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Memoir 44 Imperial Transformations in Sixteenth-Century Yucay, Peru transcribed and edited by R. Alan Covey and Donato Amado González In this new volume, R. Alan Covey and Donato Amado González present an archaeological and historical introduction to the Yucay Valley, as well as the complete transcription of the first volume of documents in the Betancur Collection. They show us how and why the lands and resources in the Yucay Valley (near Cusco, Peru) passed through so many hands. This book is a major contribution to Andean research because we see the disparate and competing interests harbored by diverse people—from Inka emperors to the Spanish Crown, and from Colonial period elites to tributary populations—all the while providing the kinds of demographic and ethnic details that archaeologists can only dream about. In sum, the legal documents published in this volume offer unprecedented data on ethnicity, demography, and the history of conflicting claims and interests of all those who worked and lived in the Yucay Valley of Peru. [2008. 373 pp, 27 figs, $45. ISBN 978-0-915703-67-8]  Look inside this book (pdf)

Memoir 43 Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano edited by Henry T. Wright The ancestors of the Malagasy people established themselves at least 1500 years ago, and time again, have 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 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 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, 232 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 Ocatlán region: Cerro Tilcajete. Elson's excavations at the 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. 138 pp, 28 tables, 79 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. 334 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, 336 figs, $45. ISBN 978-0-915703-59-3]  Look inside this book (pdf) (back to top)

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, 88 figs, $28. ISBN 978-0-915703-57-9]  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 (53 figs), plus CD-ROM, $50. ISBN 978-0-915703-55-5]     Errata, Memoir 38 (pdf)

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 thirteenth-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, $44. ISBN 978-0-915703-54-8]

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, 30 tables, 115 figs, $25. ISBN 978-0-915703-53-1]

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. 271 pp, 53 tables, 304 figs, $30. ISBN 978-0-915703-52-4] (back to top)

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. An archaeological study of ancient settlement patterns in Peru's rugged and diverse central highlands. The data derive from occupations between 500 B.C. and the mid-16th century A.D. Introductory chapters cover methodology, environmental context, ethnographic analogies for agriculture and pastoralism, and ethnohistory. Substantive chapters consider long-term trends in population, land use, settlement configuration, public architecture, and polity and economy at the local and regional levels. Two appendices provide detailed site and ceramic descriptions, including over 400 photos. [2000. 537 pp, 2 vol., 107 tables, 527 figs, $45. ISBN 978-0-915703-49-4]

Memoir 33 Women's Ritual in Formative Oaxaca: Figurine-making, Divination, Death and the Ancestors by Joyce Marcus This book covers divination, figurine-making, and women's ritual treatment of ancestors in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, from 1600 to 500 B.C. Women's ritual was distinguished from men's through excavation strategy: houses, dooryards, activity areas, features, middens and public buildings were excavated and studied as separate units, and context was used to link artifacts with women's domains. They were then interpreted using ethnographic and ethnohistoric data on women's ritual. Included are illustrations of more than 800 figurines or figurine parts. This monograph is Vol. 11 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.  [1998. 333 pp, 1 table, 372 figs, $25. ISBN 978-0-915703-48-7]

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. 165 pp, 52 tables, 41 figs, $26. ISBN 978-0-915703-45-6]

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. 390 pp, 71 tables, 224 figs, $28. ISBN 978-0-915703-42-5] 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 × 11 size. [1997. $5, including postage. ISBN 978-0-915703-44-9]

Memoir 30 The Fisher Site: Archaeological, Geological and Paleobotanical Studies at an Early Paleo-Indian Site in Southern Ontario, Canada by Peter L. 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. 311 pp, 94 tables, 181 figs, $28. ISBN 978-0-915703-41-8] (back to top)

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. 752 pp, 2 vol., 407 tables, 239 figs, $65. ISBN 978-0-915703-39-5]

Memoir 28 Tribal and Chiefly Warfare in South America by Elsa M. 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, 2 tables, 66 figs, $25. ISBN 978-0-915703-35-7]

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 This monograph is Vol. 10 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca. [1994. 399 pp, 10 tables, 313 figs, $45. ISBN 978-0-915703-34-0]

Memoir 26 Temples for Cahokia Lords: Preston Holder's 1955-1956 Excavations of Kunnemann Mound by Timothy R. Pauketat Holder, a brilliant iconoclast, excavated these mounds in 1955 and the excavation still stands 35 years later as one of the best-documented major excavations of the Cahokia area. Unfortunately, he never completed the project. Meticulously researched and written, Pauketat wrote the book Holder never completed, but this volume also reflects the massive research and theoretical developments that have emerged since 1957. [1993. 166 pp, 25 tables, 94 figs, $28. ISBN 978-0-915703-33-3]

Memoir 25 The Leavitt Site: A Parkhill Phase Paleo-Indian Occupation in Central Michigan by Michael J. Shott A companion volume to Memoir 24, this profusely illustrated volume is an innovative volume in forager archaeology in general and Paleo-Indian studies in particular. Shott's approach includes detailed descriptions of all retouched tools, an argument for three separate reduction sequences, sophisticated cluster analyses, and more. [1993. 143 pp, 49 tables, 51 figs, $20. ISBN 978-0-915703-32-6] (back to top)

Memoir 24 Thedford II: A Paleo-Indian Site in the Ausable River Watershed of Southwestern Ontario by D. Brian Deller and Christopher J. Ellis A detailed and profusely illustrated analysis of material recovered from this Early Paleo-Indian, Parkhill phase site. The Thedford II fluted bifaces most closely conform to the Barnes type. In the rest of the uniface-dominated assemblage the authors identify several distinctive, never-reported tool types. A final chapter compares Thedford II material to other fluted point sites in North America. [1992. 157 pp, 62 tables, 90 figs, $20. ISBN 978-0-915703-25-8]

23a. Memoir 23 Maps. (Monte Albán's Hinterland, Part II. Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Stephen Kowalewski et al.) 1989. 8 maps: Valley of Oaxaca settlements, Rosario Phase through Monte Albán V. $15, including postage. 22. Agricultural Intensification and Prehistoric Health in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Denise C. Hodges. (Vol. 9 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.) 1989. 132 pp, $16. ISBN 978-0-915703-16-6. 21. Conflicts over Coca Fields in Sixteen-Century Perú, by María Rostworowski de Diez Canseco. (Vol. 4 of the subseries Studies in Latin American Ethnohistory & Archaeology.) 1988. 314 pp, $19.50. ISBN 978-0-915703-13-5. 20. Chipped Stone Tools in Formative Oaxaca, Mexico: Their Procurement, Production and Use, by William J. Parry. (Vol. 8 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.) 1987. 178 pp, $18. ISBN 978-0-915703-10-4. 19. Early Neolithic Settlement and Society at Olszanica, by Sarunas Milisauskas. 1986. 319 pp, $20. ISBN 978-0-915703-03-6. 18. Aztec City-States, by Mary G. Hodge. 1984. 166 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-915703-02-9. 17. Irrigation and the Cuicatec Ecosystem: A Study of Agriculture and Civilization in North Central Oaxaca, by Joseph W. Hopkins III. (Vol. 2 of the subseries Studies in Latin American Ethnohistory & Archaeology.) 1984. 148 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-915703-00-5. 16. A Fuego y Sangre: Early Zapotec Imperialism in the Cuicatlán Cañada, Oaxaca, by Elsa Redmond. (Vol. 1 of the subseries Studies in Latin American Ethnohistory & Archaeology.) 1983. 216 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-932206-97-8. 15. Monte Alban's Hinterland, Part I: The Prehispanic Settlement Patterns of the Central and Southern Parts of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Richard E. Blanton et al. (Vol. 7 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.) 1982. 506 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-932206-91-6. 14. Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Southern Valley of Mexico: The Chalco-Xochimilco Region, by Jeffrey R. Parsons et al. 1982. 504 pp, $8. ISBN 978-0-932206-88-6. 13. An Early Town on the Deh Luran Plain: Excavations at Tepe Farukhabad, edited by Henry T. Wright. 1981. 462 pp, $7. ISBN 978-0-932206-87-9. 12. Excavations at Santo Domingo Tomaltepec: Evolution of a Formative Community in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Michael E. Whalen. (Vol. 6 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.) 1981. 225 pp, $6. ISBN 978-0-932206-86-2. 11. An Archaeological Survey of the Keban Reservoir Area of East-Central Turkey, by Robert Whallon. 1979. 309 pp, $5. ISBN 978-0-932206-84-8. 10. The Vegetational History of the Oaxaca Valley, by C. Earle Smith, and Zapotec Plant Knowledge, by Ellen Messer. (Vol. 5 of the subseries Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca.) 1978. 149 pp, $4. ISBN 978-0-932206-72-5. 8. Fabrica San Jose and Middle Formative Society in the Valley of Oaxaca, by Robert D. Drennan. 1976. 292 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-932206-70-1. 4. The Schultz Site at Green Point: A Stratified Occupation Area in the Saginaw Valley of Michigan, by James E. Fitting. 1972. 317 pp, $2. ISBN 978-0-932206-66-4. 3. Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Texcoco Region, Mexico, by Jeffrey R. Parsons. 1971. 449 pp, $4. ISBN 978-0-932206-65-7. 2. The Burial Complexes of the Knight and Norton Mounds in Illinois and Michigan, by James B. Griffin, Richard E. Flanders, and Paul F. Titterington. 1970. 376 pp, $15. ISBN 978-0-932206-64-0. (back to top)