"This volume is a major synthesis of the archaeology of the Appalachian region and includes much material that was previously unpublished or underpublished. The information and interpretations presented will be very useful for archaeologists working in eastern North American who are interested in this diverse region."--C. Clifford Boyd, Jr., Radford University "Archaeology of the Appalachian Highlands reveals that every part of Appalachia yields archaeological evidence significant to understanding the broad prehistoric sweep of the American Indians. In this most welcome volume, editors Lynn Sullivan and Susan Prezzano have assembled the most current interpretations of archaeological theory, technology, and cultural history as these occour in the highlands of eastern North America. . . . This volume to shatteer myths about Appalachian and its past."--David S. Brose, Director, Schiele Museum of Natural History

This book presents archaeology addressing all periods in the Native Southeast as a tribute to the career of Jefferson Chapman, longtime director of the Frank H. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Written by Chapman’s colleagues and former students, the chapters add to our current understanding of early native southeastern peoples as well as Chapman’s original work and legacy to the field of archaeology. Some chapters review, reevaluate, and reinterpret archaeological evidence using new data, contemporary methods, or alternative theoretical perspectives— something that Chapman, too, fostered throughout his career. Others address the history and significance of archaeological collections curated at the Frank H. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, where Chapman was the director for nearly thirty years. The essays cover a broad range of archaeological material studies and methods and in doing so carry forth Chapman’s legacy.

"This volume demonstrates how archaeologists working in the Southern Appalachian region over the past 40 years have developed rich interpretations of prehistoric and historic Southeastern Native societies by examining them from multiple scales of analysis. The end results of these examinations demonstrate both the uses and the constraints of multiscalar approaches in reconstructing various lifeways across the Southeast"--

The emergence of village-communities profoundly transformed social organization in every part of the world where such societies developed. Contributors to 'The Archaeology of Villages in Eastern North America' employ archaeological and historical evidence to explore the development of villages among eastern North American indigenous societies of the deep and recent past. Rich data sets from archaeology and contemporary social theory are employed to document the physical attributes of villages, the structural organization and aggregation of such entities, what it means to be a villager, cosmological and ritual systems, and how villages were entangled with one another in regional networks.

This book in the SAA Press Current Perspectives Series represents a period-by-period synthesis of southeastern prehistory designed for high school and college students, avocational archaeologists, and interested members of the general public. It also serves as a basic reference for professional archaeologists worldwide on the record of a remarkable region.

For the prehistoric people of the Middle Atlantic region, copper held a fascination higher than rank, achievement, or status. Native copper artifacts, along with other exotic objects, were seen as a conduit or connection between the living and the dead and were used in burial. Other studies have viewed the use of such artifacts in burials as indicative of an individual’s status and rank, providing evidence for complex society. In Archaeology, Copper, and Complexity, Gregory Denis Lattanzi contends that such economic explanations should be rethought, arguing that the presence of highly exotic artifacts like copper beads and gorgets could be representative of the different mechanisms at play within prehistoric ideology, ceremonialism, and ritual.

Native Americans have occupied the mountains of northwestern North Carolina for around 14,000 years. This book tells the story of their lives, adaptations, responses to climate change, and ultimately, the devastation brought on by encounters with Europeans. After a brief introduction to archaeology, the book covers each time period, chapter by chapter, beginning with the Paleoindian period in the Ice Age and ending with the arrival of Daniel Boone in 1769, with descriptions and interpretations of archaeological evidence for each time period. Each chapter begins with a fictional vignette to kindle the reader's imaginings of ancient human life in the mountains, and includes descriptions and numerous images of sites and artifacts discovered in Boone, North Carolina, and the surrounding region.

Patty Jo Watson's prolific career began in the early 1950s as an energetic graduate student at the University of Chicago and culminated with her induction into the National Academy of Sciences and subsequent retirement from Washington University in 2003. During that time her groundbreaking research impacted multiple fields within the discipline of archaeology, but her astonishing research into the underground caves of the eastern United States recognizes her as one of the world's leading experts on cave archaeology. In honor of Dr. Watson and her monumental achievements in the field, twenty-two established scholars present in this volume new and insightful research into prehistoric and historic use of southeastern dark zones. Cave Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands, edited by David H. Dye, explores how prehistoric and historic peoples utilized caves as a means to further their economic growth and represent cultural values within their societies. The essays range in topics from early gypsum mining to rare American Indian cave art, from historic saltpeter extraction to current archaeobotanical and paleofecal research. Dye and the contributors contend that studies of deep zone caves reveal multiple insights into the values, beliefs, and cultural lifeways of ancient and historic peoples. In addition to presenting new research in the field, contributors also place particular emphasis on Dr. Watson's influential cave research and how it has molded their own work. The essays convey a sense of wonder at the unique and sometimes harrowing world of caves, and readers will get a sense of why Native Americans regarded the Underworld or Beneathworld as a supernatural realm to be tread upon with great respect and caution. This volume of uniformly excellent essays will no doubt be a lantern that sheds light onto the importance of studying and understanding the all too secret world of underground caves. David H. Dye is professor of archaeology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Memphis and a former student of Patty Jo Watson's. He is author of Cycles of Violence: An Archaeology of Peace and War in Native Eastern North American, coeditor, with Richard J. Chacon, of The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians, and, with Cheryl Anne Cox, of Towns and Temples Along the Mississippi.

The second edition of Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: The New Pragmatism, has been thoroughly updated and revised, and features top scholars who redefine the theoretical and political agendas of the field, and challenge the usual distinctions between time, space, processes, and people. Defines the relevance of archaeology and the social sciences more generally to the modern world Challenges the traditional boundaries between prehistoric and historical archaeologies Discusses how archaeology articulates such contemporary topics and issues as landscape and natures; agency, meaning and practice; sexuality, embodiment and personhood; race, class, and ethnicity; materiality, memory, and historical silence; colonialism, nationalism, and empire; heritage, patrimony, and social justice; media, museums, and publics Examines the influence of American pragmatism on archaeology Offers 32 new chapters by leading archaeologists and cultural anthropologists

The definitive reference guide to artifacts representing 14,000 years of cultural evolution Pennsylvania is geographically, ecologically, and culturally diverse. The state is situated at the crossroads of several geographic zones and drainage basins which resulted in a great deal of variation in Native American societies. The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania is the definitive reference guide to rich artifacts that represent 14,000 years of cultural evolution. This authoritative work includes environmental studies, descriptions and illustrations of artifacts and features, settlement pattern studies, and recommendations for directions of further research. Containing previously unpublished data and representing fifty years of collaborative findings gathered under historic preservation laws, the book is organized into five parts, reflecting five major time periods. Essential for anyone conducting archaeological research in Pennsylvania and surrounding regions, especially professionals conducting surveys and research in compliance with state and federal preservation laws, as well as professors and students engaging in research on specific regions or topics in Middle Atlantic archaeology.