10 FELLOW NEWSLETTER (1,1961)
EXCHANGE OF PUBLICATIONS REQUESTED
Centro Latino-Americano de Pesquisas em CifinciasSociais
The Center publishes a quarterly Boletim containingarticles on various aspects of education, social or-ganization, demography, social attitudes, agrarianproblems, etc., and a series of Publications. Thelatter, of which 12 have been released, include aseries of appraisals of the present status of socialscience in various countries of Latin America as wellas monographs on aspects of social change.
All publications of the Center are available for ex-change. The Center is anxious to receive in returnpublications dealing with sociology, history, anthro-pology, psychology, public administration, businessadministration, economics, statistics, politicalscience, demography and social history.
Inquiries and publications should be directed toL.A. Costa Pinto, Diretor, Centro Latino-americanode Pesquisas em Cifincias Sociais, Av Pasteur, 431,Rio de Janeiro, Est da Guanabara, Brasil.
Museo Arqueologico, Islas Canarias
The Museo Arqueologico publishes a series of mono-graphs, of which Number 2, "Trabajos en Torno a laCueva Sepulcral de Roque Blanco," has just been re-leased .
Exchanges are invited. Inquiries should be addressedto: Museo Arqueologico, Apartado 133, Santa Cruz deTenerife, Islas Canarias.
NEW PROGRAMS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTEREST
A New Method of Archeological Dating using Obsidian
Preliminary investigations, conducted during the pasttwo years by Irving Friedman and Robert L. Smith ofthe U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation withClifford Evans and Betty J Meggers of the SmithsonianInstitution, have shown promising results in theattempt to use the special properties of obsidian forthe construction of an absolute time scale. A grantfrom the NSF will permit intensive research and ex-perimentation during the next two years, so that thepossibilities and limitations of the obsidian datingmethod can be clearly defined. The grant has beenawarded to the Smithsonian Institution, with CliffordEvans named as principal investigator and DonavanClark as Research Assistant
The peculiar characteristics of obsidian, which makeit the only natural material susceptible to this kindof analysis, and the results obtained thus far in theresearch have been described in detail in the April1960 issue of AMERICAN ANTIQUITY (Vol. 25, No. 4,pp. 476-537) Briefly, it can be explained that thesurface of obsidian is able to adsorb moisture fromthe atmosphere by a process known as "hydration," bywhich the composition of the affected area is changedchemically and physically This hydration layer isvisible in thin section under high-powered magnifica-tion. The rate at which the hydration layer developsappears to be controlled principally by temperatureand time. Tentative rates have been established formajor temperature zones of the world. Within each of
these zones, the principal factor producing differ-ences in thickness of the hydration layer is time,and measurement of the thickness in microns can beconverted into years before present by references tothe appropriate rate.
In order to take maximum advantage of the opportunityto refine this method during the next two years, thestaff solicits the cooperation of archeologists whohave documented specimens, either artifacts or chips,from any part of the world. Communications should beaddressed to Donavan Clark, Obsidian Dating Project,Division of Archeology, U.S. National Museum, Wash-ington 25, D.C., and should include data on proven-ience, quantity and kind of specimens, and strati-graphic or other means of judging relative or abso-lute age.
POSITIONS OPEN
State University of Education, New Paltz, N.Y.
Teaching in and directing African program. Qualifi-cations: Doctorate (or equivalent) in social science,preferably anthropology or sociology; a record ofsuccessful teaching; interest in improving generaleducation program; extended travel or study in a sub-Saharan African country, or a citizen of one of thesecountries. Rank and salary: Associate or full pro-fessorship depending on qualifications; 10 monthssalary beginning range $7000-8400, subject to sub-stantial upward revision depending on action ofState Legislature; five annual increments of ca.$250; state retirement plus Social Security; hospi-tal, medical and surgical coverage. Beginning date:July 1, 1961. Inquiries should be addressed to:Eugene P Link, Chairman, Social Science Division,State University College of Education, New Paltz,N.Y.
Instructor or Assistant Professor, Eastern KentuckyState College
Eastern Kentucky State College wishes to hire ananthropologist beginning September 1961, to teachthe elementary course in anthropology and multiplesections of the anthropologically oriented Historyof Civilization course. Development of an advancedprogram in cultural anthropology is envisaged. Quali-fications include solid undergraduate training inworld history, European history, or western civili-zation, and at least an M.A. in anthropology. Formaltraining and interest should be broad rather thanhighly specialized. Rank, dependent on qualifications,Instructor or Assistant Professor, with salary rang-ing from about $6000-8000 for eleven months of teach-ing. Inquiries should be addressed to Kerney M.Adams,Chairman, Div of History and Pol. Sci., EasternKentucky State College, Richmond, Kentucky.
