The Nottoway River Survey announces the publication of Nottoway River Survey, Part-II, Cactus Hill and Other Excavated Sites.  The focus of the book is pre-Clovis, Paleoindian, and Archaic period research in a 400-square-mile area of southeastern Virginia in the mid-Atlantic region of eastern North America.

While the work contains a general summary of over 30 years of research on more than 80 Native American sites within the Nottoway River drainage, the specific emphasis is upon new data including radiocarbon dates and other multidisciplinary findings from the NRS excavations in the pre-Clovis and Clovis cultural levels on the well known Cactus Hill archaeological site.

Nine years in writing, this very attractive book printed in the US by Dietz Press as a limited edition contains 715 8-1/2″ x 11″ pages in glossy paper with a wear resistant soft cover and sewn binding construction suitable for use in classroom, office, and laboratory environments.  There are 12 chapters consisting of an introduction, a summary, a NRS pre-Clovis and Paleoindian 22-year-research-update chapter covering the period since the publication of Part-I, and nine separate site excavation chapters centering around the 210-page (Chapter 5) Cactus Hill site final report. 

The book contains 105 data tables and 310 black and white figures with over 590 individual photographs, drawings, and graphs of archaeological excavations, artifacts, artifact sequences, in situ excavation features, excavation layouts, cultural material and scientific sample depth relationships, and general site area and river scenes.  This work represents one of the first attempts to evaluate the various early point traditions based upon the use of specific site-water-related environments or microenvironments, site topography, and band range or territory size. 

The book is recommended for those involved in research, teaching, or CRM work in the East.  It will also be of significant value to anyone interested specifically in North American pre-Clovis and Paleoindian topics.

The cost is $79.50 per copy plus a shipping and handling cost of $8.00 per book; we ship by USPS (book rate) in sturdy cardboard containers, and we ship only within the US.  Included with each Part-II book ordered will be a complimentary copy of Nottoway River Survey, Part-I, Clovis Settlement Patterns, the popular 171-page work that was published in 1992, which normally sells for $22.00.  The total shipment weight per book order is 6.5 pounds.

For shipment within the US, please send check or money order totaling $87.50 per book (Virginia residents please add  5.3% sales tax on $79.50) to:

Nottoway River Publications
5861 White Oak Road
Sandston, Virginia  23150

Three prehistoric site areas on the Oregon coast have yielded Chinese porcelains. Two are located on the south side of the sand spit at Nehalem Bay (35-TI-4; 35-TI-4b), and the third site is located within the sand spit at Netarts (35-TI-1).

While Spanish galleons are often suggested as the sole source of these materials, the archaeological and historical evidence suggests otherwise. In all, the remains of at least two and probably four ships have been reported. The timber from one ship and a ship’s pulley have been radiocarbon dated, and much of the porcelain has been analyzed. Dates for the prehistoric sites, the ships’ wood, and the porcelains are comparable. Stylistically, however, the two porcelain assemblages represent separate origins.

Curious about Paleoamerican sites? Do really old archaeological sites in the Americas hold your interest? What kinds of tools did the earliest people in North and South America use, what environments did they select for living, what foods were important to them? Within these pages, world famous archaeologists and other ancient site specialists report the results of their investigations into some of the oldest and most important archaeological sites and specimens in the New World. For many decades, Clovis was assumed to be the first culture in the Americas. Now, however, sites predating Clovis by literally tens of thousands of years have been recognized. These well documented sites provide far more than the mere validation that sites older than Clovis exist. Importantly, some pre-Clovis site elements, tools, materials, and technologies seem similar to each other, despite appearing in many different geographic regions. Thus, one important task archaeologists now face is to determine what similarities or differences are reflected in these sites and assemblages, and what this can tell us about the people who made them. Additionally, a vast array of occupation environments has now been identified, and the significance of these distinct ecosystems must also be considered. Are these different ecologies suggestive of differing economies and cultural preferences? Are separate and distinct population groups indicated? While the focus of this volume is upon sites and material culture, several additional issues are addressed. Discussions include both the positive and problematic aspects of genetics, and the recognition and analysis of ancient technologies. One question to be addressed is whether the human groups and their tool types descended from a common but distant ancestor? Two other topics discussed briefly are the changes in index species over time and the evidence of dietary change with the extinction of some species of megafauna. Do changes in index species represent more than extinction or survival patterns? Is disease indicated by the elimination of some megafauna but the survival of others? All of these topics, and more, were discussed at a meeting hosted by the Smithsonian Institution.

Papers presented at a conference on science in archaeology. Topics included evidence for early migrations, science and religion in America, cutting-edge DNA and radiocarbon dating studies, and the legal and scientific issues of the Kennewick Man.

In a recent issue of CAHO, a request for information was posted. It stated that a number of Haskett and

similar point types had been recovered from water environments, and that the condition of all of the bifaces was

excellent. People were asked to report any of these early types, when the provenienced location was one that was submerged.

From the Institute for Archaeological Studies web site: The facts behind a mysterious population who lived in the Northwest in prehistoric times. The only record of their existence is in the archaeological record they left behind.