and origin over many centuries and are subjecting them to
Drug Administration, and others. The Laboratory spectrochemical analysis in a study program that is
mainly serves the Freer Gallery of Art, but consulting being jointly undertaken with the Corning Museum of
services are supplied in a limited way to other muse- Glass.
ums and institutions and occasionally even to private METALs: Among ancient cultural materials, metal ob-
individuals. jects have been the most thoroughly studied in the
The amount of routine work undertaken in the aboratory, yet many questions remain to be settled.
Freer Laboratory is small. It consists mostly of (1) exam- For example, it is not clear whether or not there
ination of objects being considered for purchase, (2) existed in China a Copper Age prior to the Bronze
examination of objects in the collection for other mem- Age. We have recently made a search of the archae-
bers of the staff, (3) examination of a small number of ological and technical literature for published analyses
objects brought to the Freer by visitors, (4) occasional of ancient Chinese bronze objects. To our surprise, we
repair or cleaning of objects in the collection. Most of have located over 400 quantitative chemical analyses
the time of the Laboratory staff is spent in research of Chinese copper and bronze objects ranging from
with the intent of adding to knowledge of the mate- Shang to Han. We hope that the summary of the find-
rials used in early Far Eastern cultures and publica- ings we are now preparing will serve as a guide in any
tion from time to time of the findings made. It is future analytical work and will suggest paths along
planned eventually to bring out a series of fascicles to which future investigations should proceed.
report technical studies on certain classes of objects in At the Freer Laboratory, we have recently completed,
the Freer collection such as: bronzes, jades, lacquer, with the help of the U. S. Geological Survey, a series
and so on. Some of the problems currently being of semi-quantitative spectrochemical analyses on a
worked on are as follows: number of ancient Persian and Byzantine silver vessels.
Jave: The Freer has over 800 jade objects. Most of These vessels come from the Freer and other collections
these are “tomb jades” which date from the Shang and are regarded by scholars as authentic. A report on
to Han dynasties. Probably over ninety-five percent of the analytical findings is in process of publication.
these “jade” pieces are of the mineral nephriie, but This research was prompted by numerous inquiries
since they range in color from translucent white from colleagues for more criteria for judging the au-
through dull green, yellow, brown, and red to coal thenticity of ancient silver objects. The spectrochemical
33

data answer certain questions but also raise some new ica. Pigments and dyes offer no end of interesting prob-
ones. lems to the specialist in archaeological identifications.
MINERAL ALTERATION PRODUCTS OF ANCIENT METAL These are but a few examples of the many kinds of
Osyjyects: We have been interested for years in the problems one meets in a museum laboratory. Many
corrosion products that form on ancient metal objects, others that relate to other classes of materials such as
especially those that were long buried in the ground. glass, inlays, lacquer, paint media, writing materials,
These corrosion products are often identical with, or and fabrics could be cited. The main job ahead in the
similar to, the minerals and ores from which the metals technical study of cultural remains is the collection of
were originally derived. Bronze and copper objects analytical data on a wi-le variety of classes of materials,
produce the most interesting of these alteration prod- so that it will provide suitable reference material.
ucts. Some of them, like malachite and cuprite, are When this is done, data that now exist for isolated ob-
common and familiar, but others are rare minerals. jects will become significant and fall into their proper
One blue-green corrosion product which was observed place.
on a number of Egyptian bronzes was recently identi- No one can be a specialist in all the modern tech-
fied in our Laboratory as a new mineral species. It is a niques required to make analyses and identifications.
double carbonate of copper and sodium and was given It 1s necessary to enlist the aid of outside experts and
the name, “‘chalconatronite”’. Some of the mineral al.- the facilities of other institutions. This enlistment
teration products produce the patinas and color effects of the help of experts and the crossing of related disci-
on bronze which are so much admired by collectors; plines offers many problems. Too often’ requests for
other corrosion products are disfiguring and ugly and aid have to be asked or given on a personal favor basis.
cause, eventually, the total destruction of the object. Such interchange of services is administratively troub-
We are now making a systematic collection of data on lesome. It is difficult for university and museum
some forty of these metal alteration products and plan investigators to get funds to pay experts and consul-
to publish a special monograph. The character and tants. It is occasionally possible to repay a collaborator
composition of alteration products on metals often tell by inviting him to coauthor a published report on the
us something about the past history of an object and joint findings, but this is no regular solution to the ex-
may even reflect its place of origin. pert consultant problem.
PIGMENTS AND PAINT: The pigments and dyes used in ‘The number of persons in this country who are pro-
paint and for other decorative purposes on ancient fessionally engaged in, or are contributing regularly to,
objects give evidence of artistic and cultural levels and scientific identifications of archaeological materials
technological achievement and sometimes even supply number, perhaps, less than a half-dozen. The total ef-
evidence of early trade over great distances. At the fort is feeble. In several foreign countries, notably in-
Freer, we have collected a large number of known England, Belgium, Italy, and Yugoslavia, laboratories
pigment specimens, including natural earth and min- with sizable scientific staffs are maintained in museums
eral pigments, natural and synthetic dyes, and ancient that are supported by public moneys. Government
and modern artificial inorganic pigments. This col- supported museum laboratories have been authorized
lection is much used for comparison purposes in the recently in Canada to be located in Toronto and Ot-
identification procedures for pigments which employ tawa. Nothing comparable to a national laboratory
microscopic, microchemical, spectrochemical, and x- for research in museum conservation or identification
ray diffraction methods. There are a number of inter- roblems exists in the United States. It has been felt
esting problems in the field of ancient pigments, for y many that there should be established in this coun-
example, the origin of the blue pigment called “‘smalt” try a national museum laboratory and that it should be
which is engaging our attention just now. This strange located in the city of Washington which is steadily
igment, derived from cobalt-colored glass, is claimed growing in importance as a museum and cultural
by several writers on the history of pigments to be a center. In 1955, a committee of three, representing
sixteenth century European discovery. We have iden- the International Institute for the Conservation of
tified smalt, however, on several Far Eastern objects Museum Objects, drafted “A Proposal Relating to a
that date several centuries earlier than the sixteenth National Laboratory for the Conservation of Cultu-
century. Smalt may have been used in China as early ral Resources in the United States.” This proposal
as the first millennium B. C. We are also attempting with signatures of the Directors of some 40 American
to establish the nature and origin of a natural pigment art museums was transmitted to the Secretary of
called ‘Maya blue’. This blue is frequently found on the Smithsonian Institution. No action has yet been
wall painting and painted pottery from Central Amer- taken.
34

BOTANY
Volney H. Jones
Prior to about 1930, archaeological concern was chiefly versity of Michigan, which has been in operation since
with problems of typological and chronological rela- that time. Although the Laboratory has been recog-
tionships of cultural entities and with schemes for or- nized formally by the Board of Regents of the Univer-
dering these. Plant materials, due to their perishability sity, it has never been assigned space, budget, or staff
and intermittent occurrence, had little place in such in its own name. Its collections and activities have
formulations and rarely were saved. Even when they been housed in the Division of Ethnology and, in ac-
were preserved conscientiously, it was generally diffi- tuality, the “Laboratory” has been simply a research
cult to induce botanists to examine them and to report program of the curator of that division, carried on as
on them in terms meaningful to the archaeologist. time from his curatorial and teaching duties has per-
Consequently, more often than not, these things suc- mitted. Funds for its operation have come from those
cumbed to what has been aptly called “museum ero- assigned to the Division, except for occasional grants-
sion”’. It is quite apparent that prior to, and during, the in-aid. Although the National Research Council served
early decades of this century, there was no high degree as midwife in bringing the Laboratory into being and
of cooperation between archaeologists and plant scien- encouraged its early steps, it has exercised no supervi-
tists and that plants recovered from sites produced lit- sion over it and has furnished financial support only
tle of value to either archaeology or botany. to the extent of a small grant to aid in the collection of
Around 1930, there came about almost concurrently, comparative materials.
the striking developments of dendrochronology and Perhaps some explanation is needed as to how it has
the discovery of demonstrably valid early man sites. come about that curators of ethnology have been en-
The archaeologists were startled into saving just about gaged in the provision of botanical services. Dr. Gil-
everything which might be of any conceivable value or more received his doctorate in botany at the University
interest, including plant materials. At about this time, of Nebraska, presenting as his dissertation a study of
a laboratory was created for the purpose of provid- the ethnobotany of the Indians of the Missouri River
ing a place where such plant materials could be country. This led to a continuing interest in Indians,
deposited, where they and the associated data would his forsaking the field of conventional botany, and to
be cherished, and where an attempt would be made to his self-education in anthropology. He held curator-
identify them and explain their cultural meaning. I ships in several museums, coming to Michigan in 1929.
feel that a rather full recounting of the history, oper- My own experience parallels that of Dr. Gilmore in
ation, experiences, and shortcomings of that laboratory some respects. Following undergraduate study in horti-
will have some value in illuminating a number of culture, I received a Master’s Degree in biology at the
topics discussed at this Conference on Archaeological University of New Mexico, preparing a dissertation on
Identifications. Perhaps in addition, such a discourse the ethnobotany of Isleta Pueblo. In the fall of 1931, I
may be instructive to others who are engaged in identi- joined Dr. Gilmore as a research assistant, pursuing
fication services, to those contemplating entering that studies in anthropology and botany. With the impair-
field, and to archaeologists who have occasion to solicit ment of his health, I assumed most of his duties trom
such services. 1936 on and succeeded him following his death in
On September 17, 1930, Dr. Carl E. Guthe, as 1940.
Chairman of the Committee on State Archaeological It may seem incredible today that so unrestricted an
Surveys, Division of Anthropology and Psychology, invitation would have been issued by the Committee
National Research Council, issued Circular No. 6. The or that any one individual would essay to identify any
circular bearing the title ‘Identification of Botanical archaeological plant specimen whatever its botanical
Material from Excavations”, was distributed to the nature or its geographical origin. This becomes more
mailing list of the Committee, comprising most archae- intelligible, perhaps, when the general lack of services
ologists then working upon the area of the United and failure to save materials are recalled. The wide-
States. The full text of the circular follows: open solicitation of 1930 has never been rescinded or
modified officially and through the years has bound us
The Committee on State Archaeological Surveys has ar- to a philosophy of service to any and all archaeologists
ranged with the Museum of Anthropology at the University who choose to avail themselves of our facilities.
of Michigan for the establishment of a clearing house and That a need existed for the services proffered has
identification center for botanical specimens discovered in been amply demonstrated, for the invitation met with
the course of archaeological excavations. This service has immediate and continuing response. Materials derived
been made possible through the cooperation of Dr. Melvin
R. Gilmore, a specialist in ethno-botany, who is curator of from approximately 350 sites have been received from
the Division of Ethnology. 70 institutions around the United States and a few in
If you have any such s ecimens, please send them, to- Canada and Mexico. Although the Laboratory was
gether with the necessary data, to Dr. Gilmore, who will be conceived specifically as an aid to archaeology, requests
glad to identify them as completely as possible for you. We from ethnologists have not been rejected. Their ma-
hope that if there are duplicate specimens, Dr. Gilmore may terials are from the same cultural continua as the
be permitted to keep one or more of them for his files. archaeological specimens and present similar identifi-
cation problems. In our collections, they also offer
Thus was born the unit since known as the Ethno- valuable specimens against which to compare archae-
botanical Laboratory, Museum of Anthropology, Uni- ological artifacts.
35

In the nature of a box score, we can state that to gions which we have tried to embrace are vast and
date there have been received 390 consignments, total- present too great a diversity of floras and problems to
ling about 4700 lots, and numbering many thousand permit very refined coverage.
individual specimens. Reports have been issued on 256 We have confined our attention to economic plants
consignments involving some 2990 lots. This leaves an and those in cultural association and have not at-
unreported residue of 134 consignments and about tempted to deal with geochronological and clima-
1710 lots. It is apparent that we have by no means tological indicators such as tree rings, pollen, and
kept pace with incoming materials. The lag is serious peat, because the techniques involved are highly spe-
but hardly as grave as it might appear at first glance. cialized. We have also abstained generally from identi-
In many instances, the intent was simply to place the fication of pressed herbarium specimens, as these are
things in repository, there being no immediate demand subject to the usual botanical methods and can be
for report. Site reports, to which many of the materials handled better by those specializing in the areas and
apply» often have lagged and in some cases probably plant groups represented. A most salutary develop-
will never be issued. We have seldom failed to meet ment in recent years has been the interest of a number
the publication deadlines of the submitting archaeol- of botanists in the history and genetics of various na-
ogists. As considerable progress has been made in iden- tive crop plants. We have tended to retract from the
tification of the unreported backlog, it offers a source areas of their specialization and have been glad to
of reference material. Nevertheless, there is a need to make our collections and files available to several
concentrate on the study and report of these materials of these individuals. A “general ethnobotanist” today
so that the data involved may be made available. begins to feel a bit like a horse-and-buggy general prac-
Approximately 90% of the materials submitted to us titioner in an age of clinical specialists.
for report has been allowed to remain in our cabinets Our location in a large university has been advanta-
as indefinite loans or as gifts. These have been pre- geous in the large and diversified resources which it
served carefully with tight association of all of the data affords. We have had frequent occasion to use the col-
which accompanied them. Whatever the extent or lections of the University Herbarium and to call on its
value of our identifications and interpretations, I feel staff and that of the Department of Botany for aid on
that our chief service has been in acting as a repository specimens falling within their particular specialties.
for these items. In the incoming pant debris, there turns up a sur-
The original operating capital of the Laboratory prising amount of inclusions and oddities which lead
consisted of Dr. Gilmore’s collections, his large per- us to the doors of colleagues in zoology, paleontology,
sonal library, and his extensive notes, files, and indexes mineralogy, and diverse other fields. As the literature
centered around etpnopotany. These were left to the impinging on ethnobotany is widely dispersed through
Laboratory, where they have been maintained and sup- ublications in botany, agriculture, archaeology, folk.
lemented. Especially valuable is the compact ethno- ore, ethnology, pharmacology, exploration, and nutri-
botanical library on the shelves near the work area tion, to name only a few, we have need of frequent
and the card indexes consisting of some 25,000 or utilization of various divisional libraries. In spite of
more data entries. Notable among things collected by the diverse local sources of aid and the referring
Dr. Gilmore are series from the Prairie and Eastern of some specimens to other institutions, there remains
Woodlands including crop plants, prepared foodstuffs, a recalcitrant residue which seems to defy identifica-
lant technology, and general economic plants. We tion and which, for the present, at least, must remain
have built up analogous series from the Great Lakes anonymous.
region and Southwest. Such products obtained from An “Ethnobotanical Laboratory Report” is issued
living groups of Indians and prepared in traditonal on each consignment when the processing is completed.
manner are particularly valuable for our purposes, as The report is typed in duplicate, the original copy be-
are crop plants representing aboriginal types. Divi- ing sent to the submittor and the carbon copy filed in
dends have accrued through operation, for each ar- the Laboratory along with all data and correspondence
chaeological specimen which we identify becomes in concerning the consignment. The reports have been
turn an item of data in the files and a reference against normally an itemization of the lots, treating each from
which future unknowns can be compared. the points of view of identity, comparative data, inter-
Although no geographical limitation was expressed pretation, and pertinent literature references. A sum-
in the original invitation, the area of the United States marization of particularly significant plants and topics
was implied by the maling list to which the circular and a general analysis of the plant data for the site are
was distributed. As would be anticiptaed, the regions usually appended.
best represented in specimens submitted are those The manner of use of the report has been left en-
where archaeological work has been most intensive: tirely to the discretion of the person who received it.
the Southwest (inclucing northern Mexico), the East- Sometimes he may abstract or extract data for use in the
ern Woodlands, and the Plains and Prairie. In practice, text, footnotes, or appendices of his publication, or he
there has come about a fairly effective restriction of may choose to reproduce the entire report as a chapter
our activities to these areas. This is fortunate, as be- or appendix. The results of these practices have been
yond these limits our first hand knowledge of the floras far from ideal. Sometimes misleading and inaccurate
and the adequacy of our check collections diminish rap- use of the data has resulted, maximum communication
idly. The presence in some places of local botanists and coordination with the archaeologists have not
and no doubt our conspicuous lack of success when been achieved, and the method has failed in making
attempting to work beyond these limits have been in- fullest use of our findings. A more satisfactory manner
strumental in restricting our range. But even the re- of getting our results on record has been through
36

agreement in advance that we shall prepare a chapter directly against specimens of known identity. The
or appendix for inclusion in the publication. This customary herbarium specimens mounted on sheets
method has resulted in greater integration of the plant are poorly suited to this method. They are collected
data with the archaeology and has the virtue of retain- with emphasis on taxonomically critical parts and are
ing our words and shades of meaning. Only a relatively maintained as permanent records of plant forms in
small proportion of the reports have appeared in this relation to geographic and ecological distributions.
form. Hence, they may be lacking the various portions re-
As a great many of the reports which we have pre- quired for comparison or, if these are present, the
pared have not been published at all and as most have specimens would sustain damage in removal of parts
not appeared in full, there remains a considerable res- for examination. For effective work in identification
ervoir of unpublished data. A resource of some mag- of archaeological plants, it is necessary to assemble ex-
nitude also exists in notes, indexes, field notes of staff pendable collections emphasizing economic parts pre-
members, and the collections. These sources have been pared and filed for ready comparison.
tapped in the preparation of papers by staff members Even should the botanist arrive at some determina-
in summarizing the data on particular plants or topics. tion, the placing of a Latin binomial on the specimen
Our collections and files have always been open with- avails the archaeologist little for his purposes. Of
out restriction, and their use by visiting scientists has greater concern to him is its meaning in cultural terms
not been uncommon. We have also attempted to com- within its particular context. Usually, neither the bot-
ly with the frequent requests by various investigators anist nor the archaeologist are prepared to furnish
for information and references on various ethnobotan- interpretations blending anthropological and plant
ical topics. But the well has by no means been pumped science data. In view of these considerations, it is
dry. The program of the Laboratory has always been understandable that botanists generally have been re-
conditioned by the things submitted and the deadlines luctant to work with the debris brought in by ar-
set; so we have developed no systematic research plan. chaeologists or have soon become discouraged when
I feel that the most valuable contribution which attempting to do so. At best, such things are far re-
the Laboratory can make in the future would be moved from their comfortable fields of interest, and
in the organization and publication of the data in the perplexing archaeological data give them little in-
our files. centive.
A number of serious problems confront the person In the procedure of identification of unknown speci-
who attempts the botanical identification of plant ma- mens by comparison to known materials, one needs to
terials from archaeological sites. Usually these are in have some idea of where to begin and how to restrict.
various stages of disintegration and fragmentation, and Suggestive clues may be found in the archaeological
the portions recovered are normally only those which context of the unknown, in its technological prepara-
were aboriginally useful. The items may have been tion, and in its apparent function. These may give
altered further by carving, cooking, grinding, weaving, leads to economic plants of the area. Particularly val-
or by a great variety of other working processes whi uable in this respect is ethnological data for the region,
are not helpful in identifying the plant source. Pre- for in many instances practices have continued from
pared and processed specimens of ethnological origin archaeological times to the present. The same clues
present similar problems. Such incomplete materials are useful as bases for the interpretation of the speci-
do not lend themselves readily to determination by men. These methods put a premium on comparative
means of the customary botanical manuals, keys, and - collections and documentary reference materials.
monographs, because critical diagnostic features may It has been customary, in the past, for archaeologists
be altered or lacking. Most classifications and keys of to recover and preserve from their sites whatever their
special categories such as woods, fibers, seeds, and cul- judgments indicated. On their return from the field,
tivated forms have application only to species of mod- those items which fell outside their own competence
ern commercial importance. have been submitted to specialists. When the reports
Still another difficulty is the great diversity of plants have come back, the responsibility has been on the ar-
which an individual may be called upon to handle. If chaeologist to integrate them into a coordinated pub-
one accepts consignments “‘sight unseen”, he may find lication. This approach suffices, perhaps, for small sites
himself presented with almost the entire range of the and those where the record is almost exclusively cul-
plant kingdom from fungi, algae, mosses and ferns, tural. But archaeological sites do not conform to dis-
through the various orders and families of flowering ciplinary boundaries, and the record may apply not
plants. Further, in a brief series of days, he may be only to culture but also to geology, paleontology, biol-
working with cultivated plants, wood, fibers, starch ogy, climatology, soils, mineralogy, and various other
grains, rhizomes, resins and gums, or whatever. Even fields. The proper extraction and documentation of so
assuming for the moment that willing specialists in complex a record places a heavy burden on the skill
various groups and categories exist, there is still the and conscience of the archaeologist, and certainly much
matter of breakdown. The archaeologist himself can- has been lost and will be lost in his single-handed ex-
not be expected to sort his plants for dispersal to a cavation and sending “handouts” to persons in other
multitude of specialists and to notify them in advance disciplines.
of the genera or tissues which he has on hand. It gen- Archaeologists have preempted the right to the ex-
erally falls to the lot of the receiving botanist to process cavation of sites in which there is a cultural record
and distribute the various items. and have developed techniques appropriate to this
In lieu of serviceable manuals and guides, the iden- purpose. Their techniques may or may not suffice for
tification procedure indicated is that of comparing the recovery of the non-cultural materials and data. I
37

would maintain that the other disciplines concerned demonstrated. More intensive on-the-job training has
have equal right of access to the things applying to been received by a number of students who have served
their fields. 1 would argue that, in a site where the bio- as research assistants in the Laboratory. Some of these
logical materials exceed the cultural ones, that it would students have developed a high degree of competence
be entirely justifiable for a biologist to excavate the and have expressed an interest in following ethnobot-
site and to send the artifacts as a handout to the archae- any as a career. The lack of opportunities in this line
ologists for report. In any event, it is apparent that to has resulted in their diversion into other fields.
serve the purposes and to protect the rhs of all con- All that such students can be told in good conscience
cerned, there should be the highest degree of coopera- is that no job opportunities exist under the title ‘“‘eth-
tion and communication through the period of de- nobotanist” and that it is a field of research which, if
struction of the site and the record which it contains pursued, must be concealed under the protective color-
and through the laboratory and report stages as well. ation of some conventional job title and job classifi-
There has been a growing tendency toward inter- cation. They must be advised that to obtain and hold
disciplinary team approach to large sites and areal such a position, they must be fully trained and quali-
studies. The advantages of this are obvious, not only fied for it, whatever its nature. In addition, they must
in the obtaining of a maximum amount of data but acquire their ethnobotanical competence, involving
also in the relief of the archaeologist from such mul- data of both anthropology and botany. This, they must
tiple responsibilities. Such cooperation can be expected be warned, may mean a prolongation of their graduate
to function best on a basis of full partnership of the studies. A further reminder must be offered: that even
disciplines, freedom of each to apply its methods in with such preparation, they may be at a vocational dis-
the maner it deems besf, and at least comparative free- advantage. They are not a standard product wrapped
dom in the dissemination of results. It is easy enough to to comply with the customary emphases recognized in
say what should be done ideally, but there are many structuring departments. Confucius say, “‘“When man
practical problems in working out such an approach. desire catch particular mouse, he not seek cat with two
It is rarely that an archaeologist can be sufhciently heads.”
clairvoyant to anticipate what will unfold in his site Even when one is placed, his troubles are not over,
and to know in advance what cooperation he will for he fails to fit the conventional niches. It is discon-
require. There is also the stark reality of the need of certing to administrative tidiness to find a teacher on
obtaining and budgeting funds. No doubt many com- an anthroporogical payroll giving botanical services or
promises with idealism will have to be made. one classified as a botanist delving into anthropology.
Among obstacles to cooperation in the past has been In professional circles, he is also anomolous. Being
a lack of appreciation among both archaeologists and something of an anthropologist and something of a
other disciplines of the degree of overlap and interpen- botanist, one is looked upon as not quite either. One
etration of their fields. Trends in archaeology toward goes through life feeling miscellaneous. The interdis-
the greater study of ecological relationships of cultures ciplinarian is likely to be overlooked when offices, re-
and the fuller description of cultural function have cognitions, and rewards are being passed out, as these
brought about a realization of the need for integration. nerally rotate within conventional lines. These prob-
At the same time, biologists have become increasingly ems are generated, of course, by traditional, rigid com-
cognizant of the impact of man on the distributions, partmentalism. But there are some encouraging signs
genetics, and morphology of biological forms, and of that, as the basic unity of science is being recognized,
the resource which archaeology offers in this respect. boundaries are receding. There may yet be hope for the
With the growing mutual recognition of the conver- hybrids.
gence of data, it is inevitable that there will be increas- The sponsorship of the Conference on Archaeolog-
ing fraternization. It has been demonstrated on the part ical Identifications by the National Research Council
of a number of individuals that biologists can develop and the establishment of a standing committee on this
sufficient anthropological sophistication to work intel- subject in its Division of Anthropology and Psychology
ligently and effectively with data from archaeological are encouraging developments and perhaps portentious
sources. As yet, the number is too small, and archaeol- of improving conditions. These actions represent a re-
ogists may be frustrated when attempting to enlist aid. cognition on a national level of the value and need of
Our experience has indicated that no problem exists interdisciplinary efforts which have not always been
in the proselyting of ethnobotanical students at the appreciated locally. I feel that a great deal of value
graduate level. For a number of years we have taught will come from actions of the committee in encourag-
courses in ethnobotany under the joint sponsorship of ing and aiding existing identification services and
the Departments of Anthropology and Botany. These bringing about the establishment of additional centers.
courses, in the form of seminars and supervised re- Perhaps the prestige of the Council may even aid in
search, have drawn students from botany, anthropol- making the provision of such services a respected oc-
ogy, and cography. The numbers have not been cupation which can be pursued without the necessity
large, but there has been a gratifying degree of interest of camouflage.
38

BOTANY
Hugh C. Cutler
Recent work on plant remains from archaeological cation and study of archaeological material. In making
sites has shown that we can use plant material more comparisons with other sites, everyone (the specialist
effectively than we have in the past. Pollen grains can and the archaeologist alike) is frequently handicapped
indicate changes in the flora, although consideration by the lack of complete listing of collections in the
must be given to error introduced by differential de- published papers of the institution in which the speci-
position and preservation. Remains of wild plants mens are deposited. Because of this, a great many of
may give a clue to the environment but are more ac- the valuable collections referred to in papers have
curate as an index of the kinds of plants gathered and been lost for all practical purposes.
the regions in which they were collected. Cultivated 5. Reports. In many cases, the specialist does not
plants are really artifacts in the sense that they are know how his report should be prepared. Is it to be
largely the result of man’s activities, and naturally they repared as a long and detailed paper, complete with
can tell more about ancient peoples than any other illustrations, tables, interpretation, and bibliography
group of plants. The best picture is one derived from a and be published as a separate chapter or an appendix?
study of all the piant remains and a close integration Will the publication appear promptly, or should a
of this study with the studies on other materials. Right tentative report be prepared and the final report be
now, there is a lack of materials to work with and of delayed until five or ten years later when other special-
people to do the work. Our techniques need refine- ists complete their studies or when more material is
ment, but even some of the simplest methods for the available?
study of plant materials are seldom used because there For good identification and interpretation of archae-
are so few people to do the work. The problems in- ological materials, I suggest the following:
volved in the study of cultivated and wild archaeolog-
ical plant materials differ. Wild plants were gathered 1.a. MATERIALS
locally or usually brought to the site as sterile material. These should not be selected or sorted except to
Cultivated plant materials were sometimes brought in the extent that they exclude non-vegetal remains.
as the end products (as cotton in the north), but usu- This allows the botanist to study the ratio of wild
ally the plant was introduced and grown, so that it to cultivated plant material. This does not remove
continued to change long after the original intro- rare and small fragments. Wherever possible, local
duction. names should be indicated where the local in-
The problems of the specialist are, roughly: formants can give these, and modern comparative
1. Identification to the spectes. This is often difficult specimens, prepared as pressed plants should be in-
and not always essential in the case of wild plants cluded. It is often necessa1y to see artifacts made of
where a generic name may often be all that is neces- cultivated plants (corn cobs, gourds, etc.), but the
sary. Local assistants and visitors at the site may be study of these usually requires little time, and they
able to provide local names and point out existing can be returned to the archaeologist.
plants of the same kind. Collections of plants and local
names should be submitted to the botanist wherever 1.b. DATA
possible, since herbaria rarely contain root fragments, The person who excavates the site and the people
seeds, and the many other kinds of remains which are who work on it should indicate the location of the
commonly excavated. Naming of cultivated plants may site, its approximate age, the cultural affinities, an
offer similar difficulty in some areas. For example, of estimate of the amount of mixture of these people
nine root and tuber crops commonly grown in the with people of other sites, any special features of the
Andes, only one root specimen could be found in site, and the exact location of materials within the
the herbarium of the institution with the second best site. This last is important because one of the prob-
South American plant collection in the world. Even lems is the identification of varieties, and when all
with the common name and some specimens from the the material from a single room, for example, is
surrounding plants, a botanist frequently cannot iden- mixed, this provides little information about how
tify scraps from archaeological excavations. the occupants stored and separated their plant
2. Identification to varteties, variability, and pro- materials. A period of work at the site helps the
portions of materials. This is the part that yields the botanist, but this is not always essential if good pho-
most useful information, but in order to make a reli- tographs are available and if the specialist knows
able analysis there should be abundant materials. The something about archaeological techniques and the
sample must be complete, t.e. all the fragments, good region in which the dig is conducted. Throughout
or bad, must be included in the material sent in order the preparation of the report, there should be com-
that the ratios are not skewed. This is especially im- munication between the archaeologist and the bot-
portant in the case of cultivated plants where the anist. Each one should frequently report informally
number of varieties at any time and the proportions on progress and unusual findings since in many
of each variety must be determined. It is essential in cases results must be correlated.
studying differences between sites and differing time
2. THE BOTANIST’s WORK
periods.
3. Reference collections. Each specialist usually Each specialist gradually develops certain of his
builds up his own reference collections for the identifi- own methods and techniques. In recent years, the
39

development of techniques has progressed so rapidly el to see reference collections—helps to get the work
that a serious problem is the correlation of reports done and, at the same time, makes the botanist feel
prepared by different botanists. This is rapidly being that he is an important part of the project. When
solved, but there still seems to be some confusion. the time for publication arrives, it often helps to let
Although special methods are required and skilled the specialist know if the archaeologist’s institution
be? is essential, the equipment is usually simple can help him in photographing the materials he
and not very costly. Most botanists are swamped wants to illustrate or in preparing maps, graphs, or
with work and must fit their research into a crowded charts. In many cases, the botanist likes to see his
program or do it on weekends and evenings. Assis- work published as a separate chapter or as part of
tants can be trained and utilized effectively for some the report, so that when the publication is listed in
work, but the major labor of selecting material and bibliographies his name is included. This is also a
making the final interpretation still lies with the great aid to other workers, for the discovery of a title
few specialists. with a botanist’s name, like Jones or Mangelsdorf,
gives an immediate clue to the kind of report which
3. HELP FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGIST will be found.
Most botanists are relatively ignorant about the Some financial aid will be essential if botanists are
relationships of one site to another or the changes properly to study and report on the materials now
in time within an area. If the archaeologist can on hand. This probably can be done most effectively
provide a simple summary of this information as by some combination of the following:
part of the data, he will arouse the interest of the
botanist and help the botanist prepare a much bet- 1. Supporting an ethnobotanist as a staff mem-
ter report. Frequently it helps if the archaeologist ber at one or more institutions.
will send botanical material from related sites to 2. Providing funds to relieve active ethnobota-
the botanist at the same time as the new material is nists of part of their teaching, curatorial, or
submitted, so that comparisons and even identifica- administrative duties.
tions can be made more easily. g. Providing funds for assistants.
4. Providing funds for travel to see reference
4. STIMULUS collections or to visit the sites when they are
If the archaeologist wants a quick and complete excavated.
report, he needs to provide some incentive for the 5. Providing help in publication.
specialist. Daily contact at the same institution Is a Botanical material can provide a great deal more
great help, but frequent letters and occasional visits information that it now provides. If some way is
or meetings at seminars and conferences can do al- found to encourage wholehearted and understand-
most the same thing if the specialist is at a different ing cooperation and frequent communication be-
institution. Financial aid for the botanist—so that tween archaeologists and botanists, we will see a
he can be relieved of some of his duties or so that he great improvement in the kinds of information de-
can hire assistants, purchase materials, or even trav- rived from plant materials.
40

ZOOLOGY
Barbara Lawrence
The talks yesterday made it clear that the archaeolo- terest in systematics, and if this is successful, our mu-
gist is thinking beyond identification and has a very seums will be even less likely to support the general
real interest in interpretation. This is important be- naturalist who could at least do some identification for
cause, if we talk in terms of mere identification, I think archaeologists.
we won't accomplish much. There just aren’t enough Considered in this way, the problem seems pretty
people interested in identification for identification’s hopeless. On the one hand, there is a vast mass of un-
sake to keep up with the mass of bones that are dug treated material, and on the other a vast reluctance of
up each year. Some archaeologists will always be able museum workers to treat it. No amount of lists and
to get some of their colleagues to tackle some of this paper work, no clearing houses or pep talks will mate-
work for them. But for the identifier the returns are rially change this. Identification for identification’s
small; at best it is largely hack work and as such has sake is just not interesting enough to lure a sufficient
little or no appeal for the majority of museum workers. number of people to furnish names for all the bones
Perhaps I should say right now that the reason the ar- archaeologists dig up.
chaeologist in search of identification is more or less Obviously I have been painting the blackest possible
tied to the limited number of workers in museums is picture. This is deliberate and in spite of the fact that
because adequate comparative material is hard to find I know some taxonomists who are willing to do some of
outside of museums. this identification—usually because of an interest in the
If we examine the existing situation in such institu- particular area involved. Mostly, a quick run through
tions, it is not difficult to understand the reluctance the material will sort out what is of value to their own
of the mammalogists and others to do identification, studies—to identify all the rest of each lot is mere drud-
particularly of big collections. Museum workers are gery. As we consider such bits of enthusiasm, there is
primarily systematists, and as such their studies of re- a very real danger that these few, isolated, bright spots
lationships are largely based on cranial and external will lead the archaeologist into thinking that he really
characters. Few if any of them are osteologists, which has a vast untapped reservoir of possible help if he
means they have had little or no training in postcranial only goes about finding it properly. Nothing could
identification, that is to say, in identifying the kinds of be farther from the truth. Right now there are neither
bones that archaeologists find. This can, of course, be enough people nor enough properly equipped labor-
learned, but if it is to be learned thoroughly enough to atories to produce “‘adequate and speedy extra-cultural
make the identifications accurate, it takes a lot of time, identifications” of osteological materials. Furthermore,
and an apparently authoritative but inaccurate identi- I think the chances of interesting enough competent
fication is worse than no identification at all. people to do this in the future are exceedingly slim.
Identifying bones is not as easy as it looks on the face Remember: we are considering a world-wide problem
of it. To be able to see a difference or a resemblance is not just a North American one.
only the first step. It takes a deal of experience to know So far so bad, but I don’t think this means we are at
which of these differences can be relied on as diagnostic the end of the road. I do think it means we should take
and which are merely individual variation. All of this a good, hard look at what we think we want to do. For
belongs in the field of comparative osteology, and to- purposes of a title and getting together here, we are set
day in museums, comparative osteology of recent forms up as a “committee on identifications and the cooper-
is not fashionable. As a result, the people most able to ation of specialists in related disciplines”. Preferably,
identify miscellaneous bone fragments are paleontol- I think, we should be set up as a “committee on the
ogists. Admittedly they have little interest in common, interpretation of non-artifactual materials”. Without
although, on occasion and chiefly to oblige, they will identification, there can obviously be no interpreta-
undertake a certain amount of this work. Two things tion, but by restating our purpose, we take the empha-
have come out of my talks with paleontologists about sis off mere identification as the oal of our efforts. By
the archaeologists’ needs: one is that some think it is now it seems pretty clear that what the archaeologists
good education for graduate students to do some of this really want is to know what the bones can tell them
work, and the other is that the more competent the about the environment, habits, etc., of early man at the
senior scientist the more doubtful he is about relying on particular site they care about. If this is the level of
the accuracy of the student. In other words, he is ape our concern, then we have a fascinating problem, and
to feel that he should check the identifications himself. one that is sufficiently exciting intellectually to attract
It makes no sense to consider, as has been proposed, able people. But it is primarily an archaeological prob-
that we can remedy this unpromising situation by lem, and this should be stressed. For this reason, the
educating the museum worker to be interested in ar- archaeologist has to take the initiative toward solution,
chaeologists’ bones. We mammal, bird, and reptile peo- even if he still will be dependent on specialists for their
pie have problems of our own choosing and far too help. Such an approach is the only realistic way of deal-
ittle time to tackle them. Even at best we are not a ing with the present impasse. In the first place, it states
very numerous group. Of the younger scientists who the problem for what it really is; in the second place, it
are growing up interested in zoology, many of the does away with a tendency to rely on a nonexistent
brightest move into experimental work; ecology at- corps of eager specialists; and in the third place, it
tracts quite a few more. Together with this, a very makes it possible, I hope, to get the most good out of
determined effort is being made to promote more in- the few people available. ,
41

The needs of archaeologists working in different parts have come to me for identifications, the area most in
of the world vary a great deal. Given the existing state need of help is broadly speaking the Near East, and the
of knowledge and the great variety of projects under- problems involved are those of early domestication.
taken by them each year, it seems obvious that solu- From a zoologist’s point of view, the collection of good
tions, to be realistic, have to be tailored to fit individual comparative series of skeletons from this area is ex-
cases. This can best be done if we think and plan on a tremely important. If we don’t start on this now, it
regional basis. Ideally, this would mean the availability will be too late; for this reason, it would be well worth
of specialists so familiar with the present conditions the zoologist’s while to look for supplementary grants
and associated fauna and flora of a site that they could to attach to the archaeologist’s budget to make such
make intelligent well-founded efforts to reconstruct the collecting possible. A reasonable and desirable out-
past environment and its effect on man. Very few such growth of such effort would be a laboratory for the
people exist today, not because the study of man and study of domestication. If this could be brought about,
is environment lacks interest but because nobody pays it could also in the future serve as a central place
a zoological-anthropological half-breed. They don’t get where such Old World problems as are not adequately
trained. If, as I hope I have made it clear, it’s a shortage dealt with elsewhere could at least be discussed. In this
of trained man power that’s the crux of the difficulty, way, we could make available for the Old World ar-
then the new crop which will have to be raised might chaeologist some expert help and advice without set-
just as well be educated along these lines. A person ting ourselves the impossible task of being experts on
with such an interdisciplinary background could give everywhere completely equipped with skeletons and
the archaeologist far more useful information than the environmental knowledge.
man with just a bag of bones on his desk. As a practical To summarize, then, there are at present not enough
matter, given the kind of zoological education and in- interested zoologists properly trained to make accurate
terest that obtain today, I feel sure that such a regional identifications of the vertebrate material dug up each
competence would be far easier to develop, or perhaps year. Efforts to stir up enthusiasm about identification
find, than an ability to identify, for instance, bird for identification’s sake are bound to fail. In fact, if
bones from anywhere in the world. they hadn't failed we wouldn't all be here. If we forget
If we tackle the problem on such a regional basis, about the usual appendix of Latin names and consider
we can move in small steps and utilize temporary what the archaeologist really wants, it turns out to be
grants to best advantage. For instance, in the Ohio and information about the environment, habits, etc., of
Mississippi areas, centers exists where small sums of early man. If this is his goal, the list of names for a b
money to pay for help in preliminary sorting and of bones worked out in a laboratory with no knowl-
handling of bones would make it possible for experi- edge of the site involved is pretty worthless. In other
enced workers to spend more time actually studying words, the archaeologist needs more than an identifier;
them. If we can demonstrate the value of such centers, he needs an interpreter, and this can best be achieved
we may be able to stimulate the establishment of sim- if we make our units sites or regions, not categories of
ilar centers in other areas. Even if permanent salaries materials. To deal with the problem on a regional basis
for a full time zoo-anthropologist are not available means that we can tailor our solutions to meet the en-
now, we can, at a small cost, encourage such centers to tirely different problems of particular areas of both
build skeletal collections of the local fauna. With the Old and New World; we can best utilize existing facil-
help of such collections in areas where identication ities; and we can make more efficient use of temporary
is not very difficult, the impecunious archaeologist grants in an effort to demonstrate the need for more
himself could easily learn to sort out common ani- permanent funds.
mals. After processing the bones on some such regional Finally, the scientist who is to help solve the archae-
basis, really difficult problems of identification could ologist’s problems needs first and foremost respectabil-
be passed on to the museum expert on a particular ity: to work in an interdisciplinary field too often
group, and I may say that limited material of this sort means that neither field will accept responsibility for
would be. far more sympathetically received than are the worker. He needs to be able to earn a living: if the
the usual archaeological accumulations. It would seem work is to be well done, it has to be done by experts;
also that in areas where a lot of digging is going on, a and such highly trained people must have some kind
regional specialist could save the archaeologist a lot of of a permanent status somewhere, or they will turn to
time and effort. He would be familiar with the fauna other fields. He needs opportunities to broaden his
and habitats involved, he would know who had found knowledge through increased familiarity with results
what digging where, and he would be in a position to in his own field in other parts of the world and results
discuss the kinds of information that might be avail- in related fields. He needs to be part of the archaeol-
able at various sites, in short, to advise on what to save ogist’s planning so that he can discuss projected exca-
and how to go about it. vations ahead of time. He needs the opportunity to
A lot of this applies to the New World more than become thoroughly familiar with the region and with
to the Old. In the Old World, certain areas, as Dr. the site as work progresses.
Movius has pointed out, are being well studied by To a certain extent these might be classed as intel-
very competent experts. In other areas, as pointed lectual needs. The most important of his physical needs
out by Dr. Braidwood, neither the experts nor the com- are really good comparative collections, better labor-
parative material exist. The whole problem is both too atory space than is usually available, and help with
scattered and too vast to be dealt with in the rather preliminary handling of the material to be studied. By
concentrated way outlined above. Judging from my this latter I mean preserving, cleaning, numbering,
own experience, that is to say, from requests which and preliminary sorting.
42

ZOOLOGY
Charles A. Reed
The present discussion will fall naturally into two sep- of the excavations, particularly at Jarmo, where ap-
arate but related parts. The first deals with my expe- proximately 100,000 bone fragments were sorted and
riences as a zoo-archaeologist in southwestern Asia as a some 10,000 packed for study in the United States.
member of the 1954-55 Iraq-Jarmo Expedition of the Many of the larger and more delicate pieces, often of
Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. The second particular importance from the interpretative point of
part is concerned with conclusions drawn from this view, were prepared in the ground by soaking hot car-
and other related archaeological and zoological expe- penter’s glue slowly into each and then enclosing it in
riences. a paper-maché jacket before attempting removal. For
With the inauguration by an American university of this type of work, where the bone is wet in damp
zoo-archaeological research in the Near East, several ground, shellac is worse than useless, as it merely coats
problems immediately presented themselves. One of the surface and allows the internal bone to fall to dust
the most difficult was the almost complete lack, in as it dries. If large whole skulls had been found, it
American museums, of skeletons from this part of the would have been necessary to construct plaster jackets
world, with the result that bones recovered from ex- to preserve them, a procedure generally unused by
cavations could not be identified. Actually, the best archaeologists but long standard with vertebrate pale-
collection at the time was in the British Museum (Nat- ontologists.
ural History) in London, but all of the collections of One of the greatest returns which the biologist ob-
the world could have been added together and would tains from working in the area of the culture being
still have been inadequate. In major part, this defi- excavated by the archaeologist is knowledge of the
ciency was due to lack of collecting 1n the area; in part ecology of the different animal species that are being
it was due to the unfortunate behavior of many mam- collected and excavated. The reconstruction of past
malogists, who typically collect skins and skulls but environments thus becomes possible. The biologist can
rarely complete skeletons. ut the bones from the excavation into a climatic and
We had hoped to get good skeletal series, of all ages iotic environment that the laboratory worker at home,
and both sexes, for all the mammals likely to be found no matter how accurate his identification, could never
in association with past human cultures, but such opti- equal. It is impossible to overstress the major conclu-
mism proved ill-founded due to the great scarcity of sion of the above. Only a biologist who has struggled
the larger types. Smaller mammals, such as rats and with bones from sites he has never known and has also
mice, can easily be trapped, and those of intermediate had the experience of working with archaeologists for
size, such as hares, hedgehogs, and foxes, can usually several months at a major site is in a position to ap-
be purchased cheaply. But no offer of financial rewards preciate the vast intellectual difference between the
can produce large numbers of extremely scarce ani- contrasting methods.
mals, such as roe deer, wild sheep, wild goat, bear, and One of the most important values that biologist and
leopard. Some animals, prevalent in ancient times, are archaeologist acquire together is the evolving of mu-
now either wholly extinct or missing from the area tually understandable ideas, through much talk at
today; such are the wild cattle (urus), red deer, fallow random moments, each about his own interests and
deer, and lion. problems. They walk together to and from the excava-
It was our experience that hiring hunters by the day tion, they rub elbows at crowded dining table and in
or week was most unprofitable. A definite “want list”, narrow test-pit, they sit together over a drink after a
with an agreed price for each kind of animal, brings hard day, they suffer together the winds and lashing
more immediate results and is more satisfactory to the storms, the heat and insects, and the bookkeeping and
foreign collector. In addition, we gathered our speci- stalled cars of camp life. Certainly the zoologist, I can
mens where we could, picking up dead animals from say from personal experience, learns much of the ar-
the road and a dead donkey from a village dump-heap; chaeologist’s problems and techniques and shares in
domestic sheep and goats were bought for the camp his joys and sorrows and sudden realizations of discov-
kitchen, butchered without injury to the bones, and ery. The archaeologist in turn learns that biological
cooked and eaten with the salvage of the skeletons as problems are not as simple as he had imagined and
the major consideration. that the environmental answers he is seeking are not
Using all possible means of collecting and with con- acquired merely by the taking of botanist and zoologist
siderable financial outlay, we gathered a group of mam- into the field with him.
malian skeletons which, with those earlier provided My own attitude toward the general problem of the
by Dr. Henry Field from the same region, is undoubt- origins of domestication, on first going into the field,
edly the most complete from northeastern Iraq, the was quite the contrary of those, whatever their calling,
focal area of the archaeological investigations. This who had preceded me in the contemplation of this (to
collection, now at the Chicago Natural History Muse- me) difficult subject. Whereas most of my predecessors
um, does not represent the complete collection we had seemingly considered that any bone, which could
hope to have some day, after several more expeditions, be identified as goat, sheep, ox, or pig, represented a
but it is a nucleus (and a usable nucleus) not to be specimen from a domestic animal, particularly if dug
duplicated elsewhere in the world. from a horizon which should have domestic animals,
y second major function as zoo-archaeologist on my own attitude was the opposite: I would demand
this expedition was the care of the bone coming out proof that the bone was not from a wild animal before
43

I would accept it as domestic. Such a policy called for a certainly let him dig. Let him discover artifacts and
certain degree of agonizing re-appraisal on the part of learn about artifacts; let him dig his own bone; let
my particular archaeologist, who had already pub- him excavate his own ideas. Let him understand an-
lished definite statements on the domestic status of thropological problems, and in turn let him present
these animals at Jarmo. At present, in contrast to these his to the anthropologist.
former claims (now finding their way into reviews and The fascinating problems are not the purely bio-
textbooks) we can say only that the goat certainly and logical or anthropological ones but are the ecolog-
the dog possibly were domesticated at Jarmo. The in- ical relationships between changing environments and
tellectual policy of demanding proof of domestication evolving cultures. And as cultures evolve, environ-
before proceeding with theories of cultural evolution ments must change. Once the biologist has caught this
based upon herding of animals, assured food supply, point of view, he is doomed to help the anthropologist
and supplies of wool and hides is certainly a more because none of the trivia he was doing before could
healthy one than is the opposite, which has led to con- possibly have the intellectual delight of these new, in-
clusions about the use of animals in the Halaf and terdisciplinary problems.
Ubaid cultures, for instance, with never a shred or Since the environmental conclusions of the natural
shard of evidence that any domestic animals were scientists are going to be valuable in the interpretation
present. of cultural changes, it is primarily the anthropologists
I believe that the crux of the whole matter of the who are interested in acquiring the services of the nat-
cooperative work of biologists, geomorphologists, and ural scientists. It is not the latter who have organized
other natural scientists with the excavating archaeol- excavations to gather late Quaternary environmental
ogist is that the latter needs these people as collectors data! The fact that this present meeting was organized
and interpreters of the data which are beyond the by archaeologists and not by soil scientists or zoologists
scope of the training which could possibly be expected or botanists or geomorphologists proves immediately
of any anthropologist. Primarily, such interpretation that the values desired (and presumably not generally
is environmental in nature, with major emphasis on hitherto forthcoming) are desired by anthropology.
the reconstruction of the past climates, floras, and More credit to anthropology! But at the same time, this
faunas. Correspondingly, full interpretation of the en- factor puts the immediate financial burden on the
vironment in a way most useful to anthropology can anthropological budget.
be done by natural] scientists who are interested in, Some of you here have already expressed yourselves
and understanding of, the anthropological values to definitely: struggling with the annual problem of ac-
be derived. quiring your present minimum budget, you are ap-
It is most exasperating to the anthropologist to dis- palled at the prospect of having to plan substantial ad-
cover that most of the natural scientists he contacts, ditions. However, both anthropology and the budgets
and perhaps the zoologists in particular, are completely of anthropology departments have ‘had a phenomenal
indifferent to ecologic and distributional problems of growth over the last quarter century, showing that the
sub-Recent faunas, even if the data contribute to under- subject and its increasing ramifications have proved
standings of shifts in range, extinction over certain themselves to university and museum administrations.
areas, etc. At first, the anthropologist may think he It is not unexpected, then, that we say, since further
hasn’t found the right kind of zoologist and so discards ramifications are being found necessary to add to an-
physiologists, experimental embryologists, histologists, thropological field work, further budgetary expansions
and their ilk, only to find eventually that the compar- are also necessary. In a nation with an expanding pop-
ative anatomists, ecologists, and mammalogists, too, ulation, an expanding economy, and a rising per capita
involved with technicalities of their own choosing, are income, perhaps the matter of increased field budgets,
stubbornly resistant to the glamorous appeal of several necessary to include the natural scientists, will not be
cubic yards of dusty bones dumped on their laboratory as difficult as imagined.
table by the returning archaeologist. (Of course, if the Once the natural scientists have been members of
archaeologist will work only in Pleistocene horizons such an archaeological expedition and have seen the
and particularly if he can produce associations with value of the problems presented, perhaps they can get
some hominid but pre-Homo remains, he will find the their own grants for subsequent cooperative work or
vertebrate paleontologists eager to assist him. This tech- perhaps their own departments will finance their new
nique for acquiring aid is not open, as yet, to New research interests.
World archaeologists.) However, as I see the situation at present, the intel-
There is a simple solution. Take the zoologist to the lectual and financial pioneering is going to have to be
site and let him work with the archaeologists. Let him done by the anthropologists, since they are the ones
be a man of varied background, the wider the better; alert to the needs of such cooperative research. Before
let him not be so young that he has not had training long we can expect that, even as anthropology in this
and experience, nor yet so old that he has lost his abil- century has had its swift growth in American museums
ity to hunt and dig. Yes, dig. That is the fly-paper that and universities, the new science of ‘environmental
will surely catch him forever. Why are there the ab- archaeology” or ‘‘Quaternary ecology”’ will find its nat-
surdly romantic Sunday-supplement articles on archae- ural place in the intellectual life of the nation, with
ologists in wonderfully strange places, why are there departments of study firmly situated in each of our
pot-hunters, why are there archaeologists at all? Yes, large universities.

ZOOLOGY
Paul W. Parmalee
The archaeologist has long been faced with the prob- with the differences in structure within any given spe-
lem of obtaining identifications of materials found cies, between male and female, and between adult and
during excavation. In regard to faunal material, the immature. Proficiency at identification comes with the
problem has become even more acute in recent years collection, preparation, handling, and careful study of
because the archaeologist, realizing the importance of specimens. Therefore, in most instances, the archaeol-
data derived from non-cultural objects as well as arti- ogist should not be expected to identify the various
facts, is now prone to save all materials. Each category, non-cultural, and in some cases even cultural, materials
e.g. rocks and minerals, metal, plants, bone, presents a that he uncovers. An amateur attempt at identification
unique problem, and there is no single “blanket” is worse than no identification at all because of the
answer or solution, even in the case of a single category. resulting errors which would certainly lead to misin-
Thus far, the procedure has been to distribute the terpretation. The responsibility for correct determina-
various materials to specialists who, sooner or later and tions should be that of the specialist, one who is trained
in varying degrees of completeness, assign names. Often and experienced in that type of work.
the specialist is engrossed in his own research problems With reference to North America, and more specif-
and undertakes this type of work as a personal favor to ically to a state or region such as Illinois and the mid-
the archaeologist, as a scientific duty, or possibly be- west, one answer to the problem is that of having one
cause he has a personal interest in the problem. In individual, preferably someone trained in ecology and
the case of faunal remains, the eventual or final] report vertebrate zoology, handle all remains from sites ex-
usually consists of a list of identified species with little cavated within the local area with which he is familiar.
else added in the form of interpretation. Although The work of building a reference skeletal collection
such lists are of interest and of value, they by no means for a more local area (such as a state or group of states
present a good insight into the environmental or ecol- that are included in the same general ecological as-
ogical picture of the site or area and should not be, as sociation) would not be such an impossible task. A
such, the end product of this phase of the over-all zoologist working in a limited region would probably
problem. have an understanding and knowledge of its present
After a certain period of time, most zoologists be- fauna and habitat types and be familiar with the liter-
come interested and specialize in a certain group of ature that deals with his region. Such a background of
animals or phase of zoology, and this specialization training and an understanding of a given area would
often has very narrow limits. It often becomes neces- better enable the zoologist to interpret the data on an
sary for the archaeologist to send the bird bones to the ecological and environmental basis as well as simply
ornithologist, mammal bones to the mammalogist, supplying a list of identifications.
and seldom are these specialists aware of the others’ How can we interest the specialist in this type of
findings. The bone material is often recovered in areas work? Why should a zoologist undertake the difficult
with which the specialist is unfamiliar, and he is there- and time-consuming task of identifying bone remains
fore able to add little other than names to the remains. form archaeological sites? First, whether the specialist
Because there are but relatively few institutions main- be from a large institution that maintains a compara-
taining large reference skeletal collections and even tive collection world-wide in scope or, in contrast,
fewer specialists who are trained or have experience in from a state or local region, he normally would be
comparative osteological work, the archaeologist must interested in examining faunal material in hopes of
wait for long periods of time to receive even the usual finding the remains of now extinct, rare, or unusual
list of identifications, much less an interpretation of species. He is interested in finding evidence that will
the data. extend the known range of a species or prove the for-
How can we arrive at a satisfactory answer to this mer existence of an animal in a region from which it
problem both for the specialist and for the archaeol- has never been reported.
ogist? It has been proposed that the archaeologist This information, 1n itself, has little special mean-
attempt to build reference collections of the fauna ing to the archaeologist, but often such data provide a
and/or flora that exists within the general vicinity of more complete ecological interpretation of the site.
his site, thereby enabling him to identify the remains For example, remains of the Rice Rat (Oryzomys pa-
of the more common species at least; the remaining lustris), a rodent found now only in southern Illinois
unique or rare items could then be sent to the spe- in association with marshland and wet prairie habitat,
cialist. This would reduce the usual long period of has been found as far north as Peoria County. This
waiting for determinations. However, this possibility represents an extension of more than 200 miles in its
has very strict limitations, and it is probably unfair, as presently known range in IIlinois and serves as an indi-
well as being unwise, to ask the archaeologist to at- cator of the past prehistoric ecology of the area. These
tempt to master a field (or several fields) of science so unusual and unique records provide data that are
different from his own training. Such a plan might be often well worth publishing, but often even more sig-
feasible if the archaeologist encounters remains of nificant is the complete analysis and interpretation of
only a very few species of animals at his site, but this all the animal remains from a site, even if they are
is seldom the case. common species presently found in the vicinity of the
The osteologist or zoologist who has undertaken site. Publication of a complete faunal analysis report,
comparative work of this type must become familiar either in conjunction with the archaeologist’s report
45

or in zoological journals, provides a worth-while scien- relation to the size of the total universe within the site
tific contribution by the zoologist and a justification itself. The presence or absence of certain species from
for the work involved. a site means little if the sample from which the faunal
As Pointed out before, a list only of species repre- material was obtained is small. But if the entire site
sented from a sample of faunal material does not pro- (or a relatively large portion of it) has been excavated,
vide ecological, environmental, and other data that it is possible to draw more valid conclusions regarding
both the archaeologist and zoologist could put to best the past faunal association and the significance of the
use. For example, a total of 32 eagle bones were iden- animal remains.
tified from a large sample of midden material recently Another point to consider is the minimum number
excavated at the Cahokia Site, Madison Co., Illinois. of individuals of a given species represented as well as
Of this total, 27 were carpometacarpals, the wing bone the total number of bones of that species. Generally, in
that supports the large primary (flight) feathers. Al- a large sample, one is in proportion to the other; but
though it is not final proof, such evidence points to the should a complete burial be uncovered, it would ap-
pear in the table of identified bones that the species is
fact that the Indians utilized the eagle for its plumage, well represented at the site when actually all the bones
the wing tips probably being used for decoration, cere- are from a single individual. The archaeologist should
mony, etc. A simple listing of 32 eagle bones would save all bones encountered, however small and/or frag-
only show the presence of eagle, and the real signifi- mentary, and allow the specialist to determine whi
cance of these remains would be lost. can be identified and which are worthless. An effort
The archaeologist can aid the zoologist in providing should be made to remove the faunal material with as
specific information concerning the site and using cer- much care as possible, keeping the pieces of acciden-
tain field techniques that will better aid the latter in tally broken bones together, and providing special care
interpreting his findings. It is important that the zool- or protection for more delicate remains such as those
ogist know the size of the sample he is working with in of fish, small birds, and mammals.

ZOOLOGY
William H. Burt
The proper identification and evaluation of vertebrate ing the material from the dig, treat it with a binding
bone material depends in large part on the complete- material if it is fragile, and pack it in a manner that
ness of the material and its condition when received by will prevent breakage in shipment. Packing should be
the specialist who is to do the determinations. There done with the same care that one would use in prepar-
are certain skull, leg, and foot elements in mammals ing good chinaware for shipment. I suggest that paper
that are fairly easy to identify, if not too badly frac. bags be discarded and that bones be packed in small
tured. Some of the elements may be identified to the cardboard boxes with insulating material to cushion
species level, others to the genus or family. The person them one from the other. If the archaeologist is not
making the determinations should not go beyond the sufficiently familiar with bone material to know which
level justified by the material at hand. Further, if the ones are identifiable and which ones are not, it is well
determination is questionable, he should so indicate. for him to send everything to the specialist and let him
Assuming that he is familiar with the present day fauna discard the indeterminate fragments, unless there is a
of the area involved, he is in a position to evaluate the chance that fragments might be used for dating pur-
segment furnished by the archaeologist and should do poses. I do not believe it necessary to save all materials
so. Some species are restricted to rather definite habitat after they have been identified. However, some of the
conditions; others are not. A knowledge of this makes best material of each kind of animal identified should
interpretation more nearly accurate and more valuable be preserved as documentary evidence. One good jaw
to one who is attempting to reconstruct past conditions. with teeth, e.g. of deer, will serve the purpose quite as
The archaeologist can assist in making possible better well as will a hundred or more. Quantitative evidence
determinations if he will exercise more care in remov- might better be preserved in a letter file.
47

GEOLOGY
Sheldon Judson
Geological material from archaeological sites includes extinct forms. The problems of identification in this
the remains of plants and animals and inorganic sub- essentially undeveloped area are many. They have been
stances in the form of rock and mineral matter. The discussed by other speakers and include (1) the diff-
problems revolving around the identification of this culties of identification, (2) the great bulk of material
material can be considered in two general ways: that is usually involved, (3) the dearth of qualified, in-
1. the specific identification of the stone and or- terested specialists, and (4) the lack of adequate refer-
ganic material; ence collections.
2. the implications that such identifications have I would say, however, that although the average
for both the archaeologist and the earth scientist. paleontologist is of no immediate help to the archae-
SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF MATERIAL: here we are ologist, he may nevertheless be of potential assistance.
involved with such familiar questions as ‘“What is this By this I mean that if he can be interested in the pro
projectile point made of?”, “Is this Bison taylort?”, or lem, he has the general training and techniques which
“These artifacts are buried in wind-blown sand, aren’t can be turned to the problems of the Pleistocene. It is
they?”’. well to remember this, for the archaeologist may pos-
Stone and mineral material: we usually deal here sibly find a sympathetic audience among some paleon-
with material in the form of artifacts. Most of this is tologists.
fairly easy to identify. In fact, the archaeologists do not Other geological material: in addition to inorganic
seem too upset about the situation in this area of iden- artifact material and organically derived remains, the
tification. And this is probably because most archaeol- archaeologist may also be involved with additional
ogists are fairly good geologists. They have been ex- geological materials. For instance, the temper of the
osed, either formally in the class room or informally pottery may be of interest. Its identification may take
in the field, to rock and mineral identification. Most special techniques and one or more specialties.
can tell the difference between, for instance, chert and Soil zones are found related to some occupation lev-
obsidian, or sandstone and granite. This is an area in els. Their identification and significance is usually for
which the “‘do-it-yourself’’ procedure yields fairly good the specialist—the geologist or the soil scientist.
results. I would judge that in any given site the ar- The nature of unweathered material entombing cul-
chaeologist can identify between 50 to go per cent of tural material can be important. For instance, is the
the rock and mineral types which he finds. And this material water-laid or wind-derived? Here again, the ar-
means that he is usually able to identify the great bulk chaeologist will probably want to turn to the specialist,
of the material found, perhaps g5 per cent of the total in this case the geologist.
sample. IMPLICATIONS OF IDENTIFICATION: from the preceding
Now in a field alien to our own, each of us, including I conclude that identification of geological material is
the archaeologist, likes to have assurance that he is on in neither good nor bad straits. In general I would say,
the right track. And in this case, the archaeologist usu- however, that better identification would be forthcom-
ally has the assistance of a local or itinerant geologist ing if the archaeologist had available as many different
for the asking. This geologist can confirm the original specialists as he needed. Let us assume this nirvana.
identifications and perhaps help with some of the We then come to the conclusion that the archaeologist
really difficult types. wants as much information out of the identifications as
I am saying that I don’t think there is any real prob- he can get. This is quite natural and as it should be.
lem in identifying the bulk of the stone and mineral But now I submit that the archaeologist wants more
matter. On the other hand, I will certainly admit that than mere identification. He wants to draw deductions
there are types which will give trouble, and give from the data supplied by identification. He wants to
trouble not only to the archaeologist but also to the so- know where the obsidian came from, whether Bison
called specialist. In such cases, identification may de- taylort actually has any climatic significance, or wheth-
mand specialized techniques, most usually thin-section er the entombing sediments mean a dry climate or
examination. This means that the archaeologist must something else. Does the change from an oyster diet to
furnish a specimen which he will allow to be thin-sec- turtle diet mean a change in environment or just a pas-
tioned. And, of course, he will have to find a geologist sing fancy of the Indian? I further submit that there is
or mineralogist to do the job. a great danger in asking for identification and identi-
Paleontological material: in dealing with material of fication only. Why? Because mere identification of
organic origin, we are in much more serious straits material objects offers very little to the specialist. It
than we are with stone and mineral material. We offers less if the information used is buried in a table
should emphasize that the paleontologists connected and the identity of the specialist is lost in a footnote or
with most geological departments and organizations in an acknowledgement.
are of little immediate help to the archaeologist. This I firmly believe that the archaeologist benefits most
is simply because these paleontologists are concerned when he enlists the cooperation of the specialist on a
with material far older than that found in archaeolog- share-and-share-alike basis—a share in the rewards of
ical sites. Their competences are not with the Pleisto- rofessional achievement, a share in the responsibil-
cene material but with that of the pre-Pleistocene. Here ities of scientific investigation. I believe that most spe-
is a twilight area between the biologist dealing with cialists want to expand their report beyond simple (or
living things and the paleontologist dealing with long even difficult) identification problems and produce a
48

professional report which is a definite contribution to with environment and chronology over a large area.
the archaeological study and/or a contribution to his This is a subject which Professor Wright discusses in
own special field of interest. more detail. But whether we are concerned with the
Now let’s take an example or two based on material special problems of identification or the more general
which might be produced by an average dig. Chert and studies of time and environment, the archaeologist and
flint are common artifactual materials. Let’s assume geologist must collaborate. This means that the geol-
that most of our artifacts in a particular excavation are ogist must be available. And there has been some
of these materials. Let’s further assume that the ar- moaning on the part of the archaeologist that the
chaeologist decides he needs the help of a geologist to geologist isn’t available. Let’s examine this more
classify the material. This is a simple problem of iden- closely.
tification. What are the possibilities of joint profes- The particular breed of geologist most likely to be
sional profit between geologist and archaeologist? interested in the time span which concerns the ar-
Take first the geologist. He shouldn’t have too much chaeologist is the student of Pleistocene geology. Very
trouble separating out his types and sub-types. (Nor for few of these men are now actively engaged in collabor-
that matter should the archaeologist.) But in the field ative studies with the archaeologists in this country. If
of geology, cherts and flints and the related silicas are I said there are a dozen, I couldn’t name them all. But
little understood. We find them usually in limestone there is an increasing interest in the Pleistocene among
beds, less commonly in shales. But the process of for- geologists. Conservatively, there are at least 300 geol-
mation is debated. And the crystalline structure of ogists in this country alone who have their professional
these things is not completely understood. Why not interests partly or completely in Pleistocene events,
put a geologist to work finding out what he can about processes, and deposits. They are employed by univer-
the crystal structure of these forms? Why not put him sities, federal and state Surveys, and by the petroleum
on the problem of how they formed? Why not ask him industry. There are an unknown number of students
whether flints and cherts do not form in several dif- whose research interests are directed in some degree
ferent ways? And if they form in different ways, how toward the Pleistocene. It isn’t that geologists are lack-
can we tell which chert or which flint formed in which ing; it is that they are not working with the archaeol-
way? Or again, what is the significance of the geologic ogist. The question is how to attract them.
processes which produce chert and flint? These are One way not to attract them is to claim that geol-
questions that we in geology and mineralogy would ogists are uninterested in the problems which concern
like to answer. the archaeologist. Many are. The archaeologist must
Interesting enough for the geologist, yes, but few ar- first make up his mind that he wants the collaboration
chaeologists are going to lose sleep over these questions. of the geologist. And he must do this before he begins
What’s in it for him? Well, let’s assume that the geol- his dig. In other words, the geological studies should
ogist does turn to this problem and does begin to be considered at the planning stage. Some provision
answer some of our queries. I will wager that if the should be made in budgeting for expenses. Then the
geologists gets this far, he will be well on the road to archaeologist can go scouting and see if there isn’t some
answering some questions that the archaeologist would graduate student who might be interested in picking
like solved. For instance, is it possible to spot where up a thesis, or some practicing geologist who wants at
different types of chert come from in the geologic suc- least a temporary change of scene. The technique will
cession? Where are these located geographically? Can be different in different situations. But I will be sur-
we begin to reconstruct trade routes? Can we find rised if a geologist is not forthcoming if the search
quarry sites? Why did the Indian use one type of chert is well-planned.
and not another? Or again, is there any time signifi- I don’t want to infer that the archaeologist must sup-
cance to the way in which flints weather? We can an- port the geologist. But he must have some sort of sup-
swer this last question in only the most general terms port to entice the man in the first place. Thereafter,
now. But if we knew more about the chemistry and the geologist will often be able to find some sources of
structure of flints, we might get farther. And in this his own, not only for money but for added professional
study the archaeologist will provide the initial material assistance. But it is up to the archaeologist to make the
and the necessary stratigraphic control, two items first move. After all, the geologist is not fretting for
which are needed if the study is to be successful. lack of things to do. He won't come to the archaeol-
Obsidian is another common material about which ogist in the first instance. He may at a later time, but
the geologist knows too little. A good petrological sur- not initially.
vey of volcanic glass might turn up something of in- CONCLUSION: mere identification of material is of lit-
terest not only to the archaeologist but also to the tle interest to the geologist or the archaeologist. Both
eologist. Or we can cite desert varnish, that lacquer- want to contribute to mutual problems, and both
ike finish found on many stones and pebbles in arid want to contribute to their own special fields. This can
climates. We don’t know definitely how it forms. But be done only on the basis of full collaboration between
if we did, we might very well have something im- them. There is a rather large group of geologists of
portant to both the geologist and the archaeologist. potential use to the archaeologist. ‘They need to be in-
These are all special problems. They will take a lot terested in the collaboration. The archaeologist will
of detailed work to answer. But they offer possible fields do his profession and mine a service by taking the first
of mutual interest to the archaeologist and to the geol- step toward more general collaboration between the
ogist. In a much wider sense, the geologist is concerned two disciplines.
49

GEOLOGY
Herbert E. Wright, Jr.
Identification of geological materials extracted from dating by C-14 or tree-ring analysis, the climatical
archaeological sites has been considered in some detail or geological approach to dating generally remains the
by Professor Judson. Petrographical or mineralogical most fundamental. In almost all cases, dating of Pleis-
identification ordinarily constitute no great problems tocene or even later sites depends directly or indirectly
and sometimes can provide significant information con- on the succession of climatic changes. Study of the
cerning sources, trade routes, technological progress, geologic features that may give clues to the climatic
and so forth. Many objects suspected of being artifacts sequence necessarily involve field work in and around
may be identified as natural, and the archaeologist the site under consideration, and in cases it may be
might thus be saved some embarrassment. Satisfactory necessary that the geologist venture some distance
identification can generally be provided by any friendly from the site to provide the framework for his local
geologist to whom the objects may be submitted. studies.
Interpretation of soils, breccias, sedimentary depos- The particular geologic features of significance in
its, or other features of geologic origin in an archaeol- climatic chronology depend, of course, on the geologic
ogical site is a more complicated problem. It requires province in which the site is located. In general three
a geologist with more than a passing experience and in- provinces can be recognized—the periglacial, the coast-
terest in the study of surficial deposits. It also generally al, and the desert. The periglacial province includes
involves field work in and around the site. The iden- that area marginal to the Pleistocene ice sheets, where
tification of the particular soil or sediment involved the climate was cold, windy, and subject to intensive
may have fundamental importance in the interpreta- frost action. Archaeological sites in the periglacial re-
tion of the physical and climatic environment at the gions may be found in context with glacial outwash or
time of habitation and in chronology. Here is where a other river deposits, with sand dunes, loess, or other
geological contribution becomes greatest and where wind deposits, or with solifluction deposits and frost
the investigation may take the geologist out of the soils. Interglacial deposits in the same region may be
trench or the cave and lead him well into the surround- marked by weathering soils or by fossils of temperate
ing country. In the following remarks, I should like to plants or animals. Numerous sites in the periglacial re-
emphasize the values in providing or facilitating a gions both in this country and in Europe have been
broad scope to geological investigation of archaeolog- dated by study of these features—some that come to
ical sites, both because the results may enhance the mind are the Lindenmeier site in Colorado, the Horner
understanding of the site and because it can serve to site near Cody, terrace sites along the Nebraska rivers,
stimulate a participating geologist to make an archae- and many Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites in
ological investigation part of his own research pro- central and northern Europe.
am. The coastal province depends for correlations on the
Almost all sites have problems susceptible of some fluctuations of sea level that reflected the advance and
type of geological study, and in many cases the correct retreat of the ice-sheets. Marine terraces, associated
geological interpretation is vital to the understanding river terraces, and drowned coastal marsh deposits
of the site. Some problems are readily apparent in the may record high sea-level (interglacial) positions. Sand
course of digging and may clearly require expert at- dunes, coastal river dissection, and related features
tention. Others may not even suggest themselves to the may record low sea-level positions. Numerous sites
excavator but become defined only after some geolog- along the Mediterranean coast in particular bear clear
ical inspection. Many questions on interpretation may relation to the effects of sea-level fluctuation. In this
arise: is Layer 5 an alluvial deposit, and if so, what country, the Boylston Street Fishweir site involved
does this mean about the habitability of the site, the such considerations.
location of the river, and the chronology? is Layer 8 a The desert and semi-desert province, removed from
wind-deposited sand, and if so, what are the climatic immediate effects of both glaciation and sea-coastal
or chronologic implications? is the mixture of artifacts processes, may reveal climatic fluctuations through the
in this layer a result of reworking by a stream? is the character of cave deposits, the variable behavior of
red clay in the middle of the section a true soil? is the streams or springs or the wind, the expansion and re-
lamination on the wall of the test trench natural, and traction of inland lakes, and so forth. Many of the
how was it formed? where was the lake shore at the arroyo sites of the southwestern United States fall
time of habitation? the sea beach? was the spring ac- in this province, as do sand-dune sites like Midland in
tive? Texas, interior lake sites like Danger Cave in Utah,
Other sites might have problems about irrigation and many others in this country and in the Old
canals, the extent of arable land, the location of water World, especially in North Africa and the eastern
sup ly. Proper investigation of these matters involves Mediterranean.
fie q work of varying amounts and sometimes also the A mere listing of important archaeological sites at
careful collection and analyses of samples. The results which geological studies have been made, particularly
may be of great value to the archaeologist in recon- the older sites that reach back into the late Pleistocene,
structing the immediate environment during habi- gives a notion of the importance of this approach in
tation. the total study and evaluation of the site. This is not
Problems of geochronology are more complicated to say that environmental or choronological studies are
but are frequently of major interest. In the absence of justified at every site. Most of the mound sites or early
50

Indian sites of the Mississippi Valley, for example, are ranging from field expenses to salary is an inducement.
so young that there has been little time for significant In certain cases, the geologist may be in a position to
geologic or climatic changes to have taken place. Geo- raise his own funds, but this additional task may not
ogical consultation, however, sometimes can turn up appeal. Set against this is the opportunity to travel and
relationships that might be of mutual interest. work for a short period in little explored regions, to
Aside from some friendly advice or favor which a enjoy close association with other natural scientists,
racticing geologist might provide for identification or and to make a contribution not only to geological
interpretation of a feature of presumed geologic origin knowledge but to archaeology as well. These last con-
at a site, geological participation can best be encour- siderations are not to be minimized and are often the
aged if the problem ts stimulating and if the facilities controlling factors in any extensive or continued geo-
for investigation are available. The geological special- logical participation in archaeological work. They
ist with most interest and experience in dealing with should be mentioned and, in fact, emphasized, albeit
archaeological sites is the man trained in geomorphol- discreetly, in recruiting geological aid.
ogy and Pleistocene (or surficial) geology—ordinarily In summary and conclusion, I might say that studies
not the petrologist or petroleum geologist or bedrock of geologic and climatic environment and chronalogy
stratigrapher. Problems generally become more stim- connected with an archaeological site are generally of
ulating if the features of the site itself may be related greater interest to a geologist than are identifications
to the surface geology of the region. In this way, the of material collected from the site and almost always
geological study itself may make its contribution to contribute enough to the archaeological interpretation
regional problems of chronology or geomorphology to justify the effort. Opportunity to carry out such
to the point that separate publication of some of the studies may have apeal to a person trained as a geo-
results might be warranted. Geologists are trained to morphologist or Pleistocene geologist, particularly if
relate local problems to the regional setting, whether his work is an integral part of the archaeological pro-
the problem be the investigation of the limits of an ore gram, provides facilities and encouragement for explo-
body or the search for regiona] climatic indicators rel- ration beyond the limits of the site, and involves
ative to the site stratigraphy. financial aid of some type. There are many such per-
Facilities to encourage participation on archaeolog- sons in university work and in federal and state geol-
ical field work necessarily involve financial considera- ogical surveys. Their participation can often be ar-
tions. The market for geologists is tight; so any aid ranged with judicious encouragement and promotion.
51

METALLURGY
William C. Root
Specialists may be divided into two groups, those who send back a mere list rapidly enough, but this would
are not interested in archaeology and those who are. satisfy neither the archaeologist nor the specialist. It is
They must be handled quite differently. true that it is easy to put things off, and a tactful letter
The first group was considered in some detail yester- from the archaeologist every three or four months in-
day by the archaeologists. They must be coaxed to quiring how things are going may work wonders.
work on specimens by appealing to their better nature Since the specialist receives no money for his services,
since the results they obtain are of little or no use to another problem is how to repay him for his trouble.
them. Eventually, if they do enough work on ar- I have already suggested some ways in which this can be
chaeological problems and the archaeologist explains done for the specialist who is interested in archaeology.
clearly to them the importance of their results, the dis- For the specialist who is not interested, about the only
interested specialist may become an interested special- reward that can be given is to thank him in a footnote.
ist and graduate into the second group. This is what This, however, doesn’t help him much in the eyes of
happened to me. After analyzing a hundred or so metal his professional colleagues, very few of whom read ar-
objects from the Cenote at Chichen-Itza for Dr. Tozzer, chaeological journals or reports. A better way would
] became interested in the problem of pre-Columbian be to have the specialist's report in an appendix. Then
metallurgy and some thirty years later am still at it. at least he can send out a few reprints, and he will be
A member of the second group is usually willing to able to list it as a publication, which will impress the
work on identification problems if he has the time and president of the college if no one else. Joint articles
the problem lies within his field of interest. But if he would be even better, but the chances for this are slight.
does, the archaeologist puts himself under a certain It has been suggested that making the identified ma-
moral obligation to the specialist to provide him with terial available to the specialist can result in articles by
material and assistance on the problems in which the the specialist. This is true, but only if the specialist has
specialist is interested. For example, in my case, in detailed information as to the source and associations
order to work out the sequence and distribution of of the objects worked on and access to the complete col-
metallurgy in Mexico, I should be able to examine lection. After the article has been written, 1t should
either the metal artifacts, or photographs of them, then be examined by some archaeologist to see if the
from all finds that have been made in Mexico. To do specialist has gotten his archaeology straight. The num-
this myself would be an impossible task. I am depend- ber of articles, interesting to the specialist's colleagues,
ent on the workers in the field to send these to me and are few. Most of the time, articles will be of interest
to tell me of finds that have been made. In return for only to archaeologists. Bergsoe’s paper on the use of
this, I am more than glad to do what I can to identify platinum in Ecuador is an example of one in the field
metal objects for the archaeologist. of metallurgy that is of interest to both chemists and
It is too much to expect that one’s archaeological archaeologists; but since it was published in a rather
friends will make excavations in the region in which obscure journal, few chemists have had an opportunity
one is interested, but they can tell one about other to read it.
men who are doing work there and what they are find- If the article is one to be read primarily by archae-
ing. It is a great satisfaction to the specialist to know ologists, the specialist usually wants_to make sure that
that he is probably aware of everything that is hap- it is a good one. This takes time and the accumulation
pening in the field of his particular interest. of much more data than is usually available. The tend-
It is true that it is much easier to keep the chemist ency, in my case at least, is to wait until] more data turns
or metallurgist satisfied and eager to work than it is a up. This is possibly a mistake, as the longer one waits
specialist in bones or pottery. An excavation seldom the easier it is to put it off. I have been plannig for
yields more than a pound or two of metal, and it is some ten years to write an article on the copper bells
easy to preserve and store the specimens. The whole of the Southwest; but I wanted to be able to say where
lot can probably be shipped in a cigar box. Bones and the bells came from, and I didn’t think that just to say
pottery, as we have heard, may run into hundreds of Sinaloa or Michoacan is much of a comment. Now, af-
pounds and are difficult to ship and store. ter waiting this long, I have no more data on this prob-
One of the commonest complaints of the archaeol- lem than I had ten years ago. I still don’t know whether
ogist, after he has found a specialist to work on the it is better to wait until one can write a definitive arti-
identification of his materials, is the length of time that cle or to write several shorter, less complete ones as
it takes before a report on the material is sent to him. I soon as one has some material.
doubt that this problem can ever be satisfactorily solved Archaeologists still have some misconceptions as to
short of paying someone to do the work. If the specialist what should and can be done in the examination and
is teaching in a small college (and this is probably true identification of metal objects. These objects, in my
of universities as well) his free time is limited. He experience, fall into three groups. Each should be
will probably have to wait until some vacation comes treated differently. The first group consists of such
along before he has any uninterrupted time. If he is to very common objects as the small copper bells from
write a good report, he will have to do some back- Yucatan or the sheet-copper Tau’s from Oaxaca. The
ground reading. and this may involve obtaining books specialist has usually analyzed so many of these that he
or periodicals from some university library. He could can tell what they are like without further work on

them. He does want to know where they are from, the school for examination, it will cost him ten to fifteen
chronological associations of the site, and how many of dollars for each analysis. This he hesitates to do unless
them there are. This is usually sufficient. The archaeol- he has funds available for this purpose. This is an un-
ogist should leave it up to the specialist to decide whe- fortunate situation, both for the specialist and archae-
ther to analyze any of this group or not. Also included ologist, because a metallographic examination really
in this group would be all metal objects that have suf- gives more useful information about an object than
fered so much corrosion that there is no metal left. any other sort of examination. Another factor that
This is frequently hard to tell by simple observation. prevents the carrying out of an adequate number of
An analysis of such an object will give nothing but metallographic examinations is that such an exam-
misleading results, as there is no way of telling how ination involves the mounting of at least part of the
many soluble corrosion products have been leached object in lucite and the sectioning of the mount. This
away. usually spoils the object for exhibition purposes. It is
The second group of metal objects includes those possible, however, to section objects that are almost
which look as if they might be interesting chemically, completely corroded, as the corrosion products usually
such as wire-work bells, objects which are possibly of retain the structure of the original object. From a met-
an alloy, or objects with which the analyst is not famil- allographic examination of an object, it is possible to
iar. These should be given a routine qualitative spec- learn a great deal about the technical processes used in
troscopic analysis. Such an analysis does not require its manufacture. One can tell if the metal has been
very elaborate equipment and can be easily carried hammered or cast and annealed, whether it has been
out. An analysis requires about 0.01 gram of solid metal welded or soldered, whether gilding was done by mise-
in the form of drillings, clippings, or a small fragment en-couleur or the application of thin foil, and so forth.
broken off from the object. Taking such a sample sel- There are other special methods sometimes used in
dom spoils an object for exhibition purposes. While the examination of metal objects, such as x-ray dif-
the specialist likes to examine the object to be analyzed, fraction, but so far they are infrequently used. No
in this case it is possible for the archaeologist to collect method of examination, as far as I know, can give much
the sample and send it to the specialist with a photo- information about the age of a metal object. This in-
graph of the object marked to show where the sample formation must come indirectly from the dating of as-
came from. For objects that cannot be taken from a sociated material.
collection, this is all that can be done. The suggestion that a “Technical Handbook” be
Qualitative spectroscopic analysis permits the de- published seems to me to be an excellent one. In such
termination of the composition of the metal with an a handbook, each specialist could discuss, in language
accuracy adequate for most archaeological purposes. that could be understood by an archaeologist unfami-
Constituents are reported only as large, small, trace, liar with the specialty, such topics as the type of objects
and slight trace. Since this is a photographic process, it that are suitable for identification or examination, the
has the further advantage that if at some later time methods of collection and preservation of delicate ob-
one wants to check on the presence of elements not jects like plants and fabrics or those susceptible to
looked for before, it is possible to do so without a new contamination like wood for Carbon-14 dating, the
analysis. From a qualitative spectroscopic analysis one quantity of material required for an examination, and
may determine if an object is made from pure metal, how the materials should be sorted over before ship-
an alloy, or has been gilded or silvered. In some cases, ment. Each specialist could also give a non-technical
characteristic impurities may enable the archaeologist account of the methods that he uses in examination or
to determine the region from which the metal origi- identification of the objects that are sent him and a
nated. However, this is possible only if the object has statement of the information that can be obtained by
not been made from metal obtained by melting down such methods together with some statement of their
older objects and if one has available analyses of ores limitations. The Handbook should also include a glos-
from mines in many different areas. sary of the technical terms used by specialists in each
The third group of metal objects are those which discipline, including those used by archaeologists.
show unusual technical features such as welding, sold- Such a handbook would do much to further communi-
ering, or gilding. Where possible, these should be given cation between the specialist and the archaeologist.
a metallographic examination. An examination of this Small conferences, such as this one, are also of great
sort requires special equipment not ordinarily avail- value in that they give the specialist a chance to meet
able except at universities, and the interpretation of the some of the archaeologists with whom he has been in
photomicrographs requires special knowledge. If such correspondence. It does much to keep up his desire to
objects are sent away by the specialist to some large help them in their work.
53

CARBON-14 DATING
H. R. Crane
As my part in the program, I will present a brief sum- people who have talents in several different lines—in
mary of the present status of radiocarbon dating in the this case in electronics, chemistry, and nuclear physics.
technical sense, without attempting to go into matters And needless to say, these people must be willing to go
of interpretation. This is the only side of the subject I through a period of ‘“‘de-bugging’”’ which can be exas-
feel bold enough to comment upon, since my field is perating. The job is best done in an educational insti-
physics, and I am a complete novice in archaeology. tution or a large laboratory, where the interests of
We find ourselves in the fortunate position of hav- these several kinds of scientists can come together. Af-
ing not one, but several methods for the analysis of ter operation has become routine, a chemistry tech-
C-14, any one of which can consistently measure the nician, plus only the watchful eye and occasional at-
content of C-14 in a modern sample to within less than tention of a physicist, may be all that is necessary.
one per cent standard deviation. These are: carbon As to the choice among the various methods, I be-
dioxide proportional counter, methane proportional lieve it should be limited to one of the gas-sample
counter, acetylene proportional counter, carbon diox- methods if the expected use is what might be called
ide-carbon disulfide Geiger counter, scintillation coun- ordinary, miscellaneous dating. Since success depends
ter, carbon black Geiger counter. In making this list, I critically upon the expertness of the physicist, chemist,
had some hesitation as to whether to include the car- and electronics engineer available, the choice of the
bon black method but decided in its favor because I particular gas method should hinge to a consider-
believe that as far as the reliability and consistency of able degree upon the background experience of these
operation of the apparatus is concerned it is easily ca- people.
pable of the counting accuracy mentioned above. The Of the gas methods, the carbon dioxide and the
disfavor the method has fallen into of late has been methane proportional counters are capable of the high-
due to the vulnerability of the carbon samples to con- est counting rates. The reason is that there is virtually
tamination by atomic bomb fallout and other air-borne no limit on the pressure under which the can be
radioactivity, rather than to any inherent weakness in operated in such counters. Counters filled to several
the counting apparatus. However, this is a drawback atmospheres pressure and giving 30 or more counts per
that steadily grows more serious, and it certainly makes minute on contemporary carbon samples are quite
the method a poor choice for one who is starting out to well behaved. The first of these, the carbon dioxide
set up a laboratory at this time. As the first method proportional counter, requires gas of very high purity
to be used it has an impressive list of dates to its and consequently a special chemical procedure; the
credit. second, the methane proportional counter, requires
The first four of the methods in the list use gaseous the synthesis of methane from carbon dioxide. Neither
samples. Each of the four has its peculiar problems and of these is exactly suited to the amateur chemist.
advantages in the preparation procedure for the sam- Acetylene has the obvious advantage of having two
ple, and each has its own brand of electronics require- carbons per molecule and also in being an excellent
ments. They differ from one another to some degree in counter gas. However, it is limited as to pressure be-
complexity, both as to apparatus and procedure, but cause of its instability. It can explode spontaneously
the important fact is that each has been reduced to a when raised to a high pressure, and it is not advisable
routine, so that no essential problems remain. For this to operate it at more than two atmospheres pressure.
reason, a person who has any one of the gas methods in The process of preparation of the gas also involves
ood routine operation in his laboratory finds little some dangers to life and limb. The setting up of the
incentive toward shifting to another. The scintillation sample Preparation apparatus and procedure are,
counter has a more specialized application. The area again, jobs tor an experienced chemist.
in which it promises to have an advantage is that in . The carbon dioxide-carbon disulfide Geiger counter
which the desire for large counting rates, with conse- method is, like the acetylene method, limited as to
quent greater accuracy and maximum measurable age, pressure of gas, but for an entirely different reason.
can justify a more elaborate preparation procedure and This counter is triggered by negative ions, instead of
the use of larger quantities of sample material. It has electrons, as is the usual case. Because of the low drift
not quite emerged from the experimental stage. velocity of the negative ions, the anticoincidence blank-
A question that is interesting to many archaeologists ing time has to be very long (the order of .o1 second).
and that has a bearing on the technical status is “How As the pressure is increased, the blanking time has to be
difficult is it to get into the dating business?’’. I will increased also, and beyond about two atmospheres
give a little advice (and sympathy) here for what it may there is little further gain in net counting rate. Such a
be worth. The dating business is paradoxical in that, counter works very well at one atmosphere, with little
while the laboratories that are in operaiton give the loss due to blanking. Its main advantage is that it is
appearance of being quite professional and routine, very insensitive to impurities in the gas—it shows no
each new laboratory has to be set up in the manner in effects from concentrations of oxygen and other im-
which a new research project would be set up. That is purities which would completely vitiate the measure-
to say, it requires a combination of research-minded ment in any one of the other kinds of gas counters.
54

Next, let me speak briefly about the counter we have a change of about 80 years in the apparent age. At 5600
at the University of Michigan. I became interested in years, 1% of either dead or live carbon makes a change
the problem, at first purely from the physics side, soon of 160 years. At four half-lives, or about 22,400 years,
after Libby announced his first success. We (Dr. E. W. 1% of live carbon makes a change of 1280 years. At
McDaniel, who at that time was a graduate student, 37,000 years age, 1% of live carbon reduces the ap-
and I) built a carbon-black counter with which we parent age by one whole half-life. These figures may
began producing dates in 1950. This proved to be the not seem very shocking as given, in terms of 1% of
wrong time to enter the dating business with a carbon- added dead or live carbon, but we must be prepared to
black counter—atomic bomb contamination grew more find in some cases much more than 1%. This may come
and more troublesome and finally forced us to look for from rootlets which have carbonized and which there-
another method. fore cannot be removed, remains from bacterial action,
In 1952, we began experiments on a carbon dioxide- deposits from percolating water, gaseous decomposi-
carbon disulfide Geiger counter and brought it into tion products absorbed by charcoal. Except in cases
successful operation. It works at atmospheric pressure where there is assurance that less than 1% of foreign
and holds about 1.5 liters of carbon dioxide. A raw carbon has been introduced, greater accuracy in the
sample of 3 to 4 grams of charcoal or its equivalent is counting techniques than we already have will gain us
sufficient. The background count is 6 per minute and little.
the “‘live” count is 14 per minute (8 above background). If the burden is now on the purity of the sample,
A duplicate counter was built about two years ago, and what, then, can we do to improve matters? If a sample is
since that time the two have been in continuous oper- found under circumstances that indicate possible mod-
ation. Ordinarily we run each sample for 48 hours, but ification, we must live with it. But I think there is
if a sample is very old, we may run it as long as 96 much that can be done, and in fact is being done, by
hours. Under these conditions, the C-14 content is (a) the collector, (b) the chemist in the laboratory, and
always measured to within one per cent standard de- (c) the person who describes the result for publication.
viation in modern material. The maximum age meas- The collector can: (1) report when conditions are
urable is about 30,000 years—that is, the oldest date we such that roots, bacterial action, or fungus are like-
can quote is “greater than 30,000”. For our counting ly; (2) report soil conditions pertaining to possible
rate and background and for 48 hour runs on un- leaching, deposition, transport of products of decom-
known samples, the standard deviations, in years, for position; (3) gather comparison material, especially
various ages are as follows: samples from different places in the same level or sam-
ples of different materials from the same level, e.g.,
Samples of zero age 81 yrs charcoal, bone, and shell.
5,600 yrs 131 ,, The chemist in the laboratory can: (1) treat samples
11,200 ,, 235 5 with acid or base or both to remove carbonates and
16,800 _, 453 » some protein material; (2) inspect under magnifying
22,400 ,, 8go ,, glass for roots and remove them where possible; (3) try
new techniques, such as chromatography, to identify
To take account of various other factors which contrib- the protein, as to whether it is of extraneous origin or
ute uncertainty, we generally quote standard deviations not.
of about twice these values. The person who describes the results can give more
The amount of human energy required to run our information about the conditions under which the
dating laboratory may be of interest. We employ one specimen was found, so that the reader can better assess
full time chemist, who prepares the samples and keeps the reliability of the result.
a watchful eye on the counters. I change the samples, In concluding these remarks, I would like to re-em-
maintain the electronic equipment, and calculate the phasize and expand a little upon the last point made:
dates. This requires an average of one half hour per that of giving more information in the date list than
day of my time. Curatorial work relating to the samples the mere plus and minus limits. We, and I am sure all
is done by Professor James B. Griffin with the help of others as well, often assign an increased plus-minus
a part time clerical assistant. A faculty committee, figure to a date for the purpose of allowing for either
headed by Prof. Griffin, is available for consultation on some inconsistency in the operation of the counter or
policy and priority matters. some special circumstance connected with the sample
As indicated at the beginning and as the foregoing or its Preparation. In combining all the uncertainties
discussion has conveyed, the technique of C-14 analysis (including the true statistical uncertainty) in this sim-
has come of age. There probably will be little further pie way, I think that information is lost which would
value in occupying time in conferences such as this one e helpful to one who is comparing results from various
with shop-talk about the technical details of countin laboratories or comparing one sample with another.
methods. The burden is now upon the collection an For example, the suspected presence of roots would ex-
treatment of the sample material. With counter tech- plain to the reader a discrepancy in the direction of too
niques as reliable as they are, I believe that in most young, but not too old, an age; so would the suspected
instances we have less uncertainty in the result the presence of bacterial action. Percolating waters would
counter gives than we have in the knowledge of lace the burden of proof upon the chemist that he
the purity and freedom from modification of the sample had removed carbonates completely, for a failure in
material. Let me give some figures to show the impor- this would explain an error in the direction of too great
tance which modifications in sample material can have. an age. In short, I think that everything that is known
At zero age, the addition of 1% of dead carbon makes about the physical and chemical conditions of the
55

sample and the facts about the soil in which it was and of stating all other data pertinent to the limits of
found are valuable data which should go along with error separately.
the date in the published list. Although it is not now I am sure you know that even if all these admirable
regularly done, I would favor reserving the plus-minus things are done, you should continue to take our results
figure for the statistics of the number of counts only on individual samples with a good sized grain of salt.
56

GENERAL COMMENTS ON SPECIALISTS’ POSITION

Frederick Johnson
During the two sessions under consideration, the par- the collections they make. An extremely important
ticipants presented a wealth of detail which is recorded factor is the development of a means of communication
in the foregoing papers. It is repetitious to record or between the several fields: it must be free and easy and
even outline these details here. What may be of interest constant.
is an attempt to emphasize a number of ideas which The financing of cooperative projects varies tremen-
appear to underlie the discussions. Of basic importance dously; there appears to be no consistent pattern. In
is the definition of the term identification. At the very cases where only taxonomic problems are involved, the
beginning of the Conference, it was recognized that, for expense is nearly impossible to estimate, it being large-
present purposes, this word included not only taxon- ly the time the scientist spends comparing collected
omic problems but also the interpretation of the phe- materials with reference collections. Most projects
nomena found during the process of archaeological which involve some field work and research of various
investigation. The need for identification and interpre- degrees of intensity can be paid for jointly by the in-
tation requires the devolpment of inter-disciplinary or stitutions involved or by subventions obtained for the
collaborative approaches to problems. The Conference purpose. Joint contributions are the usual method of
turned its attention during the sessions to the require- nancing research which is of definite use to more than
ments of scientists from a number of fields in order that one scientific field. In inter-disciplinary projects, the
adequate collaborative projects might be developed. responsibility for the research is, or should be, borne
The initial, most important requirement for inter- by all concerned; it is another aspect of the col-
disciplinary collaboration is the definition of the prob- laboration. On the other hand, some inter-disciplinary
lem to be attacked. This must be stated in mutually projects are definitely oriented toward archaeological
comprehensible terms. It is as important to know why problems, and it seems logical that the expenses in-
the identification of a few bones from an excavation curred by the specialist be considered a part of the ex-
should be made as it is to define the contributions pense of the archaeological research.
which can be made by extensive biological and geo- Specialists in other fields, who are providing data to
logical field and laboratory studies of an area occupied expand or substantiate the inferences made by archae-
by man. What the specialists need is comprehension of ologists, can work best if there is some stimulus. A sig-
the base upon which their colleague’s particular work nificant problem to be explored and properly collected
is founded and an appreciation of the character and material which is adequately documented are basic, of
significance of the results which may be obtainable. course. An outlet for publication is also important.
Given this essential, mutual understanding of the prob- Frequently, data which may not be directly applicable
lem and the approaches to it, the practical details, such to the archaeological problem is brought to light. The
as financing, personnel, credit, responsibility, and so cooperating scientist must assume responsibility for
on, can be easily arranged. this. The responsibility can only be judged by col-
At various points, there was discussion of how much leagues with similar experience in the field, and they
an archaeologist could or should do in the way of iden- must have access to the data. In an inter-disciplinary
tification. For example, should he identify bones or program, scientists must be given considerable free-
conduct geological investigations? The usual opinion dom, in fact encouraged, to publish their findings in
among archaeologists was that they had little or no the usual outlets of the fields involved. To do this
time for such work, that already they were loaded with increases the authority of the work and enhances the
many kinds of analyses to perform. In reply to this, at- validity of the general results. \
tention was called to pollen analysis and other kinds of Finally, the several presentations of details and dis-
investigations which have been successfully carried on cussions of mutual needs can be summarized in a broad
by European archaeologists; and it was contended that and general statement. Even though they may not be
archaeologists can perform at least some of the prelim- popular or fashionable, there are problems which can
inary sorting and identification which can then be only be solved by analyses involving the special tech-
checked by the appropriate specialist. On the other niques of several fields. In order to utilize the poten-
hand, in the face of specific problems in some fields, it tialities of science as a whole, it is necessary to arrange
is probably unwise for an archaeologist to attempt for a collaboration among scientists: the inter-disci-
work other than his own: the specialist will need the plinary approach it is sometimes called. Such collabor-
whole collection of material and the accompanying ation can be accomplished through the broadening of
data in order to conduct his own analysis. our base of understanding and increasing the effective-
The inter-disciplinary aproach begins with work in ness of communication. Once this has been done, it
the field. All investigators must take part in this. It is becomes clear that the combination of the results of
equally important that the field men have experience the separate approaches are complementary, and the
in the laboratory so that they may find out the kind of gathering together of comprehensive data is of greater
material that is significant and what can be done with significance than the sum of the discrete units.
57

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF IDENTIFICATION

AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES
A CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATIONS

Harry L. Shapiro
Having come late to this Conference and unaware template two or more organized centers set up on dif-
of all that has been discussed here thus far, I may be ferent lines, conforming to special conditions and func-
guilty of repeating in part what has already been tioning independently. One has to bear in mind not
brought forward by others. Let me apologize in ad- only the needs of the archaeologists but the needs of
vance. the expert identifiers. The suggestion I am making is
I first became acutely aware of the pressure and mag- therefore put forth as only one possible solution.
nitude of the problem facing archaeologists in the I am, first of all, proceeding on the assumption that
identification of non-cultural material when Kelley much of the identification required is fairly routine.
talked to me about it during my term as Chairman of That is to say that the animal bones or bird skele-
the Division of Anthropology and Psychology. As a tons or fish remains or the various shells or mineral
physical anthropologist, I had, of course, long been con- specimens pose no special problems; that with fairly
scious of the service that physical anthropology was adequate knowledge of the respective areas repre-
sometimes called upon to render archaeology. Indeed, sented, they can be classified quite rapidly as to genus
I must confess that the service was often a grudging and species; and that they do not present difficulties
one, squeezed out of the physical anthropologist by all requiring the experience and skill of top-flight spe-
manner of pressure and persuasion. And whatever the cialists.
archaeologist may have privately felt about his col- I am also assuming at this point that the general run
league’s reluctance and dilatory efforts, I can assure of the material to be identified does not possess char-
you that more than a few of these delinquent colleagues acteristics of research interest to specialists. I also re-
had, in turn, bitterly complained about the slight recognize that sometimes it will. Consequently, one may
wards for the amount of labor they were asked to give anticipate that most specialists would be reluctant to
—usually a forgotten niche in the appendix. spend their time on material they might not regard as
But with the expanding interest of the archaeologist rewarding in the sense that it advanced some investi-
in the relation of culture to ecology and with his grow- gative preoccupation of their own.
ing ability to extract information of archaeological I am finally also presupposing that most archaeol-
significance from shells, minerals, animal remains, pol- ogists with an array of non-cultural objects to be iden-
len, seeds, fibers, soils, and various other non-cultural tified want the results within a reasonable time, say
items, the problem obviously has become vastly more within six months or a year. Obviously even the for-
complex than it used to be in the simpler and more in- tunate archaeologist who has wide contacts and inti-
nocent days that I recall. mate friends in all the essential specialties and can
It is, 1 presume, true that with the exception of the farm out all his jobs with little difficulty is not much
big, elaborate excavations of highly involved settle- better off if he has to wait three, four, or five years for
ments, the majority of individual archaeological enter- the reports.
prises generally has only relatively few items in a My suggestion, then, would take the following lines:
restricted number of categories that require expert hel 1. A specific center (or more if the demand and the
in identification. But in the aggregate these demands supply can be integrated and if the success of an initial
would run the full gamut and, as far as quantity is con- one warrants it) to be devoted to the problems of iden-
cerned, would present a formidable amount of mate- tification.
rial. It is also, I presume, true that the annual activity 2. The location of such a center at a university or
in the archaeological field, counting American workers museum or wherever reference collections and experts
alone, is becoming greater each year and that we may are available for guidance and consultation.
now in the near future count the separate field jobs g. The routine identifications to be processed by
per annum in the hundreds when, in the past, they technicians comparable to laboratory technicians.
could be counted on one or two hands. Their work would not necessarily be tied to research
It is evident that the nature of the work of identifi- interests of their own but could be integrated into re-
cation and its quantity require some systematic way of search programs if desirable or convenient. Such an ar-
processing. Those of us who live in large museums with rangement would have the advantage of freeing the
a wide variety of experts close at hand do not find this identification work from the uncertainties of special
business quite as pressing or depressing as less fortunate interests on the part of the identifiers. These tech-
colleagues who have little or no access to such cooper- nicians might be graduate students or, preferably,
ation. And it is mostly of and for the latter that we students specially trained for this sort of work but
must think and plan. not necessarily headed for an advanced degree or a
Various solutions, of course, come to mind. And I career of research.
suppose any one of them under the right circumstances 4. To support the center appropriate fees might be
or under enthusiastic direction could be made to work charged. Only experience could indicate how far such
with some degree of satisfaction. One might even con- a center could become self-supporting.
58

IMPROVING THE USE OF EXISTING FACILITIES

James B. Griffin
The topic which was assigned to me suggests that per- would contain chapters by various specialists in zool-
haps I am not in favor of a strong effort to improve the ogy, botany, mineralogy, and other fields with explicit
archaeologist’s position in regard to a reconstruction instructions as to the most suitable manner of collect-
of prehistoric ecology. At the University of Michigan, ing, preserving, and packing specimens which are to be
we have been fortunate in having available the fa- submitted for examination. The chapters should also
cilities and staff of the Museum of Zoology, the specify the kind of supplementary data which would
Radiocarbon Laboratory, the Ethnobotanical Labora- assist the specialist in evaluating the collection sent to
tory, and other resource personnel, so that, from an him. The comments of zoologists, botanists, and other
individual or institutional viewpoint, we could not say non-archaeologists at this Conference have very clearly
that the question of archaeological identifications was indicated that such a handbook would be of value to
one of our major problems. It is recognized, however, the currenttly practicing archaeologists. In addition to
that many archaeologists do have difficulty in obtain- the benefit to the professional archaeologist, there are
ing the help of specialists in various disciplines. many competent non-professionals who could benefit
From the standpoint of the archaeologist, the focal by the preparation and dissemination of a field hand-
int is to obtain more complete identifications and ook.
uller interpretations of the significance of the material Another task which could be undertaken is the prep-
which he submits for an expert opinion. He is also in- aration of a list of the experts available in the various
terested in obtaining information within a reasonable disciplines and subdisciplines, accompanied by a state-
period of time. What is needed is the devolpment of ment approved by them, which would indicate un-
productive interdisciplinary cooperation in paleoecol- der what conditions they would accept archaeological
material for identification and interpretation. There
"eX here is probably little expectation that a national should also be prepared a list of the current operating
center for archaeological identifications can be estab- radiocarbon laboratories with a statement of their pol-
lished, and the sentiment of the Conference seems on icy in accepting specimens for dating. There might also
the whole not to favor this proposition. It would be be included a list of special identification centers now
extremely difficult to find financial support adequate available, with their policy for acceptance or rejection
to staff and provide building facilities for such a center. of material for analysis.
Contributions from the archaeologists’ budgets could Some suggestions have been made that various tech-
not provide more than a fraction of the expense of es- nical manuals could be prepared for the archaeologist.
tablishing and maintaining a national laboratory. One such manual, “Bones for the Archaeologist,” has
Scientific assistance for the archaeologist is not likely already appeared designed primarily for use in Eng-
to come about in this manner but can best be provided land in identifying faunal remains. A similar compar-
on a regional basis. ative osteology would certainly be of value if prepared
The National Research Council has in the past for the American area. The preparation of an archae-
given its support to centers for archaeological identifi- ologist’s botanical manual is probably not so feasible
cations. V. H. Jones has described the establishment of or desirable because of the relative scarcity of preserved
the Ethnobotanical Laboratory at the University of botanical specimens in most North American areas.
Michigan Museum of Anthropology under the auspices There are now available botanical, mineralogical, and
of the National Research Council in 1931. This fol- other specialized manuals which would be of some as-
lowed along the same lines as that of the Ceramic Re- sistance if the archaeologists would take the time to
pository for the Eastern United States which was study them. The manuals available, however, are not
established, also at the University of Michigan, in 1927 likely to provide the type of data in which the archaeol-
under the auspices of the Committee on State Archae- ogist is interested. The ability to identify non-cultural
ological Surveys of the National Research Council. maerials is a talent which is not learned from manuals
The Ceramic Repository has performed services of except in an introductory way. The specialists to whom
some value in the last 30 years in the development of we go for assistance have devoted years to a particular
more adequate descriptive techniques and a better un- field to achieve the mastery they possess, and the
derstanding of the significance of ceramic materials archaeologist must still go to them for adequate inter-
in the interpretation of the prehistory of the area east pretations.
of the Rocky Mountains. In 1936, a Lithic Laboratory One of the best suggestions to improve the archaeol-
for the Eastern United States was established at the Ogist’s position in regard to archaeological identifica-
Ohio State Museum and was to provide information tions is that of improving the professional training of
on the mineralogical nature, geographical source, and the archaeologist in our universities. If a student has
technical methods of the production of artifacts. While acquired a sound and comprehensive anthropological
a number of papers were prepared by the staff of this background by the time of the Masters degree, he
Laboratory, it was unfortunately discontinued during should be encouraged and allowed to acquire some of
the war, and there is little likelihood of its revival. the necessary field and laboratory techniques and skills
A proposal of considerable merit which should be which will enable him to obtain and evaluate his pre-
considered by any committee designed to carry on the historic data intelligently. He should be sufficiently
work of this Conference is the preparation of an ar- exposed to the data of geology, mineralogy, compar-
chaeological collector’s handbook. Such a handbook ative osteology, pedology, and other fields to be aware
59

of the possible contributions of these sciences to his could be formed which would be adequate for some
problem. Some part of our difficulty in integrating ar- proportion of the excavated animal remains. Adoption
chaeology and archaeologists with other disciplines is of this procedure would considerably reduce the
that the training of archaeologists has, in the past, em- amount of bone material sent to the specialist and
phasized the data, the methods, and the techniques of should help in obtaining identifications at a faster rate.
the social sciences and humanities. The archaeologist One unusual example of self-help by the archaeol-
has not become oriented to the subject matter, the ogist is provided by the tree-ring dating. Following the
methods, or the problems of the disciplines which are introduction of the technique by an astronomer, a con-
of great assistance to him in interpreting the paleo- siderable amount of tree-ring work has been done by
ecology of his area. He has been handicapped by the archaeologists who learned the trade. Deevey has sug-
very training he has received and has not been suffi- gested that archaeologists could be trained as pollen
ciently sophisticated in the natural and physical sci- Stratigraphers, as has been done successfully in Den-
ences to collaborate effectively with specialists in those mark. Such a development would be of great benefit in
fields. American archaeology for, on the whole, little attempt
The identification problem can be aided consider- has been made to integrate the floral succession with
ably by the encouragement and development of inter- cultural stages. The great value of this approach has
est in this field in local and regional institutions. The been demonstrated in northern Europe in the last
first requirement is to have a specialist who is already thirty years or so. There are a number of wood identifi-
engaged in a research program of cognate interest and cation centers in the United States where construction
who is supported by a college or museum. If the inter- timbers, fire-wood, or wooden implements can be iden-
ests and research programs of such individuals can be tified. Relatively little use, however, has been made of
stimulated and directed toward paleoecology, there is this facility.
a sound basis and justification for the identification Kluckhohn’s suggestion that regional assays be made
work to be carried on under institutional auspices. If, of what is known and what needs to be known in an
in addition, supplementary economic or moral support area has real merit. This might be initiated by a re-
can be provided to the specialist’s program at his own gional seminar as I suggested, at which experts from
institution by an outside source which has national various fields could be brought together to review their
standing, the research program will be looked upon present understanding of their own field. The seminar
with more favor at home. The success of such stimu- would inevitably highlight what is not known and
lation has been demonstrated at the University of would enhance the opportunity for interdisciplinary
Michigan in the specialized laboratories mentioned cooperation. Publication of the available knowled
above. An assessment should be made of various indi- on paleoecology of an area in terms of a handbook
viduals and institutions to ascertain if they are willing would emphasize, among other things, that the ar-
to serve as identification or collaborative research cen- chaeologist can make available data on the past which
ters if some supplementary support could be provided. is often not provided to the specialist in any other way.
One way in which the problem of identifications We need, then, more thought toward integrating the
could be aided is by a bit of self-help on the part of the resources and manpower we now have in terms of re-
archaeologist. He should be able, over a period of time, gional surveys. We need to stimulate and guide the
to build up comparative collections in a variety of fields potential we now have and foster the growth in re-
for his particular geographical area. Osteological col- gional centers of collaborative programs which benefit
lections of common and readily identifiable fauna all students of archaeology and paleoecology.
60

A CLEARING HOUSE OR CENTRAL AGENCY

Walter W. Taylor
As Dr. Kelley has already indicated, there has been in also permit the latter to remain in familiar and estab-
the back of my mind for a long time the idea of a clear- lished surroudings, to plan their yearly work, and to
ing house or purely service organization for anthro- regard the identification and study of archeological
pology. In fact, I first proposed the idea as long ago as specimens as an integral part of their research pro-
1938, when a change 1n administration was occurring gram. The agency on its part would make it generally
at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe and known that it was in a position to subsidize a certain
there seemed a possibility that the Lab, by changing amount of research by specified specialists; it would
into such an organization, might at long last realize solicit projects; with the participation of the special-
some of its potential. Later, I published the idea in ist, it would select those that seemed most worthy and
A Study of Archeology. It seemed to me then, as it filled best the requirements established for collections;
still does, that there is a great need in anthropology, and it would forward a note to the specialist that such
especially in archaeology, for an organization to per- and-such a collection was coming to be worked on
form inter- and intra-disciplinary services which the under the year’s allotment.
anthropologist or anthropological organization work- “The archeologist would get better service. The
ing alone is not performing and can hardly be ex- specialist would benefit by being able to plan for him-
pected to perform. self and/or his students. The agency would be able to
Since the study of man and culture embraces so vast some extent to raise the standards of archeological col-
a field, anthropologists of whatever stripe require com- lecting and bring home to the archeologist the fact
munication and information far beyond that required that there is more to the cultural picture than architec-
by other disciplines. Working alone or in independent ture and potsherds.”
groups, anthropologists just do not have either the Although such was the original idea and still one of
time, the energy, the knowledge, or the funds to per- the possibilities, it seems to be the tenor of opinion at
form a great number of the broad and composite tasks this meeting that the financial function is not prac-
required of them. Furthermore, given such separatist tical—at least at present. Therefore and briefly, I shall
tendencies, it is only too apparent that there has been, present another series of functions for a central agency.
and will be, a great deal of wasteful duplication of ef- Many of these functions have been suggested here in
fort in those rare instances when inter- and intra-dis- the past few days; others will be newly put forward.
ciplinary researches are actually attempted. In total, they will constitute a proposal for a clearing
What is needed, therefore, as it seems to me, is some house or central agency for interdisciplinary studies
central agency which will cooperate with, and facilitate upon archaeologically derived materials.
the work of, the various parties to these inter-disci- Specifically, I envision the clearing house as com-
plinary studies without coercing the independent in- piling and keeping up to date lists of interested and
vestigations of any of them. Such an organization available specialists who are willing to take on jobs of
would serve to promote communication between indi- identificaion and interpretation. It would also keep
vidual workers in separate disciplines: would be, in anthropologists and other interested parties aware of
effect, a supra-individual, supra-disciplinary body per- research in progress and the current status of inter-
forming tasks that lie beyond the compass of any single disciplinary studies. It would also act as liason between
person or organization. field parties and scholars who might wish information
It was my original idea that such an agency would or field opportunities for themselves or their students.
act as middleman between anthropologist and special- It would romote those regional studies which this
ist by providing both communication and financial as- Conference has considered to be of such paramount
sistance. If I may be permitted to quote from my own importance. Inventories of current knowledge and the
ublication: “...there is a definite and urgent need delineation of gaps in that knowledge would be under-
or an organization with little operating costs to put taken. And these data would be coordinated with the
all its funds into services and forego the impressive but personnel data described in the preceding paragraph
non-utilitarian aspects of a large and beautiful plant. to develop fuller complements of regional information
And one of its major functions would be to subsidize and services.
the technical research requirements of institutions ac- Topical or regional handbooks would be prepared.
tively engaged in archeological excavation. I do not The former setting forth the requirements and mini-
mean that it should merely have money available on mum collecting standards for the various fields of
application for such Projects. It would best assist in empirical data. For example, collectors’ handbooks for
breaking the technical stranglehold on archeology by archaeologists would be compiled in order to make
conducting a permanent project of subsidization, not archaeologically derived information more pertinent
by employing and housing a stable of specialists on any and more useable for both specialist and archaeol-
premises but by providing them regular, yearly grants ogist. Collecting and cataloguing methods would be
to be expended either in the field or in their own lab- described, significant points of observation set forth,
oratories on projects sent to them through the central and in general the areas of common interest and mu-
agency. In the first place, this would eliminate the tual aid elaborated so as to bring the several disciplines
overhead of many laboratories and specialists. It would into greater rapport and understanding.
61

In order to further the aims expressed in both the conferences that the handbooks would expectably de-
preceding paragraphs, regional and topical seminars rive and future projects develop.
would be promoted. At these, the archaeologists and Finally, in order to keep researchers abreast of the
specialists would be able to take inventory of their work of the clearing house and of inter-disciplinary
problems, assess their needs, and by working together studies in general, a newsletter would be published
develop the approaches and the methods required to and distributed. This would be in addition to the
further their joint interests. It would be from such handbooks.
62

EDITOR’S SUMMARY
It has become very apparent from the foregoing papers pretation along the lines of what may be called human
that a problem exists in regard to the identification ecology, paleoecology, archaeoecology, or some other
and interpretation of materials gathered from ar- term which will include man and nature and their
chaeological field research. There seems to be a general interrelationships in past times.
consensus that potentialities are not being realized. As a corollary of this, the work of identification and
Responsibility for this lies in the fact that rapport be- interpretation must be taken out of the realm of a per-
tween the archaeologists and their colleagues in other sonal favor done by the specialist for his friend the
disciplines is not all that it should or could be. Op- archaeologist. If such work is to enlist the whole-
portunities are being missed because of lack of mutual hearted interest and support of both parties, each must
understandings as to purposes, problems, and poten- derive rewards that are satisfying to himself. There
tials as well as methods and techniques. In other words, must be developed a mutuality that will justify, and
it is seen all too clearly from this Conference that the also repay, a scientific hard-headedness and a practical
basic failure is one of communication. system of quid pro quo. Without this, the future of
One aspect of this failure is that the archacologists interdisciplinary studies is dark indeed. It was agreed
have not communicated the fact that they, too, are not that within interdisciplinary studies based on archaeol-
interested merely in identification but rather in inter- ogical materials there does lie a tremendous amount of
pretation. Since many of the specialists speaking before mutually valuable data. The problem, of course, is one
this Conference have expressed precisely this same of communication, development, and academic sales-
point of view, it is clear that any lack of cooperation manship so that such studies may be justified, not on
between the parties must be due to misunderstanding purely personal bases, but on an objective evaluation
or faulty interchange of separately held but identical of return for value given.
ideas. If this reasoning ts correct, then the problem of However, despite ideological agreement, there seem
archaeological “identifications”, in the sense of trouble to be practical obstacles in the way of such studies at
or obstacle, has been cleared away. There remains the present time. These are academic: the administra-
only the problem of coming together and agreeing trative channels of most academic institutions do not
upon a workable scheme for the study of those mu- easily accomodate disciplinary ‘‘half-breeds”. It was
tually interesting aspects of archaeologically derived brought out most clearly that interdisciplinary scholars
materials. are usually forced into one or the other of the several
Of course, in the above sentence, the gimmick is the fields of their interests and must bootleg time, funds,
word “workable”. Implicit within that word are such and even students in order to continue their cross-
concepts as “financially practicable’, ‘academically disciplinary work. In other words, the crux is that
feasible”, “personally rewarding”, “intellectually satis- academic administration has not caught up with the
fying”, and not a few others. Throughout the days of broadening interests of scholarly activity.
the Conference, many ideas pertinent to the “workabil- The need for field work on the part of the specialist
ity” of interdisciplinary research have been brought was another point of agreement, at least for such
forward, some formally and others as somewhat paren- studies as botany, zoology, and geology. It was sug-
thetical but significant asides. Whereas, before the start gested that the specialist accompany the archaeological
of the Conference, some of us expected considerable eld-party so that both he and the archaeologist might
divergence of viewpoint, not to say opposition, among develop mutual understanding of purposes, problems,
those invited to speak, it soon became apparent that and procedures. In several instances, mostly by the spe-
there was a truly remarkable agreement. As Deevey has cialists, it was further suggested that the cost of such
already said, this concordance permitted a develop- field work be borne by the archaeological budget. On
ment and expansion of those concordant ideas into re- the other hand, Johnson put it bluntly that, since the
commendations, rather than the expected arguments benefits were expectably mutual, the expenses should
over their very acceptability. Needless to say, this was be likewise. One thing, however, did seem to be gener-
a tremendously significant and helpful development, ally agreed: since the data are for the most part archae-
probably the most important single aspect of the entire ologically derived and since the archaeologist’s need
Conference. | for information seems to be the greatest, at least at the
I should like, as a sort of Summary, to delineate what present time, it should be the archaeologist who ini-
apears to me to be the framework of this consensus. tiates action to the specialists and not the reverse. Al-
The materials for this Summary are to be found in the though Jones brought up a point in Opposition to this
preceding papers. But for the purpose of brevity and, view, it nevertheless is true that techniques for ab-
I hope, clarity, I shall not cite authors or individual Stracting information from buried cultural sites per-
apers. If the reader wishes to attribute source, he has tain principally to the discipline of archaeology, while
but to refer to the articles within this volume. few botanists or zoologists or even geologists are com-
It was agreed that both the archaeologist and the petent in such matters.
specialist are interested in interpretation, not merely In regard to the solution of current difficulties in
and solely identification. Of course, the latter must obtaining identification and interpretation of archaeol-
come before the former. But if the archaeologically de- ogically derived materials, there again developed re-
rived materials are to be utilized fully and if there is to markable agreement. National or other large centers
develop mutually satisfying interdisciplinary research, for such work seemed out of the question, for financial
this must be based on interpretation, and upon inter- reasons and because no one organization could expect

to handle all the materials submitted by archaelogical cated, it would integrate the resources and manpower
projects encompassing the world. Regional centers, toward better use of existing facilities and expectable
owever, did seem practical, and these, together with financial support. Toward these ends, the agency
more extensive exploitation of local scholars and local would act as a supra-disciplinary organization to help
research facilities, were acceded to be the best and, at toward a fuller realization of the potentialities of ar-
present, the only answer. chaeological materials and interdisciplinary studies
In order to assist such regional centers and scholars based thereon.
and to bring them into closer and more efficient col- As a result of the Conference’s deliberations and the
laboration, some sort of central agency or clearing general agreement indicated above, the following re-
house was discussed and generally accepted as worth- solution was submitted, over the signature of J. Charles
while. Such an agency would not employ or house spe- Kelley as Conference Chairman, to the Division of
Cialists but would act strictly as a service organization Anthropology and Psychology of the National Re-
to further interdisciplinary studies. As Griffin advo- search Council, National Academy of Sciences:
WHEREAS: in the preliminary deliberations of the

Exploratory Committee on Archaeological Identifica-
tions, and at the conference called by that Committee
in Chicago, March 11-13, 1957, it has become increas-
ingly apparent that the most satisfactory solutions of
problems facing those concerned with Man and his
environment, both natural and cultural, call for in-
creased emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration,
and
WHEREAS: it is felt that this interdisciplinary
collaboration can be more effectively realized by such
means as:
1) the encouragement of regional centers based at
institutions where interest in such problems exists or
can be fostered,
2) the encouragement of individual investigators
interested in contributing to the solution of such prob-
lems,
3) the encouragement of specialized research pro-
grams and organizations which can assist in the solu-
tion of such problems,
4) the organization of interdisciplinary seminars,
handbooks, and other means of communication among
interested parties,
5) the encouragement of general interest in the prob-
lems of interdisciplinary collaboration,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Conference on Archaeol-
ogical Identification and the Cooperation of Specialists
in Related Disciplines that:
1) the Division of Anthropology and Psychology,
National Academy of Sciences-National Research
-
Council, consider the appointment of a standing com-

mittee to encourage and promote such purposes, and
that
2) the committee consist of no fewer than three
members appointed with particular consideration to
representation in the fields of Anthropology and Psy-
chology, Earth Sciences, and Biology and Agriculture,
and that
3) the standing committee consider appointing an
advisory group consisting of representatives of each of
the specialized areas of study pertinent to the functions
of the committee.
64

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

— NATIONAL
RESEARCH COUNCIL
The National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council is a private non-profit

organization of scientists, dedicated to the furtherance of science and to its use for the gen-
eral welfare.
The Academy itself was established in 1863 under a Congressional charter signed by
President Lincoln. Empowered to provide for all activities appropriate to academies of
science, it was also required by its charter to act as an adviser to the Federal Government
in scientific matters. This provision accounts for the close ties that have always existed
between the Academy and the Government, although the Academy is not a governmental
agency.
The National Research Council was established by the Academy in 1916, at the request
of President Wilson, to enable scientists generally to associate their efforts with those of the
limited membership of the Academy in service to the nation, to society, and to science at
home and abroad. Members of the National Research Council receive their appointments
from the President of the Academy. They include representatives nominated by the major
scientific and technical societies, representatives of the Federal Government, and a number
of members-at-large. More than gooo of the foremost scientists of the country cooperate
in the work of the Academy-Research Council through service on its many boards and
committees in the various fields of the natural sciences, including physics, astronomy, math-
ematics, chemistry, geology, engineering, biology, agriculture, the medical sciences, psy-
chology, and anthropology.
Receiving funds from both public and private sources by contribution, grant, or con-
tract, the Academy and its Research Council thus work to stimulate research and its appli-
cations, to survey the broad possibilities of science, to promote effective utilization of the
scientific and technical resources of the country, to serve the Government, and to further
the general interests of science.

‘TA

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The Identification of Non-Artifactual

FIND RELATED TITLES SUGGESTED CITATION

Report of a Conference held in Chicago March 11-13, 1956 by the Committee

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Printed in Mexico by IMPRENTA NUEVO MUNDO, S. A.

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The Current Status of the Identification Problem: The Archaeological Viewpoint

Peabody Museum, Yale University, B. J. Rouse . 20

Suggested Solutions to the Problem of Identification and Interdisciplinary Studies

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STATEMENT OF GENERAL OBJECTIVES

C. To explore possibilities for intensified interdisci-

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THE IDENTIFICATION AND INTERPRETATION OF MATERIALS PERTAINING TO,

PROBLEMS AND PROCEDURES

WHAT THE ARCHAEOLOGIST NEEDS FROM THE SPECIALIST

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MEANS TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

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THE PROBLEM OF OBTAINING ADEQUATE IDENTIFICATION

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THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEM:

PEABODY MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

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PEABODY MUSEUM, YALE UNIVERSITY

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CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

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THE OLD WORLD: PALAEOLITHIC

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THE OLD WORLD: POST-PALAEOLITHIC

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least in any systematic fashion. Matson, in 1954-55, D. GENERAL COMMENT

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THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR

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THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEM:

THE TREE-RING LABORATORY AND THE GEOCHRONOLOGICAL PROGRAM,

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FREER GALLERY OF ART, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION