Some Continuing Problems in New World Culture History

Abstract

To aid in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Society for American Archaeology and its journal,American Antiquity, I was invited to address myself to “Unsolved Problems in New World Culture History.” I have agreed to do this, but, with the editor's indulgence, I would like to rephrase the title as I have, for I think that the word “continuing” more accurately captures the sense of the situation and where our interests lie. As all of us are aware, there are many unsolved problems in Precolumbian culture history—“more holes than cheese,” as the saying goes—but I think I should take a look at some of those with which we are most familiar.