Synopses & Reviews
Were the earliest inhabitants of the Great Basin 'Paleoindians' in the traditional sense? Were they highly mobile foragers? Did they hunt large, now extinct animals like mammoth, horse, and camel?
and#160;Great Basin archaeologists have argued that the earliest inhabitants possessed an organization strategy of mixed 'Paleoindian' and 'Archaic' lifeways, referring to them as 'Paleoarchaic.'
and#160;Recent excavations of rock shelters and caves, coupled with innovative studies of the surface archaeological record have increased our understanding of human organization in the Great Basin during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. When did humans first inhabit the Great Basin? How do we interpret projectile point variability from late Pleistocene and early Holocene contexts? What land-use and foraging strategies characterized the early inhabitants? Did these hunter-gatherers possess a Paleoindian or Paleoarchaic lifeway?
and#160;This volume offers an updated perspective of human ecology and organization during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Great Basin, 13,000andndash;8,000 years ago.
Review
andquot;Provides information useful to specialists in Great Basin archaeology, updates North American generalists. Some innovative, and at times exciting, work in this volume.andquot;andmdash;Journal of Anthropological Research
Synopsis
Offers an updated perspective of human ecology and organization during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Great Basin, 13,000andndash;8,000 years ago, with special regard to whether these hunter-gatherers possessed a Paleoindian or Paleoarchaic lifeway.
About the Author
Kelly E. Graf is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Nevada and research associate at the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas AandM University.
Dave N. Schmitt is an archaeologist with the Desert Research Institute and a research associate at Washington State University.