Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History
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The Anthropological Papers, published continuously since 1907, are monographic volumes that include some of the great ethnographies of the 20th century, particularly on North American Indians. Several illustrious anthropologists published their work in the Anthropological Papers, as well as many past and present curators of the AMNH Division of Anthropology. Prior to 1930, large special reports were published in the Memoirs.
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Item An aboriginal salt mine at Camp Verde, Arizona. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 30, pt. 3(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1928) Morris, Earl Halstead, 1889-1956.Item The Alaskan Eskimo; a study of the relationship between the Eskimo and the Chipewyan Indians of central Canada. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 31, pt. 6.(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1931) Shapiro, Harry Lionel, 1902-Item An Aleutian burial. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 31, pt. 3.(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1929) Weyer, Edward Moffat, 1904-Item Alpine archaeology of Alta Toquima and the Mt. Jefferson Tablelands (Nevada) : the archaeology of Monitor Valley, contribution 4. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, number 104)(American Museum of Natural History., 2020-12-17) Thomas, David Hurst; Bean, Jessica R.; Burns, Gregory R.; Canaday, Timothy W.; Charlet, David Alan, 1953-; Colwell, Robert K. (Robert Knight), 1943-; Culleton, Brendan; Eerkens, Jelmer W.; Freeland, Nicholas P.; Graybill, Donald A.; Grayson, Donald K.; Harper, Thomas K.; Hughes, Richard E. (Richard Edward), 1947-; Jimenez, Joseph; Kennett, Douglas J.; Millar, Constance I.; Novick, Andrea Lee; Pendleton, Lorann S. A.; Rankin, Amanda M.; Rhode, David, 1956-; Rosenthal, Jeffrey; Rovner, Irwin, 1941-; Spero, Howard J.; Stevens, Nathan (Nathan Erik)The Central Mountains Archaic began with the arrival of foraging populations in the Intermountain West about 6000 years ago. This migration coincided with the "extremely dramatic" winter-wet event of 4350 cal b.c. and the arrival of piñon pine forests in the central Great Basin. Human foragers likely played a significant role in the rapid spread of piñon across the central and northeastern Great Basin. Logistic hunters exploited local bighorn populations, sometimes serviced by hunting camps (the "man caves" such as Gatecliff Shelter, Triple T Shelter, and several others) and they staged communal pronghorn drives at lower elevations. As climate cooled and became more moist, logistic bighorn hunting gradually shifted downslope, then apparently faded away about 1000 cal b.c. Communal pronghorn driving persisted into the historic era in the central Great Basin. This volume, the first in the Alta Toquima trilogy, describes and analyzes more than 100 alpine hunting features on the Mt. Jefferson tablelands. High-elevation, logistical bighorn hunting virtually disappeared across the central Great Basin with the onset of the Late Holocene Dry Period (about 750-850 cal b.c.), giving way to an alpine residential pattern at Alta Toquima (26NY920) and elsewhere on Mt. Jefferson. Situated at almost exactly 11,000 ft (3352 m) above sea level, Alta Toquima was sited on the south summit of Mt. Jefferson (the third-highest spot in the state of Nevada), where at least 31 residential stone structures were emplaced along this steep, east-facing slope. When first recorded in 1978, Alta Toquima was the highest American Indian village site known in the Northern Hemisphere. This volume discusses the material culture, plant macrofossils, vertebrate fauna, and radiocarbon dating for Alta Toquima. Bayesian analysis of 95 14C dates documents an initial occupation of Alta Toquima at 1370-790 cal b.c., with the sporadic settlements persisting until immediately before European contact. These alpine residences are the most dramatic examples of the intensified provisioning strategies that began in the Central Mountains Archaic about 3000 years ago, broadening the diet breadth to include plant and animal resources previously considered too costly. The oldest summertime residence at Alta Toquima correlates with the onset of Late Holocene Dry Period (LHDP) aridity (~750 cal b.c.), and these houses were episodically occupied only during the driest intervals throughout the next 1500 dramatic years of abrupt climate change. During the intervening wetter stretches, Alta Toquima was abandoned in favor of subalpine basecamps. This sequenced intensification predated the arrival of bow technology in the central Great Basin by more than a millennium. Exactly the opposite sequencing took place a few miles to the north, when Gatecliff Shelter was abandoned during LHDP aridity--precisely when the first summertime settlements appeared at Alta Toquima. This pattern reversed again when lowland habitats became sufficiently well watered to again support summertime patches of seeds and geophytes (~150 cal b.c.-cal a.d. 100). Alta Toquima families responded by abandoning (temporarily) their alpine summertime camps to repurpose former "man caves" like Gatecliff and Triple T shelters into family settlements. The Monitor Valley sequence documents several syncopated lowland-alpine, wet-dry reversals, reflecting an adaptive diversity that spanned more than two millennia. The drought terminating cal a.d. 1150 devastated much of the western Great Basin and American Southwest, but its impact was less severe in central Nevada. Although subalpine sites were again abandoned during the drought buildup that peaked in the mid-12th century, summertime occupation of Alta Toquima became more commonplace, although it increased notably during the ~cal a.d. 1200-1400 aridity and persisted throughout the Little Ice Age.Item An ancient village site of the Shinnecock Indians. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 22, pt. 5.(New York, 1924) Harrington, M. R. (Mark Raymond), 1882-1971.Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 1, Natural and cultural history. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 55, pt. 2([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1978) Thomas, David Hurst.; Jones, Grant D.; Durham, Roger S.; Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Moore, Clarence B. (Clarence Bloomfield), 1852-1936."This volume, the first in a series, considers the natural and cultural background to anthropological research being conducted on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. The island is one of a complex series of barrier islands, of various orgins. The extant vegetation is an interesting mixture of natural succession, periodically disrupted by recent historical processes. Archaeologists have worked on St. Catherines Island discontinuously since 1896, when C.B. Moore conducted excavations in several prehistoric burial mounds. The University of Georgia then conducted a program of burial mound and midden excavations in 1969-1970, and the American Museum of Natural History began intensive archaeological investigations on St. Catherines Island in 1974. The ethnohistory of the Guale Indians is discussed in detail, suggesting that they were essentially a riverine people with strong internal trade contacts. Guale political organization was that of the classic Creek chiefdom. Each chiefdom maintained two principal towns, and may have been organized according to dual political organization. This interpretation contrasts sharply with the traditional view of the Guale, who are often characterized as isolated, scattered, shifting cultivators. The volume concludes with a historical outline of St. Catherines Island from the early Spanish mission period up to present times"--P. 159.Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 2, The Refuge-Deptford mortuary complex. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 56, pt. 1(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1978) Thomas, David Hurst.; Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Clark, George R.; DePratter, Chester B.; Lunsford, Ann Marie."Data and implications from nine burial mounds excavated by crews of the American Museum of Natural History on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, are given in this monograph. As a group, these nine sites define a surprisingly homogeneous pattern and these data comprise virtually all that is known regarding the mortuary customs practiced along the Georgia and Florida coast between ca. 1500 B.C. to A.D. 600. The sites are rather unspectacular sand mounds, which exhibit a remarkably consistent stratigraphic patterning. The skeletal materials recovered are poorly preserved, except in the rare case when shell was added to the interment. The radiocarbon evidence, consisting of 29 determinations from the nine mounds, strongly suggests a marked periodicity in the use of these sites. In all cases, the areas seem to have been visited for centuries - in some cases millenia - prior to the actual construction of the mortuary mound. Several graves were placed into this pre-mound surface, and mound-building activities occurred at all sites sometime during the first 600 years A.D. A number of intrusive burials were added shortly thereafter, and then ceremonial activities virtually ceased at all sites. Most cultural materials found inside the mounds were accidental inclusions which resulted from pre-mound sacred (and probably secular) activities. Very few deliberate grave offerings were found. The biocultural evidence suggests that the Refuge-Deptford population enjoyed good health, although they suffered from an extreme rate of dental attrition. Although the data are limited, these sites seem to reflect an egalitarian sociopolitical organization operative during Refuge-Deptford times. The relatively high proportion of bundle burials seems to suggest that the annual round of these peoples exploited both island and mainland resources. We offer a number of cautious speculations regarding the nature of ritual and symbolism during the Refuge and Deptford phases. These suggestions are a variety of hypotheses that require testing with data from both mortuary and habitation sites of this period"--P. 5.Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 3, Prehistoric human biological adaptation. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 57, pt. 3(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Thomas, David Hurst."Skeletal remains from the prehistoric coast of Georgia are the basis for this study. The effects of agriculture on the human skeleton are examined and explained in the present paper. The region was chosen because (1) there is a large skeletal series representative of both an early preagricultural adapatation (2200 B.C.-A.D. 1150) and a later mixed agricultural and hunting-gathering adaptation (A.D. 1150-A.D. 1550); (2) the Georgia coast represents continuous in situ cultural development from at least 2200 B.C. to A.D. 1550, implying human biological continuity for at least 3500 years prior to European contact; and (3) the economic regime for the Georgia coast has been documented by a large body of archaeological and ethnohistoric data. A series of skeletal and dental changes are viewed in light of an adaptational model encompassing disease and size of the hard tissues - skeletal and dental - and their respective responses to the behavioral shift from a hunting and gathering lifeway to one that incorporated corn agriculture after A.D. 1150. The model consists of two parts. First, with the introduction of an agriculture-based diet and consequent increase in population size and density, the pathology reflecting a general rise in occurrence of infectious disease due to an expansion in population size and a high dietary carbohydrate base should increase. Second, with the adoption of corn as a major dietary constituent, the softer foodstuffs and more sedentary lifeway associated with that adaptation should result in a respective decrease in functional demand on the masticatory complex in particular and on the body in general. In addition, the element of poor nutrition should come into play in an economy in which plant domesticates, and corn in particular, are the focus of diet. The comparison and analysis of the pathology and metric data support the model. In addition, the detailed examination of these data by sex suggests that the behavioral alterations that occurred consequent to the change in lifeway differentially affected females"--P. 159.Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 4, The St. Catherines period mortuary complex. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 57, pt. 4(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Thomas, David Hurst.; DePratter, Chester B.; Grayson, Donald K."The results of archaeological excavations of two St. Catherines period burial mounds - Marys Mound and Johns Mound - by field crews from the University of Georgia and the American Museum of Natural History are presented. Analysis of the ceramics recovered from the two mortuary localities suggests that both mounds were constructed during the terminal phase of the St. Catherines period, probably during the late twelfth or early thirteenth century A.D. Study of the human skeletal remains suggests that these people were physically robust and enjoyed good health, both skeletal and dental. Analysis of nonhuman skeletal remains shows that most identified taxa are present on St. Catherines Island today. In addition, the presence of the domestic pig, Sus scrofa, in association with one iterment from Johns Mound, points to historic (Altahama) period use of this locality. Thin-section analysis of whole clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) from both sites indicates that time of harvesting or death for all specimens falls within 'late fall' to 'late spring' (November to May)"--P. 273.Item Anthropometry and blood types in Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 33, pt. 4(New York City : By order of the Trustees of The American Museum of Natural History, 1933) Howells, W. W. (William White), 1908-; Moss, William Lorenzo, 1876-Item The anthropometry of Pukapuka. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 38, pt. 3(New York City : By order of the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, 1942) Shapiro, Harry Lionel, 1902-; Beaglehole, Ernest, 1906-; Beaglehole, Pearl, 1910-"The anthropometric data on 204 natives of Pukapuka, evenly divided as to sex are herein presented. On the basis of a comparative study of the means, the Pukapukan population appears to be intimately related to the western Polynesians, particularly those of Samoa and Tonga. Two deviations among the Pukapukans from the standards of western Polynesia create, however, a blemish on the purity of this kinship. The Pukapukans have noticeably shorter and slightly wider heads than the Samoans and Tongans. Such a divergence is possible simply as a consequence of isolation and the dominance of family lines in a relatively small population. Another explanation takes into account possible influences from the strongly brachycephalic populations of central Polynesia focusing in the Society Islands. The other significant departure among the Pukapukans from Polynesian characteristics is their significantly reduced stature. In view of the contiguity of Pukapuka to Micronesia which is sharply distinguished from Polynesia by a general decrease in stature it is probable that influences emanating from this region are responsible for the decline in the stature of Pukapuka. A direct contact, however, is quite improbable on genetic grounds. It is therefore suggested, since the Tokelau and Ellice groups are geographically transitional to Micronesia that their natives, with whom the Pukapukans have traditionally been in contact, might have served to transmit this effect. This is offered only tentatively and cannot be demonstrated in the absence of specific data for these archipelagoes"--P. 169.Item Anthropometry of the Siouan tribes. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 23, pt. 3.(New York, 1919) Sullivan, Louis R., 1892-1925.Item The antiquity of the deposits in Jacob's cavern. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 19, pt. 6.(New York, American museum press, 1926) Allison, Vernon Charles, 1891-Item Archaeological material from the village site at Hot Springs, Port Möller, Alaska. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 31, pt. 4.(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1930) Weyer, Edward Moffat, 1904-Item Archaeological studies in the Seistan Basin of southwestern Afghanistan and eastern Iran. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 48, pt. 1(New York, 1961) Fairservis, Walter Ashlin, 1921-Item Archaeological survey in the high llanos and Andean piedmont of Barinas, Venezuela. [1] ; Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 86([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 2007) Redmond, Elsa M.; Spencer, Charles S. (Charles Sidney)"This is the first of a series of monographs about an archaeological project that the authors carried out in the high llanos and Andean piedmont of the Distrito Pedraza, Barinas, Venezuela. We were interested in documenting the evolution of prehistoric chiefdoms in the western Venezuelan llanos and in assessing the possibility that intersocietal interaction such as exchange and warfare played a role in chiefdom development here. We benefited from reading the early historic accounts of the European explorers and missionaries who encountered chiefdoms in the western Venezuelan llanos in the sixteenth century. Also, we wanted to build on the findings of a few archaeologists who had conducted archaeological investigations in the western Venezuelan llanos to answer questions of chronology, settlement, and subsistence. Our research design called for monitoring prehistoric cultural developments in a study region centered on the Canagu‰a River valley, extending across the high llanos and up into the adjacent piedmont, wherein we would collect archaeological data on regional settlement patterns, community organization, households and subsistence practices, and artifact distributions within and between settlements. In this volume, we present the Barinas project's research design, introduce the chronological sequences that we established for the Andean piedmont and high llanos, and report the findings of the first phase of field investigations: the five seasons of regional survey we conducted in our 450 km2 study region centered on the Canagu‰a River valley. The bulk of this volume is devoted to detailed descriptions of 103 archaeological sites. Sites of the Curbat‰i complex dated to A.D. 300-1000 are restricted to the piedmont, where they are typically located on remnant river terraces overlooking stretches of farmable alluvium. Our survey revealed evidence of a two-level settlement-size hierarchy for Curbat‰i-complex sites in the Curbat‰i and upper Canagu‰a River valleys. While Curbat‰i-complex sites never have earthworks, some Curbat‰i-complex sites in the Curbat‰i River valley are associated with petroglyphs. One of these sites was La Esmeralda (B8), the largest Curbat‰i-complex settlement, which extended over 8 ha of an alluvial terrace on which stood a large boulder bearing petroglyphs. A similar two-level settlement-size hierarchy obtained for sites in the piedmont of the later CaŠno Seco complex, dated to A.D. 1000-1550, although there is evidence of population growth in the number and areal extent ([< or = to] 25 ha) of CaŠno Seco settlements, especially in the upper Canagu‰a River valley. The only CaŠno Seco-complex site associated with petroglyphs, however, was the small (3.125 ha) site of La Piedra Herrada (B20) in the Curbat‰i River valley. All but one of the petroglyphs discovered in our study region were confined to the Curbat‰i River valley. Sites with Gav‰an-complex ceramics dated to A.D. 300-1000 are largely restricted to the high llanos, where our survey revealed a clear regional hierarchy of three levels according to site size and associated mounded architecture. The 33 ha site of El Gav‰an (B12), with its linear plaza flanked by tall earthen mounds, house mounds, and associated earthworks and causeways stood at the top of the settlement hierarchy. Linked by causeway to the regional center were five second-order settlements with similar mound configurations, only on a smaller scale. The lowest level of the regional settlement hierarchy consisted of 28 habitation sites smaller than 5 ha in area and without visible mounded architecture. We located, mapped, and test-excavated a 35 ha drained-fields facility (B27) southeast of the regional center of El Gav‰an; another expanse of drained fields may have existed northwest of the regional center at site B52 on the fertile alluvium of the CaŠno Mitiao Hondo. We estimate that the potential maize yields reaped on these drained fields would have greatly exceeded the subsistence requirements of the nearest habitation sites (B26, B98). Due to the drained fields' proximity to causeways leading to the regional center, we propose that the considerable agricultural surplus produced on the drained fields was delivered to the regional elite at El Gav‰an (B12). The discovery of four third-order habitation sites with Gav‰an-complex ceramics in the upper Canagu‰a River valley, associated with large tracts of fertile alluvium, raises questions about the relationship and intersocietal interaction between the inhabitants of the high llanos and the adjacent forested piedmont in late Gav‰an times. The oval causeway that encloses the regional center of El Gav‰an may have served in part as a defensive earthwork. The degree of centralized regional organization manifested by the Gav‰an-complex settlement hierarchy, with the array of mounded architecture, the network of intersite causeways, and the implementation of drained-field agriculture, are commensurate with the archaeological manifestations expected for chiefly societies. The paramount chiefdom centered at El Gav‰an (B12) did not persist until the European incursions in the sixteenth century. We located eight CaŠno Seco-complex (ca. A.D. 1000-1550) sites on the high llanos, which adhered to the two-level settlement-size hierarchy obtained for CaŠno Seco-complex sites in the adjacent piedmont. We also located 10 sites of the early historic period on the high llanos that we assigned to the Chuponal complex and tentatively date to A.D. 1550-1850. The largest and greatest density of Chuponal settlements occurred on the El Chuponal alluvium, east and across the Canagu‰a River from the town of Pedraza (Ciudad Bolivia), which was founded in 1591"--P. 10-11.Item Archaeological surveys in the Zhob and Loralai districts, West Pakistan. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 47, pt. 2(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1959) Fairservis, Walter Ashlin, 1921-Item The archaeology [i.e. anthropology] of St. Catherines Island. 5, The South End Mound complex. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 63, pt. 1(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1986) Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Thomas, David Hurst.; Hutchinson, Dale L.; O'Brien, Deborah Mayer.; Pendleton, Lorann S. A.; Peter, Debra.; Moore, Clarence B. (Clarence Bloomfield), 1852-1936."This volume presents results of archaeological excavations of two prehistoric burial mounds on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. South End Mound I is an Irene period mortuary site, initially excavated by C.B. Moore during the winter of 1896-1897. Although Moore adequately described his investigations in a subsequent publication, he retained only six complete ceramic vessels for later analysis. These vessels have been reexamined and are discussed here. None of the skeletal materials excavated by Moore, to our knowledge, was saved for later analysis. Field crews from the American Museum of Natural History recently reexcavated parts of this site, finding evidence that at least some of the primary human burials previously exposed by Moore remain intact beneath the backdirt of South End Mound I. Further investigation might be fruitful. South End Mound II, a previously unexplored mortuary site, was discovered not far from Moore's excavations. This St. Catherines/Savannah period burial mound, extensively excavated by the American Museum of Natural History, had a central pit containing two cremations and a mass grave containing at least 15 individuals. Grave goods included a perforated copper sheet, worked galena, a river otter mandible, and a polished stone pendant. Prehistoric copper has rarely been reported from archaeological contexts from this area and, to our knowledge, this is the first occurrence of galena in coastal Georgia. Mound construction methods resemble those employed at Johns and Marys mounds, two roughly contemporary mortuary sites on St. Catherines Island"--P. 4.Item Archaeology in central Alaska. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 36, pt. 4.(New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1939) Rainey, Froelich G. (Froelich Gladstone), 1907-Item The archaeology of Bone cave, Miller county, Missouri. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 40, pt. 2(New York : [Published by order of the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History], 1946) Hoebel, E. Adamson (Edward Adamson), 1906-