Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Why it Matters
Archaeological Science
Coping with Incomplete Information
The Use and Misuse of Evidence
Mistakes and Fakes
The Difference Between Biological and Cultural Evolution
Basic Concepts for the Study of Cultural Evolution
Ecological Approaches
North America and Human Potential
Geography and Basic Terms
The Special Place of Rock Art
Oral Tradition
Summary
Further Reading
2. Eurasian Origins
Introduction
The Evolution of Modern Humans
Out of Africa
The Expansion of Modern Humans
Lines of Evidence from Living American Indians
Crossing Beringia
Traveling Companions
Archaeological Traces in Siberia
Swan Point
The Nenana Complex
The First Americans
Summary
Further Reading
3. The Peopling of America
Introduction
Was Clovis Culture First?
Dubious Claims for Pre-Clovis Sites
More Likely Claims for Pre-Clovis Sites
The Paleoindian Period
Tracking Paleoindians from Beringia
The Nenana Complex Revisited
The Mesa Site
Accommodating the Monte Verde Site
Sites on the California Coast
Clovis Culture
The Atlantic Alternative
The Great Extinction
Paleoindian Skeletal Evidence
The End of the Paleoindian Period
Summary
Further Reading
4. Archaic Adaptations
Introduction
Holocene Adaptations
The Roots of Domestication
The Luck of Good Location
Humanizing Environments
Palynology
The Humanized Forest
Consequences for Human Adaptation
Hallmarks in Stone
Major Adaptive Trends in the Holocene
Insights from Ethnography
Managing Mobility
The Magic Number 500 and the Redefinition of Sharing
The Great Basin Laboratory
The Northeastern Archaic
Other Archaic Cultures
Evolving Technology
Centers of Plant Domestication
Summary
Further Reading
5. The Moundbuilders
The Environment of the Eastern Woodlands
First Impressions
The Roots of Mound Building in the Eastern Woodlands
Adena Culture
Hopewell Culture
Later Burial Moundbuilders
The Beginnings of Platform Mounds
Summary
Further Reading
6. The Greater Southwest
Introduction
The First Farmers
Language Families
Regional Ecology
Hohokam
Mogollon
Ancestral Pueblo
Sinagua
Patayan
The Contraction of Greater Southwest Cultures
Later Ancestral Pueblo and Modern Descendants
Arrival of the Athapaskans
Summary
Further Reading
7. Mesoamerican Civilization
Introduction
Mesoamerican Geography
The Consequences of Plant Domestication
Mesoamerican Chronology
The Olmecs
Olmec Polities
Olmec Centers
Highland Mexico
Cuicuilco
Teotihuacán
Competing City-States
Oaxaca
Maya Civilization
Major Maya City-States
The Maya Collapse
The Mesoamerican Ball Game
The Rest of Mesoamerica
Summary
Further Reading
8. Postclassic Mesoamerica
Introduction
The Postclassic Period
The Toltecs
The Rise of the Aztecs
Aztec Society and Empire
Aztec Religion
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Calendar and Math
Native Books
The Aztec Imperial Economy
The End of Native Empires
The Rest of Mexico
The Postclassic Maya
Highland Central America
Summary
Further Reading
9. The Mississippians
Introduction
Mississippians and Mesoamericans
The Rise of Maize Farming
Middle Mississippian
South Appalachian Mississippian
Plaquemine Mississippian
Caddoan Mississippian Societies
Summary
Further Reading
10. The Northeastern Forests
Introduction
The Rise of Farming Cultures in the Northern Woodlands
The Descendants of Hopewell
The Algonquian Expansion
Wild Rice Gathering
Algonquian Rock Art
Later Eastern Algonqians
Northern Iroquoians
The Formation of Confederacies
The Workings of the League of the Iroquois
Demographic Change and Adaptation
The Central Algonquians and Siouans
Other Northerners and Other Adjustments
Epidemics and Depopulation
Summary
Further Reading
11. The Gulf Rim
Introduction
The Gulf Environment
Early Mound Building
Troyville-Coles Creek Culture
Weeden Island, Fort Walton, and Safety Harbor Cultures
Southern Florida
The Northern Gulf Coast
The Antilles
The Mexican Gulf Coast
Summary
Further Reading
12. The Interior West
Introduction
The Great Plains
Northern Plains Hunter-Gatherers
Southern Plains Hunter-Gatherers
Plains Woodland Cultures
Plains Village Cultures
The Great Basin
The Plateau
The Horse Nomads
Summary
Further Reading
13. The West Coast
Introduction
The Northwest Coast
Historic Northwest Coast Cultures
The Roots of Northwest Coast Culture
Southern Northwest Coast
California
The Man Called Ishi
Baja California
Summary
Further Reading
14. The Arctic and Subarctic
The Arctic Environment
Arctic Stage 1: The Earliest Evidence
Arctic Stage 2: Finding Solutions
Arctic Stage 3: The Arctic Small Tool Tradition
Arctic Stage 4: Kachemak, Choris, Norton, Ipiutak, Dorset, and Old Bering Sea
Arctic Stage 5: Thule Culture
The Norse
The Subarctic
Summary
Further Reading
15. Worlds in Collision
Introduction
The Columbian Exchange
American Indian Populations
The Development of Archaeology
The Rise of Professional Archaeology
Archaeology and American Indians
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Conclusion
Summary
Further Reading

Index