The area around the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers has become a sharp focus of discussion about late Mississippian developments. The debate largely is based on the presence or absence of artifacts thought to be protohistoric or contact period horizon markers. Late deposits at Wickliffe Mounds (15BA4) have produced two such artifacts: astragalus dice and a head-effigy pot. Close study of the ceramic sequence and associated radiocarbon dates indicates that both “horizon markers” belong to the late prehistoric period of western Kentucky, and that neither can settle the debate about protohistoric occupation.

No abstract

Arguments for Paleoindian overkill of Late Pleistocene megafauna have traditionally emphasized North America with little more than token reference to other areas. Other scholars reject human causation of Pleistocene extinctions, preferring to see in climatic and environmental changes a sufficient explanation for the losses of these forms. This paper discusses the idea of overkill with reference to a computer simulation by Mosimann and Martin (1975), and offers reasons for preferring an alternative formulation. It is also suggested that the case of South America should be reviewed separately, and that an environmental explanation of Pleistocene extinction may be more suitable there.

No abstract