MICHAEL. WATERS is the principal author of this work and served as the head of the research team. He is a professor of anthropology and geography at Texas A&M University and is Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans What Readers Are Saying: "It is well written, engaging, and original . . . will fill an important gap in our knowledge of World War Two on the homefront . . . Waters' book is the only book to examine the history of a single camp, and that in Texas, complete with interviews with former prisoners, guards, and local townspeople. Even more important, Waters' book is also an archaeological examination of the campsite, based on the detailed labor of dozens of young archaeological students over a period of some four years. Waters details their findings, to reveal the daily experiences of the more than 4,000 German soldiers who spent the war year in Texas. Prof. Waters and his team have unearthed a treasure trove of information which will be of interest to historians, archaeologists, history buffs, and specialists of Texas history, alike."--Arnold Krammer, author, Nazi Prisoners of War in America and Hitler's Last Soldier in America. "It is well written, engaging, and original . . . will fill an important gap in our knowledge of World War Two on the homefront . . . Waters' book is the only book to examine the history of a single camp, and that in Texas, complete with interviews with former prisoners, guards, and local townspeople. Even more important, Waters' book is also an archaeological examination of the campsite, based on the detailed labor of dozens of young archaeological students over a period of some four years. Waters details their findings, to reveal the daily experiences of the more than 4,000 German soldiers who spent the war year in Texas. Prof. Waters and his team have unearthed a treasure trove of information which will be of interest to historians, archaeologists, history buffs, and specialists of Texas history, alike." --Arnold Krammer, author, Nazi Prisoners of War in America and Hitler

Geoarchaeological studies can significantly enhance interpretations of human prehistory by allowing archaeologists to decipher from sediments and soils the effects of earth processes on the evidence of human activity. While a number of previous books have provided broad geographic and temporal treatments of geoarchaeology, this new volume presents a single author's view intended for North American archaeologists. Waters deals with those aspects of geoarchaeology--stratigraphy, site formation processes, and landscape reconstruction--most fundamental to archaeology, and he focuses on the late Quaternary of North America, permitting in-depth discussions of the concepts directly applicable to that research. Assuming no prior geologic knowledge on the part of the reader, Waters provides a background in fundamental geological processes and the basic tools of geoarchaeology. He then proceeds to relate specific physical processes, microenvironments, deposits, and landforms associated with riverine, desert, lake, glacial, cave, coastal, and other environments to archaeological site formation, location, and context. This practical volume illustrates the contributions of geoarchaeological investigations and demonstrates the need to make such studies an integral part of archaeological research. The text is enhanced by more than a hundred line drawings and photographs. CONTENTS
1. Research Objectives of Geoarchaeology
2. Geoarchaeological Foundations: The Archaeological Site Matrix: Sediments and Soils / Stratigraphy / The Geoarchaeological Interpretation of Sediments, Soils, and Stratigraphy
3. Alluvial Environments: Streamflow / Sediment Erosion, Transport, and Deposition / Alluvial Environments: Rivers, Arroyos, Terraces, and Fans / Alluvial Landscapes Evolution and the Archaeological Record / Alluvial Landscape Reconstruction
4. Eolian Environments: Sediment Erosion, Transport, and Deposition / Sand Dunes / Loess and Dust / Stone Pavements / Eolian Erosion / Volcanic Ash (Tephra)
5. Springs, Lakes, Rockshelters, and Other Terrestrial Environments: Springs / Lakes / Slopes / Glaciers / Rockshelters and Caves
6. Coastal Environments: Coastal Processes / Late Quaternary Sea Level Changes / Coastal Environments / Coastal Landscape Evolution and the Archaeological Record / Coastal Landscape Reconstruction
7. The Postburial Disturbance af Archaeological Site Contexts: Cryoturbation / Argilliturbation / Graviturbation / Deformation / Other Physical Disturbances / Floralturbation / Faunalturbation
8. Geoarchaeological Research
Appendix A: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating the Effects of Fluvial Landscape Evolution on the Archaeological Record
Appendix B: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating Site-Specific Synchronic and Diachronic Alluvial Landscape Reconstructions
Appendix C: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating Regional Synchronic and Diachronic Alluvial Landscape Reconstructions

As research continues on the earliest migration of modern humans into North and South America, the current state of knowledge about these first Americans is continually evolving.
Especially with recent advances in human genomic studies, both of living populations and ancient skeletal remains, new light is being shed in the ongoing quest toward understanding the full complexity and timing of prehistoric migration patterns.
"Paleoamerican Odyssey" collects thirty-one studies presented at the 2013 conference by the same name, hosted in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University.
Providing an up-to-date view of the current state of knowledge in paleoamerican studies, the research gathered in this volume, presented by leaders in the field, focuses especially on late Pleistocene Northeast Asia, Beringia, and North and South America, as well as dispersal routes, molecular genetics, and Clovis and pre-Clovis archaeology.