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Residential architecture has traditionally been of special interest to archaeologists (Trigger 1967), and in recent studies of hunter and gatherer societies it has assumed new importance as an indicator of social complexity (Price and Brown 1985) and residential mobility (Ames 1991). A great deal of productive research has been conducted in southern Idaho in the last 15 years, resulting in the identification of 15 sites with house features and information on 29 separate structures. This paper describes the prehistoric houses built in southern Idaho, compares these with other residential structures in the Intermountain West, and identifies needed research to place these features in a broader interpretative framework. The geographic area of the study includes the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho, and the Boise, Payette, and Weiser river drainages in western Idaho (Fig. 1). For recent overviews of southern Idaho prehistory see Butler (1986), Holmer (1990), Meatte (1990), Titmus and Woods (1991), and Pavesic and Studebaker (1993).

The Maxon Ranch Site. Lynn L. Harrell and Scott T McKem. Rock Springs: Archaeological Services, Western Wyoming College, Cultural Resource Management Report No. 18, 1986, 215 pp., 47 figures, 24 tables, bibliography, 5 appendices, $10.00. The Sweetwater Creek Site. Janice C. Newberry and Cheryl Harrison. Rock Springs: Archaeological Services, Western Wyoming College, Cultural Resource Management Report No. 19, 1986, 121 pp., 31 figures, 17 tables, bibliography, 2 appendices, $7.50.

Many archaeological sites along coastlines and rivers contain large quantities of marine and riverine bivalve shell. Often shell is the only datable organic material available to determine radiocarbon age estimates of features and to build regional chronologies. Shell is difficult to date accurately because of reservoir effects, and archaeologists have avoided it despite its abundance. If reservoir effects are understood, shell can provide accurate radiocarbon age estimates. This report provides an example using regression relations computed from radiocarbon assays of paired shell/charcoal samples from archaeological sites along the middle and lower Snake River, Northwestern North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires universities, museums, and federal agencies to inventory their archeological collections to prepare for the repatriation of skeletons to their Native American descendants. The loss of these collections will be a detriment to the study of North American osteology, but the inventory and repatriation process has increased the number of skeletons studied from about 30% to nearly 100%. The availability of funds stimulated by this law produced osteological data collection and systematization unprecedented in the history of osteology. The possibility of forming partnerships between Native Americans and osteologists has the potential of producing a vibrant future for North American osteology and the new bioarcheology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]