Fall 2015 is Here!

The most recent issue of American Archaeology Magazine, Fall 2015 , is now available. COVER: A side-scan sonar image of HMS Erebus, the flagship of the ill-fated 1845 Sir John Franklin expedition in search of a...

Book Review – Ancient Teotihuacan: Early Urbanism in Central Mexico

Ancient Teotihuacan: Early Urbanism in Central Mexico By George L. Cowgill (Cambridge University Press, 2015; 312 pgs., illus., $35 paper; www.cambridge.org)   Beginning in about 150 B.C., a great city developed in the fertile Teotihuacan (Nahuatl spelling) Valley...

Book Review- Medieval Mississippians: The Cahokia World

Medieval Mississippians: The Cahokia World Edited by Timothy R. Pauketat and Susan M. Alt (SAR Press, 2015; 169 pgs., illus. $60 cloth, $25 paper; www.sarpress.org)   This collection of 17 essays by 28 archaeologists and Native Americans explores...

A Sneak Peak: Understanding the Prehistoric Landscape of Rock Art Ranch

Sneak Peak Ahead Field Blog for Fall 2015 Our intrepid reporter, Tamara Stewart, visited Chevelon Canyon and Rock Art Ranch.  Join her for a Sneak Peak at some reporting in the field underway for our...

Summer 2015 is Here

The most recent issue of American Archaeology Magazine, Summer 2015 , is now available. COVER: San Francisco de Asís’ modest 18th-century adobe church features this spectacular altar. Credit: Rubén G. Mendoza Unearthing Magic of Slaves and Immigrants Visiting California’s...
Objects from the Carroll House cache included shell discs, straight pins, buttons, two pierced coins, a tiny faceted glass bead, a smooth black stone, and large rock crystals. The collection was covered with an overturned pearlware bowl. Archaeology in Annapolis/ University of Maryland

Unearthing Magic of Slaves and Immigrants

Summer 2015: By Julian Smith In the late 17th century, Annapolis enjoyed a thriving economy as the capital of the Maryland colony. An average of at least 300 slaves were brought in every year between 1695...
Eye-catching cobalt, vermilion, and red ochre pigments embellish the interior of San Miguel Arcángel. Rubén G. Mendoza.

Visiting California’s Historic Missions

Summer 2015: By Gayle Keck  It was 1782, and an earthquake had ripped through Alta California. "In Santa Clara, it broke a bottle of brandy," Father Junípero Serra noted, "which the poor Fathers there were jealously...
A petroglyph near the site of Las Crucitas, Honduras that Chris Begley believes may represent a feathered serpent. Credit Chris Begley.

A Lost City Found?

Summer 2015: By Charles C. Poling On March 2, 2015, a news story on the National Geographic website announced the discovery of an ancient “lost city” that was once inhabited by a mysterious culture in the...
Cliff Palace is the largest alcove habitation in Mesa Verde National Park. One of its 23 kivas has a beam that was dated to a.d. 1280, marking it as one of the last sites in the region to be abandoned.

Grappling With A Great Mystery

Summer 2015: By David Malakoff It had seemed like a good idea at the time. In the spring of A.D. 1250, you and your new spouse decided to move away from the hamlet where you were...
The excavation area of Old Vero Man site is protected from the elements by a tent-like structure called a WeatherPort. courtesy of Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute.

Revisiting Old Vero Man

Summer 2015: By Tamara Stewart In 1916, as Florida State geologist Elias Sellards stood on the bank of Van Valkenberg Creek, which has run along Florida’s eastern coastal region for the last 14,000 years, he...