488 pages / 9.25 x 6.12 inches / 37 halftones, 12 line drawings, 10 maps
Archaeology of Louisiana provides a groundbreaking and up-to-date overview of archaeology in the Bayou State, including a thorough analysis of the cultures, communities, and people of Louisiana from the Native Americans of 13,000 years ago to the modern historical archaeology of New Orleans. With eighteen chapters and twenty-seven distinguished contributors, Archaeology of Louisiana brings together the studies of some of the most respected archaeologists currently working in the state, collecting in a single volume a range of methods and theories to offer a comprehensive understanding of the latest archaeological findings.
In the past two decades alone, much new data has transformed our knowledge of Louisiana's history. This collection, accordingly, presents fresh perspectives based on current information, such as the discovery that Native Americans in Louisiana constructed some of the earliest-known monumental architecture in the world--extensive earthen mounds--during the Middle Archaic period (6000-2000 B.C.) Other contributors consider a variety of subjects, such as the development of complex societies without agriculture, underwater archaeology, the partnering of archaeologists with the Caddo Nation and descendant communities, and recent research in historical archaeology and cultural resource management that promises to transform our current appreciation of colonial Spanish, French, Creole, and African American experiences in the Lower Mississippi Valley.
Accessible and engaging, Archaeology of Louisiana provides a complete and current archaeological reference to the state's unique heritage and history.
“Archaeology of Louisiana is a remarkable state-of-the-art synthesis that will appeal to interested laypeople and professional archaeologists alike. Rees and his contributors are to be commended for putting so much valuable information under one cover. A comprehensive overview of what archaeology has to tell us about human settlement in Louisiana, this is the source to use if you want to learn about the state’s Native American colonists, mound builders, and agriculturalists, as well as the more recent European and African American settlers. This volume will stand as the basic reference on Louisiana archaeology for many years to come.”—David Anderson, co-author of Archaeology, History, and Predictive Modeling: Research at Fort Polk, 1972–2002
“This engagingly written volume explains what archaeologists have laboriously pulled from Louisiana muck over the last half century and why they’ve gone to all that trouble. The social implications of archaeology, for all of us, have seldom been stated more clearly.”—Gregory A. Waselkov, author of Old Mobile Archaeology
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