Provides a comparative overview of the late prehistoric cultures that lived in the Middle Atlantic region between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1600. Regional specialists address issues regarding social complexity, community pattering and organization, social organizations, subsistence (especially the use of agriculture), warfare, and use of storage.

Regional identities and practices are often debated in American archaeology, but Middle Atlantic prehistorians have largely refrained from such discussions, focusing instead on creating chronologies and studying socio-political evolution from the perspective of sub-regions. What is Middle Atlantic prehistoric archaeology? What are the questions and methods that identify our practice in this region or connect research in our region to larger anthropological themes? Middle Atlantic Prehistory: Foundations and Practice provides a basic survey of Middle Atlantic prehistoric archaeology and serves as an important reference for situating the development of Middle Atlantic prehistoric archaeology within the present context of culture area studies. This edited volume is a regional, historic overview of important themes, topics, and approaches in Middle Atlantic prehistory; covering major practical and theoretical debates and controversies in the region and in the discipline. Each chapter is holistic in its review of the historical development of a particular theme, in evaluating its contributions to current scholarship, and in proposing future directions for productive scholarly work. Contributing authors represent the full range of professional practice in archaeology and include university professors, cultural resources professionals, government regulatory/review archaeologists and museums curators with many years of practical and theoretical immersion in his/her chapter topic, and is highly regarded in the discipline and in the region for their expertise. Middle Atlantic Prehistory provides a much-needed synthesis and historical overview for academic and cultural resource archaeologists and independent scholars working in the Middle Atlantic region in particular.

For more than ten thousand years, humans have lived in New Jersey. From Summit to Cape May, from Trenton to the Jersey Shore, the state is a treasure trove of archaeological artifacts, revealing much about those who occupied the region prior to European settlement. As a rule, only the most durable of human creations3⁄4items of stone and pottery3⁄4survive the ravages of time. To complicate matters, the onslaught of our own culture and the indiscriminate looting of sites by greedy collectors have further diminished the cultural materials left behind. The task of the archaeologist is to gather and interpret these scraps for the benefit of science and the public. But digging up relics is a trivial pursuit if the only outcome is a collection of artifacts, however attractive or valuable they may be. Understanding what those relics mean in human terms is crucial. In Looking beneath the Surface, R. Alan Mounier looks at the human past of New Jersey. With particular focus on the ancient past and native cultures, the author tells the story of archaeology in the state as it has unfolded, and as it continues to unfold. New investigations and discoveries continually change our views and interpretations of the past. In jargon-free language, Mounier provides an in-depth introduction offering information to understand general archaeological practices as well as research in New Jersey. Subsequent chapters describe artifact types, archaeological settlements, and burial practices in detail. He concludes with vignettes of twenty-one archaeological investigations throughout the state to illustrate the variability of sites and the accomplishments of dedicated archaeologists, both professional and amateur.

A long-ignored prehistoric mound building people By the 14th century more than a dozen accretional burial mounds—reaching heights of 12 to 15 feet—marked the floodplains of interior Virginia. Today, none of these mounds built by the nearly forgotten Monacan Indians remain on the landscape, having been removed over the centuries by a variety of natural and cultural causes. This study uses what remains of the mounds—excavated from the 1890s to the 1980s— to gain a new understanding of the Monacans and to gauge their importance in the realm of the late prehistoric period in the Eastern Woodlands. Based on osteological examinations of dozens of complete skeletons and thousands of isolated bones and bone fragments, this work constructs information on Monacan demography, diet, health, and mortuary ritual in the 10th through the 15th centuries. The results show an overall pattern of stability and local autonomy among the Late Woodland village societies of interior Virginia in which a mixture of maize farming and the collection of wild food resources were successful for more than 600 years. This book—uniting biological and cultural aspects of the data for a holistic understanding of everyday life in the period—will be of interest to ethnohistorians, osteologists, bioarchaeologists, and anyone studying Late Woodland, Mississippian, and contact periods, as well as middle range societies, in the Eastern Woodlands.

DIVDIVMore than 10,000 years ago, people settled on lands that now lie within the boundaries of the state of Connecticut. Leaving no written records and scarce archaeological remains, these peoples and their communities have remained unknown to all but a few archaeologists and other scholars. This pioneering book is the first to provide a full account of Connecticut’s indigenous peoples, from the long-ago days of their arrival to the present day./divDIV /divDIVLucianne Lavin draws on exciting new archaeological and ethnographic discoveries, interviews with Native Americans, rare documents including periodicals, archaeological reports, master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, conference papers, newspapers, and government records, as well as her own ongoing archaeological and documentary research. She creates a fascinating and remarkably detailed portrait of indigenous peoples in deep historic times before European contact and of their changing lives during the past 400 years of colonial and state history. She also includes a short study of Native Americans in Connecticut in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book brings to light the richness and diversity of Connecticut’s indigenous histories, corrects misinformation about the vanishing Connecticut Indian, and reveals the significant roles and contributions of Native Americans to modern-day Connecticut./divDIVDIV/div/div/div

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.

Three thousand to four thousand years ago, the Native Americans of the mid-Atlantic region experienced a groundswell of cultural innovation. This remarkable era, known as the Transitional period, saw the advent of broad-bladed bifaces, cache blades, ceramics, steatite bowls, and sustained trade, among other ingenious and novel objects and behaviors. In The Nature and Pace of Change in American Indian Cultures, eight expert contributors examine the Transitional period in Pennsylvania and posit potential explanations of the significant changes in social and cultural life at that time. Building upon sixty years of accumulated data, corrected radiocarbon dating, and fresh research, scholars are reimagining the ancient environment in which native people lived. The Nature and Pace of Change in American Indian Cultures will give readers new insights into a singular moment in the prehistory of the mid-Atlantic region and the daily lives of the people who lived there. The contributors are Joseph R. Blondino, Kurt W. Carr, Patricia E. Miller, Roger Moeller, Paul A. Raber, R. Michael Stewart, Frank J. Vento, Robert D. Wall, and Heather A. Wholey.

Volume IV deals with the 'Middle Ages'. It starts with the expansion of Islam and closes with the discovery of the New World. Various events during this period led to a significant expansion in communications: the rapid spread of Islam and of Gengis Khan's Mongol Empire, as well as the Crusades and the development of trans-Saharan and maritime routes around Africa to the Indian Ocean, leading to multiplied exchanges between the peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia and Europe.

This landmark two volume source ranks as one of the field's most comprehensive guides to Native American studies, offering historical, cultural, and modern reference, supporting a complete range of research. The history, culture, and present state of Native America is revealed, explored, and explained in this, the most comprehensive reference work on the indigenous peoples of North America ever assembled. Anyone and everyone interested in Native Americans will find Native Americans indispensable. Systematically presenting historical and modern data for all known Native American groups in Canada and the United States, the different groups are listed alphabetically within 10 culture areas. The volumes are richly illustrated and include photos and drawings, culture area and tribal location maps, a master bibliography, bibliographic citations for each tribal entry, a glossary, and a subject index.

This volume presents the most recent archaeological, historical, and ethnographic research that challenges simplistic perceptions of Native smoking and explores a wide variety of questions regarding smoking plants and pipe forms from throughout North America and parts of South America. By broadening research questions, utilizing new analytical methods, and applying interdisciplinary interpretative frameworks, this volume offers new insights into a diverse array of perspectives on smoke plants and pipes.