ABOUT THIS BOOK

How humans adapt to life in an area prone to natural disasters is an intriguing study for the social sciences. In this volume, experts from several disciplines explore the adaptation process of prehistoric societies in the volcanic Arenal region of Costa Rica from about 2000 BC to the Spanish Conquest at about AD 1500.

The data in this volume come from a survey of the region conducted with the latest remote sensing technology. Sheets and his coauthors have compiled a detailed record of human settlements in the area, including dozens of archaeological sites and a network of prehistoric footpaths that reveals patterns of travel and communication across the region. The Arenal peoples prospered in their precarious environment apparently by taking advantage of food and lithic resources, keeping population levels low, and avoiding environmental degradation. These findings will interest a wide interdisciplinary audience in anthropology and archaeology, earth sciences, technology, geography, and human ecology.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Payson Sheets is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Brian R. McKee received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Arizona.

REVIEWS

This is an outstanding, very important and, in many ways, fascinating examination of a poorly understood era and region of the Americas. The authors, and the editors, have done an excellent job of reconstructing the lifestyle, behavior, and likely attitudes of these early Central American peoples.

— Paul F. Healy, Professor of Anthropology, Trent University, Ontario, Canada

This is an outstanding work that sets new standards for the study of archaeology and volcanism.... it presents valuable new data on a region that, until Sheets' work there, was very poorly known archaeologically. The book is significant in so many ways that it is difficult to summarize all of them.

— William R. Fowler, Associate Professor of Anthropology Vanderbilt University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1. The Proyecto Prehistórico Arenal: An Introduction (Payson D. Sheets)
Chapter 2. The Eruption of 1968 and Tephra Stratigraphy of Arenal Volcano (William G. Melson)
Chapter 3. Archaeological Survey in the Arenal Basin (Marilynn Mueller)
Chapter 4. Tronadora Vieja: An Archaic and Early Formative Site in the Arenal Region (John E. Bradley)
Chapter 5. Excavations at Sitio Bolívar: A Late Formative Village in the Arenal Basin (John W. Hoopes and Mark L. Chenault)
Chapter 6. The Silencio Site: An Early to Middle Polychrome Period Cemetery in the Arenal Region (John E. Bradley)
Chapter 7. Proyecto Prehistórico Arenal Excavations in the Santa Rosa River Valley (John W. Hoopes and Mark L. Chenault)
Chapter 8. Remote Sensing in the Arenal Region (Brian R. McKee and Thomas L. Sever)
Chapter 9. Prehistoric Footpaths in Costa Rica: Remote Sensing and Field Verification (Brian R. McKee, Thomas L. Sever, and Payson D. Sheets)
Chapter 10. Ceramic Analysis and Culture History in the Arenal Region (John W. Hoopes)
Chapter 11. Chipped Stone Artifacts from the Cordillera de Tilarán (Payson D. Sheets)
Chapter 12. Precolumbian Ground, Polished, and Incised Stone Artifacts from the Cordillera de Tilarán (Mark L. Chenault)
Chapter 13. Prehistoric Jewelry from the Arenal Basin (Marilynn Mueller and Mark L. Chenault)
Chapter 14. Phytolith Records from the Proyecto Prehistórico Arenal (Dolores R. Piperno)
Chapter 15. Pollen Evidence for Prehistoric Environment and Subsistence Activities (Karen H. Clary)
Chapter 16. Macrobotanical Remains of the Proyecto Prehistórico Arenal (Nancy Mahaney, Meredith H. Matthews, and Aida Blanco Vargas)
Chapter 17. Summary and Conclusions (Payson D. Sheets)
References Cited
Notes on Contributors
Index