The Nature and Pace of Change in American Indian Cultures
Pennsylvania, 4000 to 3000 BP
Paul A Raber editor Kurt W Carr editor R Michael Stewart editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pennsylvania State University Press
Published:15th Feb '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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.
“A true synthesis of the most recent and cutting-edge interpretations of this enigmatic time period to date. Perhaps what is most impressive about this volume, however, is how the information is clearly embedded in archaeological, environmental, and technological contexts. It truly fills a gap in our understanding of the archaeological record.”
—William Schindler, Washington College
“The Nature and Pace of Change in American Indian Cultures is an important contribution to the archaeological literature of Pennsylvania and the central Middle Atlantic region. It provides new perspectives on important anthropological and archaeological topics of prehistoric culture change that will appeal to those interested in the local region as well as those interested in broader comparative studies of ancient culture change.”
—Jay Custer, University of Delaware
“Since John Witthoft’s 1953 publication on ‘Broadspear’ cultures in Pennsylvania, archaeologists have been fascinated by the so-called Transitional or Terminal Archaic. Building on earlier research, the contributors to this volume provide important new data and interpretive perspectives on Native American material culture, lifeways, and society in the mid-Atlantic region circa 4000–3000 years before the present.”
—Jonathan C. Lothrop, New York State Museum
“An essential read for anyone researching the Transitional Archaic Period in Pennsylvania and a useful resource for all archaeologists studying the end of the Archaic period in Eastern North America.”
—Justin M. Reamer Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology
“A valuable resource for those interested in understanding how environmental and archaeological evidence is used in different ways to support interpretations about what made the Transitional Archaic adaptation uniquely different from what came before and what came after.”
—Karl Lorenz H-Penn
ISBN: 9780271070957
Dimensions: 279mm x 216mm x 10mm
Weight: 431g
152 pages