Settlement Pattern Studies in the Americas (Smithsonian Series in Archaeological Inquiry)

Originating in a symposium at the Society of American Archaeology in New Orleans, 1996, the eleven papers presented here explore the past, present and future of surveys and settlement pattern studies in the Americas. This book covers evidence from hunter-gatherers and late prehistoric societies to the development of states and empires, across many different regions including Mesoamerica, California, Alaska, the Mississippi Valley, Peru and Mexico. The authors explore issues such as the forming of complex societies and ranking, sedentism, theoretical and methodological questions in survey and analysis of settlement patterning. The impressive line-up of authors includes: Gordon Willey, William Sanders, Laura Finstein, Stephen Kowalewski, Robert Bettinger, Charles Stanish, George Milner, James Oliver, David Hally, Herbert Maschner, Katharina Schreiber, Linda Nicholas, Andrew Balkansky, Suzanne Fish, Gary Feinman and Brian Billman.