Field Methods in Archaeology has been the leading source for instructors and students in archaeology courses and field schools for 60 years since it was first authored in 1949 by the legendary Robert Heizer. Left Coast has arranged to put the most recent Seventh Edition back into print after a brief hiatus, making this classic textbook again available to the next generation of archaeology students. This comprehensive guide provides an authoritative overview of the variety of methods used in field archaeology, from research design, to survey and excavation strategies, to conservation of artifacts and record-keeping. Authored by three leading archaeologists, with specialized contributions by several other experts, this volume deals with current issues such as cultural resource management, relations with indigenous peoples, and database management as well as standard methods of archaeological data collection and analysis.

Historian Wallace Stegner characterized America's National Park system as "the best idea we ever had." One can quibble with that, but, indeed, it was a pretty good idea! This book specifically is a guide and a celebration of 30 of those national parks, national historical parks, and national monuments that, each in its own way, reveals the histories and cultures of America's first inhabitants, the Native Americans. Its pages will take you to: great mounds in Ohio where the dead were laid to rest in sumptuous splendor 2,000 years ago a place in Iowa where 1,000 years ago, Native Americans sculpted earth into the forms of giant bears and birds a quarry in Minnesota where Native People have, for hundreds of years, extracted blood-red stone for their ceremonial pipes the remains of a village in North Dakota visited by Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s and the home of their guide Sacagewea truly breathtaking, more than 700-year-old cliff dwellings in Arizona and Colorado, that will astonish you in their ethereal beauty and architectural ingenuity phantasmagorical images of 7-foot-tall, wide-eyed spirit beings in Utah painted more than 1,000 years ago And many more. All of these sites have in common the fact that, at the insistence of Native and non-Native people, men and women, the federal government of the United States set them aside as places to preserve, study, and revere as part of the American story no matter where your ancestors came from, how they got here, or how long ago. Read this book and visit the historically sacred sites enshrined in our national parks, national historical parks, and national monuments, places that reveal the creativity and genius of the Native People of North America. With 180 color photographs and complete visitor information, this is a wonderful guide to Native American archaeology in our national parks and monuments.

Presenting “the real deal” of American antiquity—as opposed to the hyped fare of many cable TV shows—Kenneth Feder invites readers to explore the stunning technological, architectural, engineering, and artistic achievements of America’s first peoples. Part travel guide, part friendly reference, Ancient America showcases fifty iconic and publicly-accessible sites located across the contiguous United States—including monumental pyramids of earth, “castles” ensconced in cliff niches, and vast rock art galleries. Among the places profiled are four World Heritage Sites (Chaco Canyon, NM; Mesa Verde, CO; Cahokia, IL; Poverty Point, LA); numerous Historic Landmarks and National Monuments (including Crystal River, FL; Town Creek Mound, NC; Casa Grande, AZ; and Hovenweep, UT); and stunningly diverse sites ranging from Serpent Mound (OH) and Horsethief Lake (WA) to Canyon de Chelly (AZ) and Nine Mile Canyon (UT). In addition to practical visitor information, Feder tells the fascinating stories of each site as revealed by archaeological research. Introductory chapters delve into the deep past of Native America; historical and cultural details as well as original photography round out the site entries. Readers will be inspired to visit these remarkable places where the past continues to resonate in the present.

Deep in the woods of Barkhamsted, Connecticut, archaeologist Kenneth Feder found a series of irregular cellar holes. That discovery led to the archaeological and genealogical investigation into what had become the legend of Barkhamsted Lighthouse. The long told story as it appeared in local newspaper articles, a school play, and even a book-length poem focused on Molly Barber, a white woman born in central Connecticut in the middle of the eighteenth century. Molly, the legend goes, abandoned her family, her friends, and her privilege to marry the man she loved, James Chaugham, a Narragansett Indian from Block Island in Long Island Sound. Molly and James ultimately had several children and their growing community became a magnet for other outcasts including Native Americans as well as people of African and European descent. Some of these newcomers married into the family and together created a community in their little village. As a tale of rebellion, race, resistance, and resilience the legend called out for investigation. The site was excavated intermittently between 1986 and 2009, and Feder also started a genealogical investigation of James and Molly and their descendants. After meeting with Raymond Ellis, a seventh-generation descendant of the founding couple, Feder recognized that this was more than just a historical mystery to solve, it was also a chance to connect archaeology of historic places with the present-day relatives of those who once lived there.

Archaeological sites often seem to be idyllic, even romantic, places where scientists recover and analyze fascinating data that can inform us of past times and the past lives of our recent historical and ancient prehistoric human forebears. Too often, however, unrecognized dangers lie within: bacterial and viral infections hidden in the soil, concealed in the animals that roam through our sites, or even lying in wait in organic remains we excavate; toxic substances produced by the historical technologies we study and that continue to poison the sites where people once worked; the bodies of people who died of historical scourges that once afflicted humanity and whose excavated mortal remains may still harbor the pathogens that killed them, dormant and lying in wait for an unsuspecting and largely no-longer immune modern population. It's enough to make an archaeologist swear off fieldwork

The truth is, however, that archaeologists need to be alerted to the dangers present in fieldwork and advised of the reasonable precautions that should be taken to insure the safest possible working environment. DEGREESIDangerous Places DEGREESR brings together an enormous body of information regarding the threats that archaeologists face every day, and the best ways of behaving proactively to avoid or mitigate these threats.

Archaeological sites often seem to be idyllic, even romantic, places where scientists recover and analyze fascinating data that can inform us of past times and the past lives of our recent historical and ancient prehistoric human forebears. Too often, however, unrecognized dangers lie within: bacterial and viral infections hidden in the soil, concealed in the animals that roam through our sites, or even lying in wait in organic remains we excavate; toxic substances produced by the historical technologies we study and that continue to poison the sites where people once worked; the bodies of people who died of historical scourges that once afflicted humanity and whose excavated mortal remains may still harbor the pathogens that killed them, dormant and lying in wait for an unsuspecting and largely no-longer immune modern population. It's enough to make an archaeologist swear off fieldwork

The truth is, however, that archaeologists need to be alerted to the dangers present in fieldwork and advised of the reasonable precautions that should be taken to insure the safest possible working environment. "Dangerous Places" brings together an enormous body of information regarding the threats that archaeologists face every day, and the best ways of behaving proactively to avoid or mitigate these threats.

An accessible, thoroughly integrated introduction to physical anthropology and archaeology.