Ancient human groups in the Eastern Woodlands of North America were long viewed as homogeneous and stable hunter-gatherers, changing little until the late prehistoric period when Mesoamerican influences were thought to have stimulated important economic and social developments. The authors in this volume offer new, contrary evidence to dispute this earlier assumption, and their studies demonstrate the vigor and complexity of prehistoric peoples in the North American Midwest and Midsouth. These peoples gathered at favored places along midcontinental streams to harvest mussels and other wild foods and to inter their dead in the shell mounds that had resulted from their riverside activities. They created a highly successful, pre-maize agricultural system beginning more than 4,000 years ago, established far-flung trade networks, and explored and mined the world's longest cave—the Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky.
 

Contributors include:
Kenneth C. Carstens, Cheryl Ann Munson, Guy Prentice, Kenneth B. Tankersley, Philip J. DiBlasi, Mary C. Kennedy, Jan Marie Hemberger, Gail E. Wagner, Christine K. Hensley, Valerie A. Haskins, Nicholas P. Herrmann, Mary Lucas Powell, Cheryl Claassen, David H. Dye, and Patty Jo Watson
 

Kenneth C. Carstens is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Murray State University Anthropology Program and Archaeology Service Center. Patty Jo Watson is Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Some archaeological projects have lots of money and personnel. Other projects go along on a shoestring, supported not by money but by the dedication of the individuals involved. In such cases, it may take longer to produce results, but what is done reflects the commitment and long-term reflection of the participants. This book is an example to archaeologists, showing how much can be accomplished and how well it can be done, even on a shoestring. New interpretations and data cover a wide range of topics, especially bringing new light on Archaic period lifeways in the Midsouth." —Jon Muller, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

"An excellent multidisciplinary work. I was amazed how closely linked the riverine areas of the southeast are with regard to age utilization, location of sites, and types of resources exploited. Archaeologists will benefit greatly from this volume. It is a well-deserved tribute to Patty Jo Watson whose contributions to cave archaeology, shell mound archaeology, and origins of plant domestication are unparalleled in North American archaeology." —Barbara Purdy, University of Florida