Experts throughout the Central Mississippi Valley present current views of the regional cultural sequences supported by data concerning recent surveys and excavations.

Archaeology of the Central Mississippi Valley describes an archeological reconstruction of the preceding 11,000 years of an extraordinarily rich environment centered within the largest river system north of the Amazon. This book focuses on the lowlands of the Mississippi Valley from just north of the Ohio River to the mouth of the Arkansas River. Organized into 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the territory between the Ohio and Arkansas rivers. This text then attempts to humanize the archeological interpretations by reference to social organization, settlement system, economy, religion, and politics. Other chapters focus on understanding the nature of change through time in the Central Mississippi Valley. This book discusses as well the difference between an old braided stream surface and the younger meander belt system. The final chapter deals with the investigation of prehistoric Indian remains. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists, zoologists, and scientific hobbyists.

Fourteen experts examine the current state of Central Valley prehistoric research and provide an important touchstone for future archaeological study of the region The Mississippi Valley region has long played a critical role in the development of American archaeology and continues to be widely known for the major research of the early 1950s. To bring the archaeological record up to date, fourteen Central Valley experts address diverse topics including the distribution of artifacts across the landscape, internal configurations of large fortified settlements, human-bone chemistry, and ceramic technology. The authors demonstrate that much is to be learned from the rich and varied archaeological record of the region and that the methods and techniques used to study the record have changed dramatically over the past half century. Operating at the cutting edge of current research strategies, these archaeologists provide a fresh look at old problems in central Mississippi Valley research.

In 1951 the Lower Mississippi River Valley Survey generated a large assemblage of ceramic material relating to prehistoric populations in the area.