This volume reports on the findings from the extensive archaeological surveys and excavations in the Batza Téna area, Alaska’s most important source of obsidian.

The Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska remains one of the most important regions of the continent for archaeological research. In The Gift of the Middle Tanana: Dene Pre-Colonial History in the Alaskan Interior, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people in this region during the late Holocene. Smith creates an interpretive framework informed by Alaskan Native traditions, focusing on traditional place names and the deep-play rituals of reciprocity. Smith sets forth the case that the local themes and oral traditions of the potlatch are better understood not as singular ceremonial events but as a mechanism of regional social cohesion that dictated everyday life. The Gift of the Middle Tanana illustrates how the role of reciprocal deep-play shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.

This book represents the archeological evidence for the first 5,500 years of prehistory in British Columbia, from about 10,500 to 5,000 years ago. As this period is poorly known, even to specialists, Early Human Occupation in British Columbia is a vital contribution to current knowledge about an enigmatic time in a critically important area of western North America.

The Encyclopedia of Prehistory represents also defined by a somewhat different set of an attempt to provide basic information sociocultural characteristics than are eth on all archaeologically known cultures, nological cultures. Major traditions are covering the entire globe and the entire defined based on common subsistence prehistory of humankind. It is designed as practices, sociopolitical organization, and a tool to assist in doing comparative material industries, but language, ideology, research on the peoples of the past. Most and kinship ties play little or no part in of the entries are written by the world's their definition because they are virtually foremost experts on the particular areas unrecoverable from archaeological con and time periods. texts. In contrast, language, ideology, and The Encyclopedia is organized accord kinship ties are central to defining ethno ing to major traditions. A major tradition logical cultures. There are three types of entries in the is defined as a group of populations sharing Encyclopedia: the major tradition entry, similar subsistence practices, technology, and forms of sociopolitical organization, the regional subtradition entry, and the which are spatially contiguous over a rela site entry. Each contains different types of tively large area and which endure tempo information, and each is intended to be rally for a relatively long period. Minimal used in a different way.

The Encyclopedia of Prehistory, with regionally organized entries on each major archaeological tradition, is a comprehensive overview of human history from two million years ago to the historic period. Prepared under the auspices and with the support of the Human Relations Area Files, and an internationally distinguished advisory board, the Encyclopedia is organized regionally with entries on each major archaeological tradition, written by noted experts in the field and edited by Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Ember. The volumes follow a standard format and employ comparable units of description and analysis, making them easy to use and compare. -Volume 1 focuses on Africa. -Volume 2 focuses on Arctic and Sub Arctic. -Volume 3 focuses on East Asia and Oceania. -Volume 4 focuses on Europe. -Volume 5 focuses on Middle America. -Volume 6 focuses on North America. -Volume 7 focuses on South America. -Volume 8 focuses on South & Southwest Asia. -Volume 9 is the index volume.