FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF GLASS
In 1833, the Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort Nisqually as a fur-trading post near what is now Tacoma, Washington. Excavations at Fort Nisqually in the 1990s have clarified the pivotal role glass beads played in early contacts between Europeans and American Indians.
BY JANET CREIGHTON
page 8
STONE DIARIES: BOULDER MONUMENTS OF CANADA AND THE NORTHERN PLAINS
Scattered across the Northern Plains, these little-known enigmatic stone formations speak powerfully of the dreams and daily lives of ancient bison-hunting people.
BY HEATHER PRINGLE
page 13
PLAYING BALL WITH THE GODS
As the numerous ballcourts of the Maya, Toltecs, and Aztecs demonstrate, ballplaying for the ancient people of the Americas was never just fun and games. Recently, archaeologists in the American Southwest have discovered a northern cousin of the Mesoamerican ballgame.
BY SHARMAN APT RUSSELL
page 18