Geoarchaeology

Edited By: Gary Huckleberry and Jamie C. Woodward

Impact Factor: 0.87

ISI Journal Citation Reports © Ranking: 2011: 124/170 (Geosciences Multidisciplinary)

Online ISSN: 1520-6548

Virtual Issue: Paleoindian Geoarchaeology

Paleoindian Geoarchaeology

Edited by Gary Huckleberry, Vance Holliday, and Rolfe Mandel

Paleoindian and geoarchaeological research in North and South America are closely entwined. Studies of stratigraphy, geomorphology, soils, and paleoenvironment have played a key role in defining the age, authenticity, and systemic context of artifacts and features associated with the earliest archaeological sites in the Americas. In fact, it is hard to imagine a scientific investigation of an early site in the Americas that does not include a geoarchaeological component. Indeed, as these papers and many of the works they cite show, the early history of geoarchaeology in North America was closely linked to the beginnings of Paleoindian archaeology. Not surprisingly, Geoarchaeology has published many important papers over the past 26 years related to Paleoindian research. The 17 papers presented here (and available below as free downloads) were selected as representing some of the best examples of Paleoindian research published in Geoarchaeology. Of the many Paleoindian-related papers published in the journal since 1986, we have selected those that we feel best exemplify geoarchaeological approaches to Paleoindian research and had the greatest impact within the profession based on citation indices and personal experience.^[1] Although there is overlap in approach and themes, we grouped the papers into the following headings:

1) Geomorphic and Stratigraphic Context

2) Paleoenvironment and Site Formation

3) Chronology, Subsistence, and Technology

This virtual issue was compiled to coincide with a symposium to be presented at the 77^th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Memphis, April 19, 2012, titled “Stones, Bones, and Profiles: Celebrating the Contributions of George Frison and C. Vance Haynes”. These two scholars have made many contributions in Paleoindian geoarchaeology over the past 50 years and exemplify how earth scientists and archaeologists have collaborated and enriched our understanding of the earliest American cultures. Not surprisingly, five of the 17 papers selected contain Frison or Haynes as author or co-author. We believe that the set of papers provided below, compiled in honor of these two men, will be of interest not only to all those involved in interdisciplinary geoarchaeological and Paleoindian research and teaching, but also to the wider international geoarchaeological community.

^[1] Citation assessment based on Web of Science and Google Scholar; papers receiving two out of three votes by the editorial committee were selected; members of the committee did not vote for papers in which they authored or co-authored.

1. Geomorphic and Stratigraphic Context

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Lake-Level Fluctuations in the Lahontan Basin, Nevada: Implications for the Distribution of Archaeological Sites.

K. Adams, T. Goebel, K. Graf, G. Smith, A. Camp, R. Briggs, and D. Rhode

2008

A Clovis Well at the Type Site 11,500 B.C.: The Oldest Prehistoric Well in America

C.V. Haynes, Jr., D.J. Stanford, M. Jodry, J. Dickenson, J.L. Montgomery, P.H. Shelley, I. Rovner, and G.A. Agogino

1999

Geoarchaeology and Late Quaternary Geomorphology of the Middle South Platte River, Northeastern Colorado

V.T. Holliday

1987

Geoarchaeological Contexts for Late Pleistocene Archaeological Sites with Human-Modified Wooly Mammoth Remains in Southeastern Wisconsin, U.S.A

D.F. Overstreet and M.F. Kolb