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and museums. In 1937 he helped to found the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in conjunction with James A. Ford, then a graduate student at Michigan. He also formulated the preliminary synthesis that became the intellectual background for his seminal paper on “Cultural Continuity and Change,” delivered at the American Anthropological Association meeting in 1941. Griffin’s goals were always larger than mere cultural-historical integrations, although his forays into that realm were very influential. He was interested in cultural process. From early on he also repeatedly examined the connection of prehistoric remains to the historically recorded tribal units—ethno-historic concerns, as they are now termed. The cardinal rule of his investigations was to obtain as much firsthand knowledge of the sites and artifacts as he could, and in his search for broad expertise he traveled extensively. He was also open-minded about new methods of analysis. He helped to pioneer the use of Carbon 14 dating in North America and to establish the radiocarbon-dating laboratory in Ann Arbor, which would serve as a major source of New World dates for nearly twenty years.

During the war he taught economic and political geography to soldiers. In 1945 he was finally made an associate professor of anthropology with regular teaching responsibilities, and his title at the museum was upgraded to director in 1946. In 1941 Griffin had teamed up with James Ford at Louisiana State University and Philip Phillips of Harvard’s peabody museum to undertake extensive field survey and archaeological testing in the Lower Mississippi Valley that continued during the war, resulted in a major and influential monograph, and was representative of his interest in spatial expanses and interareal interactions.

Over the next twenty-five years, until he retired in 1975, Griffin continued to build his record of accomplishments from his base in Ann Arbor. He became a full professor in 1949, and his teaching and extensive involvement with graduate students increased as the Museum of Anthropology and the department became one of the principal training grounds for North American archaeologists in the country. Griffin was president of the society for american archaeology from 1951 to 1952, and in 1957 the society awarded him the Viking Fund Medal for Archaeology for his achievements. He was made a member of the National Academy of Science in 1968.

Griffin’s legacy to American archaeology was significant. His strong published record of basic research totaled more than 260 items. He affected the personal and intellectual lives of scores of students and scholars—by 1975 he had guided more Ph.D. candidates through their degrees than anyone else in the department. He had a fine-tuned ability to evaluate new data and new ideas critically. All serious students of the archaeology of eastern North America must acknowledge Griffin’s contribution, whether their area is woodland influences on the western plains or on the mid-Atlantic coast or the question of Iroquoian origins in the Great Lakes region. Griffin covered an unequaled range of subjects in space and time.

Stephen Williams

Guatemala

Guatemala is one of the five independent republics of Central America and comprises a major part of what is defined in archaeology as the Mesoamerican region. The population today is approximately 12 million, over half of whom are Indians of Maya ancestry. Some twenty-two Maya dialects have been identified since the Spanish conquest, as well as Pipil (Nahuat) and Xinca, which are currently nearing extinction. Today the predominant Maya language groups in Guatemala are the Quiche, Cakchiquel, Tzutujil, Kekchi, Pokomam, and Mam.

Two major geographic-ecological regions have affected cultural evolution through time: the tropical lowlands and the temperate highlands. The lowlands area includes the Pacific coast and piedmont zone and the entire northern