This handsome volume is the first photographically illustrated textbook to present for both the student and the working archaeologist the anatomy of the human skeleton and the study of skeletal remains from an anthropological perspective. It describes the skeleton as not just a structure, but a working system in the living body. The opening chapter introduces basics of osteology, or the study of bones, the specialized and often confusing terminology of the field, and methods for dealing scientifically with bone specimens. The second chapter covers the biology of living bone: its structure,...

The Big Bend region, outlined by the snakelike curve of the Rio Grande, is a land of deserts and mountains. The lowlands of the region, dominated by the desert sun, are the eastern margin of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of the most arid regions of the world. Rising above the desert floor are numerous mountain ranges, part of the Southern Sierras. These mountain islands of cooler and moister terrain above the sere desert give the Big Bend an incredible wealth of diverse biological communities. Together, the deserts and the mountains of the Big Bend are the largest and last wild area remaining in...

The first of four volumes to come out of the first World Summit Conference on the peopling of the Americas, this includes sections on methods, geoarchaeology, biological approaches, linguistic approaches, and material culture.

Many years ago, John Graves said goodbye to a wild river that tumbled out of the Hill Country and was forever changed by dams and people. In this book we say hello to that same river farther down its course, in the valley that carries its name. When naming the signature landscapes of Texas, if you have never said Brazos Valley in the same breath as Hill Country or Big Bend, this book could change your mind. In the fine, penetrating photography of D. Gentry Steele and the revealing, affectionate reflections of M. Jimmie Killingsworth, the Brazos Valley has found its champions in two adopted...