After several double-issues, the production of the SAS Bulletin is more-or-less on track, and we have returned to our quarterly format. In coming issues we should be able to publish more timely material including job announcements, conference calls-for-papers, etc., but we can’t do that unless our readers send us the material! We are easily reachable by email and fax, so send us your news.

About the same time that you receive this Bulletin, you will also be receiving your membership renewal for 1999. Unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful in forestalling a rate increase by the Journal of Archaeological Science, and the new rate will be reflected in those membership categories which include JAS subscriptions. As many of our readers have noted in response to a letter from President Rob Sternberg sent out on SAS-Net earlier this year, the new JAS subscription rate is still a tremendous bargain for 12 monthly issues of a leading scholarly publication in a format which allows reproduction of high quality illustrations (e.g. SEM photomicrographs). Concerns were raised, nevertheless, about the affordability of subscriptions for members outside North America and western Europe. Even within these regions, the institutional subscription rate is so high that at least one Ivy League university has cancelled its subscription. Your Society is doing what it can to address these concerns, but we need to hear from you too, especially those of you who are in Latin America, Asia, or Africa.

Archaeological Science continues its high visibility in both the scholarly and public communities. The November 20, 1998 issue of Science featured a large section on "Transitions in Prehistory" which included discussions of early agriculture and the contributions from phytolith analysis and AMS dating, paleoclimatic studies, and zooarchaeology. In Time (April 20, 1998), the role of science in the investigation of the Shroud of Turin was prominently, if uncritically, presented. Archaeological science will also be a significant component of the World Archaeological Congress in Cape Town, with sessions on ceramics, dating, archaeometallurgy, dietary studies, genetics, provenance studies, and remote sensing.

Lastly, we apologize for the poor quality reproduction of the graphics in our last issue and hope that problem is resolved.