Quaternary Geology of Alaska


Book Description

A study of the glacial, periglacial, eolian, fluvial, lacustrine, marine, and volcanic deposits of Quaternary age in Alaska and Paleoclimatic fluctuations in light of formation and disappearance of glaciers and permafrost and changes in the distribution of plants and animals.




Recent Mammals of Alaska


Book Description

From the polar bear and the gray wolf to the walrus and river otter, there are 115 species of mammals in Alaska that have never been fully catalogued until now. Biologists Joseph A. Cook and Stephen O. MacDonald have compiled here the first comprehensive guide to all of Alaska’s mammals, big and small, endearing and ferocious. Through extensive fieldwork and research the authors have produced a unique and authoritative reference. Detailed entries for each species include distribution and taxonomic information, status, habitat, and fossil history. Appendices include quick reference listings of mammal distribution by region, specimen locations, conservation status, and the incidence of Pleistocene mammals. The guide is generously illustrated with line drawings by Alaskan artist W. D. Berry and includes several maps indicating populations and locations of species. Mammals of Alaska will be an accessible, easy to use source for scholars and hobbyists alike.




Reflections of a Digger


Book Description

For some 30 years the University of Pennsylvania Museum flourished under the directorship of Froelich Rainey, who revived it after WW II and made it a preeminent institution devoted to excavation and innovative technology applied to archaeology. In this personal memoir, Dr. Rainey recounts the highlights of his archaeological career spanning more than 50 years of active field research in all parts of the world--the West Indies, the Arctic, the Near and Middle East, Europe, the New World, and the Far East.




Macroevolution in Human Prehistory


Book Description

Cultural evolution, much like general evolution, works from the assumption that cultures are descendent from much earlier ancestors. Human culture manifests itself in forms ranging from the small bands of hunters, through intermediate scale complex hunter-gatherers and farmers, to the high density urban settlements and complex polities that characterize much of today’s world. The chapters in the volume examine the dynamic interaction between the micro- and macro-scales of cultural evolution, developing a theoretical approach to the archaeological record that has been termed evolutionary processual archaeology. The contributions in this volume integrate positive elements of both evolutionary and processualist schools of thought. The approach, as explicated by the contributors in this work, offers novel insights into topics that include the emergence, stasis, collapse and extinction of cultural patterns, and development of social inequalities. Consequently, these contributions form a stepping off point for a significant new range of cultural evolutionary studies.
















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