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The Demise of the Alaka Initial Ceramic Phase Has been Greatly Exaggerated: Response to D. Williams

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Anna C. Roosevelt
Anna C. Roosevelt*
Affiliation:
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 6060707139
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Abstract

Denis Williams writes to comment on my article on Archaic shell mound pottery in eastern South America (Roosevelt 1995). He states that he will “correct” my article by putting on record “new facts.” Rather than correct my article, Williams"s comment misstates both the content of my article and that of earlier literature on Guyanese archaeology, and it merely repeats the data included in my article. In addition, Williams's comment presents some interesting but internally contradictory elaborations of his earlier interpretations of Guyanese archaeology but still without supplying the basic data on which his interpretations are based. In essence, contrary to my article, Williams states that there is no such thing as a Guyanese Archaic shell mound pottery occupation, known in earlier literature as the Alaka Incipient Ceramic phase (Evans and Meggers 1960:25-64). Williams presents this conclusion as “fact,” but it contradicts the existing data from stratigraphy, pottery distribution, and radiocarbon dates in the shell mounds, and he furnishes no other specific data that support it. In my comment on his comment, I will document these various aspects of his comment and define the type of data that he needs to present to allow empirical evaluation of his assertions.

Denis Williams comenta mi artículo reciente sobre la cerámica arcaica en los conchales de del este de Sudamérica (Roosevelt 1995). El sostiene que “corregirá” mi artículo demostrando “nuevos hechos.” En lugar de corregir mi artículo, el comentario de Williams tergiversa tanto el contenido de mi artículo como la literatura más temprana sobre arqueologia guyanesa y repite los datos por mí referidos. Además, el comentario de Williams presenta algunas elaboraciones interesantes perio internamenta contradictorias sobre sus previas interpretaciones de la arqueologóa guyanesa, pero aún sin proporcionar los datos en los que éstas se basan. En esencia, Williams sostiene, en contraste con mi artículo, que no existe tal ocupación cerámica de los conchales arcaicos, conocidos en la literatura previa como la Fase Cerámica Incipients Alaka (Evans and Meggers 1960:25-64). Williams presenta esta conclusión como “hecho” pero ésta contradice los datos existentes en la estratigrafía, distribución cerámica, yfechados radiocarbónicos de los conchales, y él no proporciona datos especifícos para sustentarla. En mí comentario sobre su comentario, yo documentaré esos aspectos de sus comentarios y definiré el tipo de datos que él necesita presentar para poder evaluar empiricamente sus proposiciones.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 1997 , pp. 353 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

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References

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