Contributions by Keith A. Baca, Jeffrey P. Brain, Samuel O. Brookes, Ian W. Brown, Philip J. Carr, Jessica Crawford, Patricia Galloway, Alison M. Hadley, Christopher T. Hays, Edward R. Henry, Cliff Jenkins, Jay K. Johnson, Evan Peacock, Janet Rafferty, Maria Schleidt, Mary Evelyn Starr, James B. Stoltman, Andrew M. Triplett, Melissa H. Twaroski, and Richard A. Weinstein This volume includes original scholarship on a wide array of archaeological research across the South. One essay explores the effects of climate on early cultures in Mississippi. Contributors reveal the production and distribution of stone effigy beads, which were centered in southwest Mississippi some 5,000 years ago, and trace contact between different parts of the prehistoric Southeast as seen in the distribution of clay cooking balls. Researchers explore small, enigmatic sites in the hill country of northern Mississippi now marked by scatters of broken pottery and a large, seemingly isolated ""platform"" mound in Calhoun County. Pieces describe a mound group in Chickasaw County built by early agriculturalists who subsequently abandoned the area and a similar prehistoric abandonment event in Winston and Choctaw Counties. A large pottery collection from the famous Anna Mounds site in Adams County, excavations at a Chickasaw Indian site in Lee County, camps and works of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the pine hill country of southern Mississippi, and the history of logging in the Mississippi Delta all yield abundant, new understandings of the past. Overview papers include a retrospective on archaeology in the National Forests of north Mississippi, a look at a number of mound sites in the lower Mississippi Delta, and a study of how communities of learning in field archaeology are built, with prominent archaeologist Samuel O. Brookes's achievements as a focal point. History buffs, artifact enthusiasts, students, and professionals all will find something of interest in this book, which opens doors on the prehistory and history of Mississippi.

The southeastern United States is home to the richest, most diverse freshwater mussel faunas on the planet, and Mississippi is no exception in this regard. Until fairly recent times, however, only qualitative lists of taxa were available and/or sampling was unsystematic and spotty. More recent work has taken place in waterways that have been significantly impacted by erosion, other forms of water pollution, and impoundment in modern times. Thus, even the best modern studies could benefit from a better knowledge of ranges and community characteristics as they existed prehistorically, when human impact, though present, an to this end this work presents a robust synthesis of pre-industrial mussel distributions and relative abundances in the state.

This volume includes original scholarship on a wide array of current archaeological research across the South. One essay explores the effects of climate on early cultures in Mississippi. Contributors reveal the production and distribution of stone effigy beads, which were centered in southwest Mississippi some 5,000 years ago, and trace contact between different parts of the prehistoric Southeast as seen in the distribution of clay cooking balls. Researchers explore small, enigmatic sites in the hill country of northern Mississippi now marked by scatters of broken pottery and a large, seemingly isolated ""platform"" mound in Calhoun County. Pieces describe a mound group in Chickasaw County built by early agriculturalists who subsequently abandoned the area and a similar prehistoric abandonment event in Winston and Choctaw Counties. A large pottery collection from the famous Anna Mounds site in Adams County, excavations at a Chickasaw Indian site in Lee County, camps and works of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the pine hill country of southern Mississippi, and the history of logging in the Mississippi Delta all yield abundant, new understandings of the past. Overview papers include a retrospective on archaeology in the National Forests of north Mississippi, a new look at a number of mound sites in the lower Mississippi Delta, and a study of how communities of learning in field archaeology are built, with prominent archaeologist Samuel O. Brookes's achievements as a focal point. History buffs, artifact enthusiasts, students, and professionals all will find something of interest in this book, which opens new doors on the prehistory and history of Mississippi.

The port of Adulis was one of greatest significance in Antiquity. It is best known for its role in Aksumite trade during the fourth - seventh centuries AD. However it is also a major port of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a sailors' hand-book of the first century AD. Not only did it offer a good harbour on the route to India, but it was a source for luxuries such as ivory, tortoise-shell and rhinoceros horn. The site was first identified by Henry Salt, in 1810, but there have always been a number of problems, both chronological and topographical with the identification. Firstly, the surface pottery is late in date and accords with Aksumitic importance rather than the Roman. Secondly, Adulis is referred to as a port, but it is today 7 km from the sea. The Periplus refers to an island approached by a causeway, which suggested to some that the site was originally at Massawa, 60 km to the north, a town which today comprises islands connected by causeways. The work of Cosmas Indicopleustes 'Christian Topography' written in the 6th Century AD mentions two other places, Gabaza and Samidi, which have never been identified. The fieldwork on which this book is based resolves these issues. It is suggested that Roman Adulis underlies the Aksumite city. Also the pottery and structures on the Galala hills to the south, show that this was almost certainly 'the site of Aksumite Gabaza. However, off the seaward end of the hills is a rock which would have been a small island in Roman times and on it was a scatter of 1st century AD Roman wine amphorae (Dressel 2-4). The Periplus tells us that ships used to moor of Diodorus Island which was connected to the mainland by a causeway, but was later moved to an island called Oreine (hilly) for greater security. The latter can be none other than Dese which is the only hilly island in the area and on it field survey has located a fine harbour and an early Roman settlement. The remaining site, Samidi, has also been found, for 7 km north of Adulis are large stone mounds. Architectural fragments and fragments of human bone suggest that this may have been an impressive mausoleum, perhaps the burial place of the kings of Adulis.

This volume stands as a key general resource for archaeologists working in the region extending from Louisiana through Mississippi north to Missouri and Kentucky, and it represents an opportunity to influence for decades a large part of the archaeological work to take place in the Southeast.The book responds to a need for a comprehensive archaeological overview of the Lower Mississippi Valley that forms a portion of an interstate corridor spanning nine states that will run from southern Michigan to the Texas-Mexico border. The culturally sensitive Mississippi Delta is one of the richest archaeological areas in North America, and it is crucial that research designs be comprehensive, coordinated, and meet current preservation and future research needs. The authors are well-respected researchers from both within and outside the region with expertise in the full range of topics that comprise American archaeology. They examine matters of method and theory, the application of materials science, geophysics, and other high-tech tools in archaeology that provide for optimum data-recovery.