On Pseudoscience and Treponemal Disease in the Western Pacific

Tehuacán and Oaxaca projects in detail because they had had such a powerful influence on the rest of MexiCorrection can early-period archaeology that it was impossible to work in that field without doing so. I gradually became aware that many of the interpretations and conclusions laura nader were based on minimal data and many preconceived Department of Anthropology, University of ideas. ‘‘The immediate objective . . . was the establishCalifornia, Berkeley, Calif. 94720-3710, U.S.A. ment of an uninterrupted archaeological column span21 vii 98 ning the time between the first human occupation of the valley and the Spanish Conquest. This hoped-for arIn 1996, my article ‘‘The Phantom Factor: Impact of the chaeological column would almost certainly be divisiCold War on Anthropology’’ appeared in a book pubble into cultural phases’’ (MacNeish 1967:14). Both lished by The New Press, The Cold War and the Unithese objectives had been achieved in only two field seaversity, with the following egregious error at the botsons. Even so, my primary intention was to try to build tom of p. 124. The original manuscript read, ‘‘At this on the published work by contributing some kind of inpoint, the Student Mobilization Committee (on the war formation on the use of the artefacts (Hardy 1993:20). in Vietnam) sent an ethics committee member, Eric In the event, I encountered so many problems with the Wolf, purloined documents from the files of Michael typology and technological interpretations in the part of Moerman. . . .’’ The sentence completely changed the Tehuacán assemblage that I saw that this proved to meaning when the editor inserted a ‘‘who’’ after Eric be impossible. I had been warned by many people that Wolf’s name. The editor’s insertion of a ‘‘who’’ after his if I became involved in critical analyses of work by Flanname made the adjective ‘‘purloined’’ into a verb, nery and MacNeish my work would be strongly atthereby incorrectly implying that it was Wolf who had tacked. I did not expect, though, that anyone would go purloined documents. Eric Wolf did not purloin any as far as they have done here. documents. Flannery repeatedly asks why I did not contact him or MacNeish. He fails to mention that I wrote him numerous letters requesting permission to look at his Oaxaca material, not one of which was replied to. Unable to wait any longer, and assuming that his repeated lack On the Tehuacán Project: Reply of response denoted a lack of interest, I eventually received written permission from Frank Hole to do what to Flannery and MacNeish I wished with the Oaxacan lithics. I also wrote to MacNeish and received a reply saying that he was delighted for me to look at the Tehuacán lithics. MacNeish also karen hardy telephoned me once from Mexico City suggesting that Carsewell Farmhouse, Silverburn, Midlothian we meet, and it is to my eternal disappointment that he EH26 9LA, Scotland, U.K. 18 vi 98 had given me no advance warning of his 24-hour stay there. I was elsewhere in Mexico and was unable to Flannery and MacNeish’s comments on my 1996 report meet him. After this time, I tried repeatedly to talk to (CA 38:660–72) contain a number of errors. Flannery is MacNeish about my work. He never answered my calls, right in pointing out that my report was a result of my and I finally gave up. I feel confident that I did my level Ph.D. thesis. Had Flannery and MacNeish checked my best to involve these people in my work, and I remain thesis (Hardy 1993), however, they would have found sorry that I so utterly failed. that this was only part of it. The second half of the theWhat I did manage to do in Mexico was to meet Ansis is made up of the results of an analysis of all the pretoinette Nelken-Terner and Angel Garcı́a Cook. Garcı́a ceramic lithic artefacts from Oaxaca. MacNeish would Cook’s insistence that I not be given access to the Tetherefore have been prevented from undermining his huacán material was finally overruled, at a meeting of conclusion by erroneously stating that ‘‘the comments the Consejo, by José Luis Lorenzo. A compromise had about Oaxaca are based upon neither examination of to be reached, and I accepted the collection in the Dethe artifacts nor adequate consideration of the pubpartment of Prehistory, knowingly forgoing the other lished material’’ (p. 671). I decided to reexamine the collections. I was not, as Flannery suggests (p. 662), influenced by Lorenzo. I paid him a courtesy visit in Mex1. Permission to reprint items in this section may be obtained only from their authors. ico City, and he offered his assistance if I needed it.