JFK, Democracy, and U.S. Security Policy in the Americas

Book reviewed in this article:
Stephen G. Rabe, The Most Dangerous Area in the World: John F. Kennedy Confronts Communist Revolution in Latin America     

SOAPSTONE VESSEL CHRONOLOGY AND FUNCTION IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS OF EASTERN TENNESSEE: THE APPLE BARN SITE (40BT90) ASSEMBLAGE

The function and chronology of soapstone vessels in the Eastern Woodlands has been a contentious issue that deserves discussion at a more regional and subregional scale. We provide an overview of the Apple Barn site (40BT90) soapstone vessel assemblage, one of the largest Late Archaic/ Early Woodland collections in the southern Appalachians. Results from residue analysis of pollen, starch, and phytoliths on four vessel fragments reveal the processing of various plants, correlating well with the macrobotanical results from the site. The AMS dates derived from seven sooted samples span ca. 1700 cal. B.C. to ca. 800 cal. B.C., suggesting mundane soapstone vessel use persists later in the southern Appalachians relative to other areas of the Southeast. When soapstone is no longer used at the Apple Barn site, post–750 cal. B.C., there is a significant shift in feature volume and organization, suggesting a change from seasonal group aggregations to semisedentary family tended garden plots. This shift denotes a significant change in foodways where the social and functional ties to soapstone were no longer relevant.     

Lime Powder Production in the Maya Puuc Region (A.D. 600–950): An Experimental Pit-Kiln

Powdered lime was one of the most significant materials in the daily lives of the Prehispanic Maya, yet archaeologists have uncovered relatively little evidence of production methods or locales prior to the Spanish conquest. The recent identification of a series of pit-kilns dating to the Late and Terminal Classic periods (ca. a.d. 650–950) in and around the site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula provides the opportunity to investigate a sub-regional Prehispanic lime production technology. Here we present the preliminary excavation results of nine pit-kilns and then describe the experimental reconstruction and firing of a lime pit-kiln. The results indicate that the pit-kilns are more fuel-efficient than the aboveground pyres used during the post-conquest period. This in turn suggests that Prehispanic inhabitants of the Puuc managed their consumption of natural resources for producing lime during a period of sociopolitical, demographic, and environmental stresses.