New Publications
Anthropological Papers
Memoirs
Electronic Series
Other Series
Reprints
All UMMA Titles, Past and Present (pdf)

New in 2007

Memoir 43
Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano, edited by Henry T. Wright 

Distant Madagascar—l’île au bout du monde—the island at the end of the world—has many lessons to teach. The ancestors of the Malagasy people established themselves at least 1500 years ago. Time again since their arrival, the Malagasy created new kinds of political communities. This study concerns the indigenous state of Imerina in the central highlands. Archaeological survey and excavations in the western Avaradrano area of Imerina provide detailed information on 258 archaeological sites in an 120 sq km area north of modern Antananarivo. The first pioneering villages, established by AD 1200, developed into small hierarchical polities by AD 1400. After several centuries of growth and conflict, the Merina ruler Andrianampoinimerina sanctioned changes in the organization of the kingdom of Ambohimanga—in its ideologies, internal political structure, military, market system, and even agricultural system—which created a new and more complex system around AD 1790. This polity expanded to control most of Madagascar by the early 19th century. These changes are manifested in settlements on the ground. This study uses new methods for building archaeological chronologies, using aerial images to assess archaeological sites, and estimating populations, of interest to archaeologists. Its perspective on state formation will be of interest to anthropologists and historians, to those with diverse perspectives on the evolution of complex cultural phenomena, and to those who simply wish to understand Madagascar. [2007. 311 pp, 24 tables, 231 figs, $38. ISBN 978-0-915703-63-0]    NOW AVAILABLE    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 42
Excavations at Cerro Tilcajete: A Monte Albán II Administrative Center in the Valley of Oaxaca, by Christina Elson

This volume—the fourteenth in the monograph series on the prehistory and human ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico—focuses on Cerro Tilcajete, a secondary administrative center below Monte Albán, the capital of the prehispanic Zapotec state. After defeating the Tilcajete region, Monte Albán created a new administrative center for the Ocotlán region: Cerro Tilcajete. Elson's excavations at this Period II center showed that, in contrast to San José Mogote, Cerro Tilcajete was a newly created regional center rather than a reoccupation of an earlier site, and documented the nature of Cerro Tilcajete's ties to Monte Albán, especially the links between the elite families at the capital and those at Cerro Tilcajete. Elson deftly moves us away from the top-down, capital-centric focus, and in so doing, gives us new insights into secondary administrative centers in a pristine state. [2007. 153 pp, 28 tables, 78 figs, $35. ISBN 978-0-915703-66-1]    NOW AVAILABLE    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 41
The Vijayanagara Metropolitan Survey: Volume I, by Carla M. Sinopoli and Kathleen D. Morrison

Vijayanagara, the “City of Victory,” was the capital of South India’s largest and most successful pre-colonial empire from c. AD 1330-1565. This richly-illustrated volume reports on the results of a ten-year systematic regional archaeological survey in the hinterland or “metropolitan region” of this vast and well-preserved urban site. Detailed information is presented on the 380 sites documented in the first three seasons of fieldwork. Additional chapters place Vijayanagara in its broader regional and historical context and provide an overview of settlement, economy, and land-use in the city’s c. 650 sq km metropolitan region; present in detail the methodology employed in South India’s first systematic regional survey; and describe the artifacts recovered. [2007. 352 pp, 18 tables, 447 figs, $40. ISBN 978-0-915703-65-4]    NOW AVAILABLE    Look inside this book (pdf)

Anthropological Papers  (back to top)

Anthropological Papers, 96
The Last Pescadores of Chimalhuacán, Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography, by Jeffrey R. Parsons

Based on his study of the nearly vanished aquatic economy of Chimalhuacán in the Valley of Mexico, Parsons describes the surviving vestiges of aquatic insect collection and fishing, and considers their developmental and archaeological implications within a broad context of historical, ethnographic, biological, ecological, and archaeological information from Mexico, North and South America, the Near East, and Africa. Activities, implements, artifacts, and landscapes are richly illustrated, in many cases with the author's own photos and a number of vintage photographs. The study concludes that aquatic resources were fully complementary with agricultural products during prehispanic times in Mesoamerica where a pastoral economy was absent. [2006. 393 pp, 80 tables, 175 figs, $28. ISBN 0-915703-62-9]   Look inside this book  (pdf)

Anthropological Papers, 95
West African Early Towns: Archaeology of Households in Urban Landscapes, by Augustin F.C. Holl

West African Awdaghost (Tegdaoust) emerged as a vital medieval trade center before its decline in the sixteenth century AD. Extensively excavated, and accompanied by a large body of published material, Awdaghost provides a unique opportunity for the application of household archaeology to a West African settlement. By examining the building sequences of the habitation complexes, with their evolving space allocations, this monograph demonstrates how the household units in Awdaghost reflect fluctuating social organization and economic conditions. [2006. 8 pp, 25 tables, 22 figs, $26. ISBN 0-15703-61-0]    Look inside this book  (pdf)

Anthropological Papers, 94
Engaged Anthropology: Research Essays on North American Archaeology, Ethnobotany, and Museology, Papers in Honor of Richard I. Ford, edited by Michelle Hegmon and B. Sunday Eiselt

A collection of essays based on the 2005 Society for American Archaeology symposium, presenting research that epitomizes Richard I. Ford's approach of engaged anthropology. This transdisciplinary approach integrates archaeological research with perspectives from ethnography, history, and ecology, and engages the anthropologist with Native partners and with socio-natural landscapes. Research papers largely focus on the U.S. Southwest, but also consider other areas of North America, issues relating to museums collections, and indigenous approaches to materials research.  [2005. 263 pp, $28. ISBN 0-915703-58-0]    Look inside this book  (pdf)

Anthropological Papers, 93
Wrapped in Beauty: The Koelz Collection of Kashmiri Shawls, by Grace Beardsley in collaboration with Carla M. Sinopoli

This richly-illustrated volume examines the remarkable Kashmiri shawls of the Walter Koelz Collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Part I presents the history, production, and forms and ornamentation of Kashmiri shawls, focusing on how the social contexts of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries and the advent of the Jacquard loom impacted shawl development. Part II is a detailed descriptive catalogue of the shawls in the Koelz Collection.  An accompanying CD-ROM includes color illustrations of the shawls in the collection, as well as a transcribed manuscript by Koelz. [2005. 246 pp, includes CD-ROM, $28. ISBN 0-915703-60-2]   Look inside this book (pdf)

Anthropological Papers, 92
The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac,  Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography, by Jeffrey R. Parsons

In the 1980s, a few traditional saltmakers were still manufacturing several kinds of salt in the eastern Valley of Mexico. This in-depth study of the methodology of this dying craft includes a comparative study of pre-industrial saltmaking around the world, and considers the implications of this knowledge for future archaeological research. [2001. 340 pp, $26. ISBN 0-915703-51-3]

Anthropological Papers, 91
Ethnobiology at the Millennium:  Past Promises and Future Prospects, edited by Richard I. Ford

Anthropological Papers, 90
Physical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection, by Doug Jones

Anthropological Papers, 89
Caciques and Their People, edited by Joyce Marcus and J. Zeitlin

A volume of essays by Mesoamerican scholars on topics ranging from Zapotec archaeology to Cuicatec irrigation, Mixtec codices to Aztec ethnohistory. Authors use direct historical approach, the comparative method, or develop models that contribute to ethnological and archaeological theory. Contributors: J. Chance, G. Feinman, K.V. Flannery, F. Hicks, R. Hunt, M. Lind, J. Marcus, J. Monaghan, J. Paddock, E. Redmond, M. Romero Frizzi, M.E. Smith, C. Spencer, and J. Zeitlin. [1994. 300 pp, $26. ISBN 0-915703-37-8]

Second Edition: Anthropological  Papers, 67
The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany, edited by Richard I. Ford

Nature and Status, published in 1978, is still a standard text of the discipline, with classic papers exploring theoretical issues, principles of plant utilization, prehistoric economics, and more. A reprint of this watershed volume includes all these classic papers, along with a new 30 page introduction by Ford, and pages of new references. [1994. 428 pp, $18. ISBN 0-915703-38-6]

Memoirs    (back to top)

Memoir 43
Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano, edited by Henry T. Wright 

Distant Madagascar—l’île au bout du monde—the island at the end of the world—has many lessons to teach. The ancestors of the Malagasy people established themselves at least 1500 years ago. Time again since their arrival, the Malagasy created new kinds of political communities. This study concerns the indigenous state of Imerina in the central highlands. Archaeological survey and excavations in the western Avaradrano area of Imerina provide detailed information on 258 archaeological sites in an 120 sq km area north of modern Antananarivo. The first pioneering villages, established by AD 1200, developed into small hierarchical polities by AD 1400. After several centuries of growth and conflict, the Merina ruler Andrianampoinimerina sanctioned changes in the organization of the kingdom of Ambohimanga—in its ideologies, internal political structure, military, market system, and even agricultural system—which created a new and more complex system around AD 1790. This polity expanded to control most of Madagascar by the early 19th century. These changes are manifested in settlements on the ground. This study uses new methods for building archaeological chronologies, using aerial images to assess archaeological sites, and estimating populations, of interest to archaeologists. Its perspective on state formation will be of interest to anthropologists and historians, to those with diverse perspectives on the evolution of complex cultural phenomena, and to those who simply wish to understand Madagascar. [2007. 311 pp, 24 tables, 231 figs, $38. ISBN 978-0-915703-63-0]    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 42
Excavations at Cerro Tilcajete: A Monte Albán II Administrative Center in the Valley of Oaxaca, by Christina Elson

This volume—the fourteenth in the monograph series on the prehistory and human ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico—focuses on Cerro Tilcajete, a secondary administrative center below Monte Albán, the capital of the prehispanic Zapotec state. After defeating the Tilcajete region, Monte Albán created a new administrative center for the Ocotlán region: Cerro Tilcajete. Elson's excavations at this Period II center showed that, in contrast to San José Mogote, Cerro Tilcajete was a newly created regional center rather than a reoccupation of an earlier site, and documented the nature of Cerro Tilcajete's ties to Monte Albán, especially the links between the elite families at the capital and those at Cerro Tilcajete. Elson deftly moves us away from the top-down, capital-centric focus, and in so doing, gives us new insights into secondary administrative centers in a pristine state. [2007. 153 pp, 28 tables, 78 figs, $35. ISBN 978-0-915703-66-1]    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 41
The Vijayanagara Metropolitan Survey: Volume I, by Carla M. Sinopoli and Kathleen D. Morrison

Vijayanagara, the “City of Victory,” was the capital of South India’s largest and most successful pre-colonial empire from c. AD 1330-1565. This richly-illustrated volume reports on the results of a ten-year systematic regional archaeological survey in the hinterland or “metropolitan region” of this vast and well-preserved urban site. Detailed information is presented on the 380 sites documented in the first three seasons of fieldwork. Additional chapters place Vijayanagara in its broader regional and historical context and provide an overview of settlement, economy, and land-use in the city’s c. 650 sq km metropolitan region; present in detail the methodology employed in South India’s first systematic regional survey; and describe the artifacts recovered. [2007. 352 pp, 18 tables, 447 figs, $40. ISBN 978-0-915703-65-4]    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 40
Excavations at San José Mogote 1: The Household Archaeology, by Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus, with multidimensional scaling of houses by Robert G. Reynolds

San José Mogote, an early village and chiefly center in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, was excavated over a fifteen-year period. This volume reports in detail on every Early and Middle Formative house recovered, including a complete inventory of artifacts, features, plants, animal bones, and craft raw materials by house, with extensive piece-plotting of items on house floors and dooryards. Reynolds’ multidimensional scaling confirms the presence of distinct wards within the community. Future volumes will cover the public, religious, and mortuary archaeology. [2005, 494 pp, 4 tables, 335 figs, $45. ISBN 0-915703-59-9]    Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 39
Ships and Shipwrecks of the Au Sable Shores Region of Western Lake Huron, by John M. O'Shea

Focusing on this area of coastline particularly known for vessel strandings, this volume includes: histories of over 50 lost vessels; a description of remains of vessels and wreckage documented during archaeological research in the area; an analysis of shoreline change in the last 150 years and a model for matching wreckage to lost ships. This book will be of interest to archaeologists, historians and anyone who loves the Great Lakes. [2004, 116 pp, 13 tables, 87 figs, $28. ISBN 0-915703-57-2]    Look inside this book  (pdf)

Memoir 38
Plants of the Petén Itza' Maya: Plantas de los maya itza' del Petén, by Scott Atran, Ximena Lois, and Edilberto Ucan Ek'

The Itza' Maya of the Petén in Guatemala preside over a unique rainforest biosphere in danger of disappearing. Equally at risk is their own botanical knowledge–from their own taxonomy to medicinal uses. This is an invaluable reference set for botanists, historians, anthropologists, linguists, ecologists, historians and all medical fields. The book contains a history of the Petén Itza' Maya, explanation of Itza' taxonomy, tables and keys to plant usage, common names in English, Spanish and several indigenous languages, and much more. The accompanying CD-ROM presents this information in a searchable database, along with hundreds of color photos of plants. CD-ROM is Mac/PC compatible. [2004, 248 pp, plus CD-ROM, $50. ISBN 0-915703-55-6]    Errata, Memoir 38 (pdf file)

Memoir 37
Life on the Periphery: Economic Change in Late Prehistoric Southeastern New Mexico, edited by John D. Speth

Dramatic economic changes transformed an isolated 13th-century village of farmer-hunters in the arid grasslands of southeastern New Mexico into a community heavily engaged in long-distance bison hunting and intense exchange with the Puebloan world to the west. Individual chapters consider the procurement and use of bison, antelope, deer, dogs, rabbits, rodents, birds, molluscs, and fish; the importance of maize; changing patterns of fuel use; flaked and groundstone tools; and the ceramics which saw a sudden influx of pottery from as far afield as west-central New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and northern Mexico. Speth's concluding chapter discusses the economic and political forces that may have pulled this isolated Plains-margin village into the Pueblo world. [2004, 429 pp, 177 tables, 96 figs, $50. ISBN 0-915703-54-8]

Memoir 36
The Sola Valley and the Monte Albán State: A Study of Zapotec Imperial Expansion, by Andrew K. Balkansky

Balkansky's full-coverage survey of the Sola Valley, 65 km southwest of Oaxaca City, documents 120 sites. By combining his data with that of 13 other regions of Oaxaca, he produces a model for Zapotec state expansion that integrates colonization, diplomacy, and military conquest. He also reflects on the origins of the cacicazgo and the indiscriminate application of "world system" models. The book includes chapters on shell artifacts by L.M. Nicholas and G.M. Feinman, and the carved stones of the Sola region by J. Marcus. This monograph is Vol. 12 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca. [2002. 182 pp, $25. ISBN 0-915703-53-X]

Memoir 35
The Land of Houlouf: Genesis  of a Chadic Polity, 1900 B.C.-A.D. 1800, by Augustin F.C. Holl

A thorough review of the important archaeological sites on the Chadian Plain, including Houlouf, excavated by the author 1980-90. Other sites discussed are Deguesse, Krenak, Hamei, Blé Mound Complex and Yaere sites Mishiskwa, Madaf and others. Holl examines the rise and fall of the Houlouf chiefdom, patterns of Holocene Late Stone Age colonization, diachonic trends, paleoclimatology, and historical linguistic evidence for this little-studied area of northern Africa. [2002. 272 pp, $30. ISBN 0-915703-52-1]

Memoir 34
Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Upper Mantaro and Tarma Drainages, Junín, Peru: The Tarama-Chinchaycocha Region, by Jeffrey R. Parsons, Charles M. Hastings, and Ramiro Matos M.

Memoir 33
Women's Ritual in Formative Oaxaca: Figurine-Making, Divination, Death and the Ancestors, by Joyce Marcus

Memoir 32
The Sandy Ridge and Halstead Paleo-Indian Sites: Unifacial Tool Use and Gainey Phase Definition in South-Central Ontario, by Lawrence J. Jackson

This study fills in some missing links in the Michigan-Ontario Paleo-Indian record. Jackson focuses on the Gainey phase. Lacking fluted projectile points, Jackson uses primarily end scrapers to study use-related variation and stylistic variation. This volume includes detailed tabulations and measurements, as well as a phytolith analysis as part of the Paleo-climate study. [1998. 192 pp, $26. ISBN 0-915703-45

Memoir 31
The View from Madisonville: Protohistoric Western Fort Ancient Interaction Patterns, by Penelope Ballard Drooker

Madisonville was one of the key settlements of the Ohio Valley Fort Ancient people, and was the subject of James Griffin's 1943 classic, The Fort Ancient Aspect. It is a site rich in burials and artifacts documenting the earliest European influences. Drooker reexplores a century of excavation to explain how Contact Period events affected Madisonville inhabitants and their links to eastern Ft. Ancient, northern Ohio, Iroquoian, Oneota, and Mississipian groups. [1997. 378 pp, $28. ISBN 0-915703-42-4] Memoir 31 Maps. A full set of the Memoir 31 artifact distribution maps of Madisonville. This packet makes the 71 maps available at their full 8.5 x 11 size. [1997. $5, including postage. ISBN 0-915703-44-0]

Memoir 30
The Fisher Site: Archaeological, Geological and Paleobotanical Studies at an Early Paleo-Indian Site in Southern Ontario, Canada, by Peter Storck

A detailed, multidisciplinary report on a large Early Paleo-Indian site in the Georgian Bay region. The site produced 1500 artifacts, including 156 fluted points and over 30,000 pieces of debitage, all Parkhill Complex. Published with the Royal Ontario Museum with the support of the Ontario Heritage Foundation. [1997. 328 pp, $28. ISBN 0-915703-38-6]

Memoir 29
The Spiro Ceremonial Center: The Archaeology of Arkansas Valley Caddoan Culture in Eastern Oklahoma, by James A. Brown with a foreword by James B. Griffin

Finally, the long promised, full-scale review of the archaeology of the most intriguing, important and famous Caddoan site, Spiro. Brown's work includes a total review and analysis of the artifact collections, with hundreds of photographs, illustrations and tables. It also includes a detailed history of excavations, a new mortuary analysis, comprehensive gravelot chronology, and much in published material. [1996. 900 pp, 2 vol., $65. ISBN 0-915703-39-4]

Memoir 28
Tribal and Chiefly Warfare in South America, by Elsa Redmond

Presents new data on warfare from both ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. This book documents principal differences between tribal and chiefly warfare, outlines kinds of evidence archaeologists can expect to recover from warfare, and formulates testable hypotheses of the role of warfare in social and political evolution. This monograph is Vol. 5 of the subseries Studies in Latin American Ethnohistory & Archaeology. [1994. 148 pp, $25. ISBN 0-915703-35-1]

Memoir 27
Early Formative Pottery of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus, with a technical ceramic analysis by William O. Payne

Memoir 26
Temples for Cahokia Lords: Preston Holder's 1955-56 Excavations of Kunnemann Mound, by Tim Pauketat

Memoir 25
The Leavitt Site: A Parkhill Phase Paleo-Indian Occupation in Central Michigan, by Michael Shott

Memoir 24
Thedford II: A Paleo-Indian Site in the Ausable River Watershed of Southwestern Ontario, by D. Brian Deller and Christopher Ellis

Electronic Series (Mac and Windows compatible CD-ROMs) (back to top)

Electronic Series 2
Imperial Imaginings: The Dean C. Worcester Photographic Collection of the Philippines, 1890-1913, edited and compiled by Carla M. Sinopoli and Lars Fogelin

Over 1200 of Worcester's 4000+ infamous photographs are reproduced here for the first time. Also published for the first time is Worcester's descriptive catalog of photos, put into modern database form and linked to photos. Essays on "Dean Worcester and the Philippines," "Photography  and the Philippines," and "Dean Worcester, Race and  the Philippines," give a historical context to Worcester's work. [$26. ISBN 0-915703-46-7]

Electronic Series 1
Zoom In to Madisonville, by Penelope Ballard Drooker

A companion to The View from Madisonville (Memoir 31) by Penelope Ballard Drooker, this CD-ROM contains all the unpublished reports, databases, and over 1000 artifact photographs from Madisonville. All ten databases are also given in tab-delimited format that can be imported into your  favorite database program. [$26. ISBN 0-915703-43-2]

Other Series (back to top)

Technical Report 26
Early Settlement and Irrigation on the Deh Luran Plain: Village and Early State Societies in Southwestern Iran, by James A. Neely and Henry T. Wright

The Deh Luran Plain is a microcosm of Mesopotamia, and important for the study of a variety of processes in cultural evolution. In this volume, the first of three planned on this project, the authors present a detailed archaeological survey covering periods from the earliest occupation of the plain up to the mid-third millennium BC. The data presented are relevant to the development of villages, irrigation agriculture, stratified societies, and the appearance of the first states in a changing nexus of interregional competition and exchange. New methods for estimating past populations are introduced. [1994. 234 pp, $20. ISBN 0-915703-36-X]

Technical Report 25
A Gendered Past: A Critical Bibliography of Gender in Archaeology, edited by Elizabeth Bacus et al., with a foreword by Alison Wylie

Out of Print Books (back to top)

Some of our previously out-of-print books have become available again. All books listed below may be ordered on our regular catalog order form.

As with our other books, list the series and number (e.g., Anthro Paper #17) in the "description" line; title or ISBN not necessary. See Order Information for more details.

Reprints! We have reprinted some of our more-requested out-of-print books using "Docu-Tech" technology. Docu-Tech is essentially a Xerox process so the quality of the print, and especially the photographs, is not quite as high. In other respects they look and feel like real books. The advantage of Docu-Tech is that is allows us to reprint books in very small quantities, so that we can make available books that would not otherwise be possible to bring back to life. We have reprinted the following.