Albert Porter Pueblo at Crow Canyon
http://www.crowcanyon.org/publications/albert_porter_pueblo.asp
This website focuses on "Albert Porter Pueblo," which is a prehispanic (Anasazi) village site located in the central Mesa Verde region, southwestern Colorado. The settlement served as community centre for the people of Crow Canyon. The excavations have conclusively demonstrated that the pueblo saw discontinuous occupation between A.D. 600 and 1050 (Basketmaker IIIââ¬âearly Pueblo II periods) and stable occupation from A.D. 1050 through the late 1200s (late Pueblo II through the Pueblo III periods). Excavations at Albert Porter Pueblo have been conducted from 2001 through 2004 with the declared research objective of examining the development and depopulation of ancestral Pueblo communities in the central Mesa Verde region. Yearly illustrated and referenced reports have been produced and these are freely available on the website. Among the finds are pottery and architectural structures. This website will be most useful to researchers.
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Ancient architects of the Mississippi
http://www.nps.gov/history/archeology/feature/feature.htm
"Ancient architects of the Mississippi", hosted by the US government's National Parks Service, is an attempt to preserve the disappearing legacy of the native American Mississippian cultures that existed between the 11th and 17th centuries AD along the banks of the Lower Mississippi river. These cultures are thought to be the first intensive farmers of North America's eastern woodlands, cultivating corn, beans and squash to such an extent that the population boomed between 800 and 1400 AD. Towns and cities sprang up along the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the era known to archaeologists as the archaic-woodland period developed into the early and then middle Mississippian periods. Commerce, craft, and inevitably warfare, increased during these periods as archaeological evidence attests, whilst contact with the first European explorers brought disease. However, towns such as Cahokia, in modern-day Illinois, had anywhere between one and twenty 'mounds' - man-made earthen structures that possibly provided footings for ceremonial buildings or the houses of important families within the communities. It is degraded remains of such mounds and earthworks that provide the scant above-ground evidence for the Mississippian culture today.This website provides much background information on the Mississippian culture - the so-called 'moundbuilders' - presenting timelines, maps and images to enhance the textual descriptions. Links to other resources provided by the National Parks Service are available.
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Ancient moundbuilders of Arkansas
http://cast.uark.edu/home/research/archaeology-and-historic-preservation/ar
"Ancient Moundbuilders of Arkansas", hosted by the University of Arkansas' Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, is a website discussing the native American cultures that emerged and developed along the Mississippi river from roughly the 13th to 16th centuries AD.These prehistoric native Americans, known to archaeologists simply as Mississippi Indians, built permanent towns to relatively standardised patterns. Particularly indicative of these settlements are four-sided, flat-topped mounds facing an open plaza-type area. These are thought to have supported ceremonial buildings or the homes of important members of the particular community, and examples are to be found over the entire Lower Mississippi valley. Although many mounds are located on private land, two of the most notable archaeological sites containing such structures are located in state parks: the Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, and the Parkin Archeological State Park. Toltec, located on the banks of 'Mound Pond', was once surrounded on three sides by an 8-10ft high embankment, and, until 100 years ago, contained 16 mounds. Parkin, believed to be the settlement of Casqui visited by Hernando de Soto in 1541, lies on the banks of the St Francis river and was the site of a village between roughly 1300 and 1550 AD. Descriptions of the backgrounds and archaeological investigations of each site are provided, along with further information about commerce, early European travellers and traders (e.g. De Soto) and the native American communities and settlements. A QuickTime panoramic view from Toltec Mounds is also available.
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AncientMexico.com : the art, culture, and history of ancient Mesoamerica
http://www.ancientmexico.com/
A useful educational resource, ancientmexico.com is an excellently illustrated website concerning Mesoamerican art, culture and archaeology. Originally focused purely on the Precolumbian Aztec culture of Mexico, it also includes sections on ancient Chile and Peru, incorporating information regarding the Inca and Mapuche indians. Beautifully constructed by Patrick Olivares, as an educational resource and a forum to demonstrate the skills of his web design company, ancientmexico.com is a relatively simple site with information primarily relevant to relative newcomers to Central American history. However, the excellent graphics and images make it an interesting, although sometimes slow, resource for anyone interested in this field. Particularly valuable is the map of the cities of Pre-Columbian Mexico which provides links to information regarding the specific locations and, in many cases, maps of the cities themselves. A useful time-line and good, although basic, slideshow of the invasion of Cortés and the conquistadors also feature in this site, whilst Olivares' list of sources, amongst which he particularly commends the National Geographic Magazine, provides a useful bibliography.
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Antípoda : revista de antropología y arqueología
http://antipoda.uniandes.edu.co/
Antípoda : revista de antropología y arqueología is a journal available both in print and online that focuses on anthropological and archaeological research. This website contains contact information and guidelines for prospective authors, in addition to free and full-text editions of the journal. At the time of review, only the first issue of the journal was available; regular issues are published in PDF format (there are some large files). There are thematic issues on topics (e.g. "violence, reparation and remembrance: perspectives in Africa and Latin America"). Most of the papers are relevant to modern anthropology, but a few may be useful to archaeologists and there are also archaeological papers (e.g. water and disease among some Maya groups; impact of local perceptions of the environment, archaeological sites and archaeologists themselves on the ways in which the past is constructed). The geographic focus is on Latin America and Africa, though the published papers cover many continents. All papers are written in Spanish and have short English abstracts. Both researchers and students may find some of the papers useful.
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Antiquities of Wisconsin
http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/Antiquities/
The University of Wisconsin-Madison library website has provided this digitised copy of the "Antiquities of Wisconsin", a monograph written by Increase Allen Lapham (1811-1875) in 1855. It is the final report of the archaeological excavations carried out by the Smithsonian Institution in Wisconsin. The monograph is outdated for what concerns the interpretation (the "concluding remarks"), but the chapters detailing several past excavations maintain their significance and value. The plates and wood engravings which illustrate this electronic edition are accessed through the contents page. An option to download this book as a PDF is available under "project notes". A link is provided to the new printed edition, which includes an introduction by Lapham scholar Robert P. Nurre, and a foreword by Wisconsin state archaeologist, Robert A. Birmingham.
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Applied archaeology in the Bolivian Amazon
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/applied.html
This website publishes a series of articles on Pre-Hispanic fisheries; pre-Hispanic earthworks and raised field agriculture in Bolivia by Clark Erickson. All articles have a few pictures and a bibliography. The most useful page for an academic audience is the one containing the full-text digital editions in PDF format of most papers (most in English and only a few in Spanish) published by the author, focusing on the ancient landscape of Bolivia; raised field agriculture; fisheries; and pre-Columbian roads. Students should note that this website presents the work of a single scholar rather than a broader investigation of a specific topic. This website may be useful for both students and researchers.
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ArchaeoCostaRica
http://www.archaeocostarica.com/
This website displays the pre-Columbian art and archaeology of Costa Rica. The website is neat in its organisation and it consists of a series of illustrated articles outlining the fundamental aspects of the archaeology of Costa Rica. The country is divided into three general zones whose cultures produced artefacts of distinctly different styles: Guanacaste/Nicoya; Central Highlands/Atlantic Watershed; and Diquis. Three distinct time periods have also been identified: 12,000 B.C. to 500 A.D.; 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D.; and 1000 A.D. to 1550 A.D. The objects include ceramics, stone carvings, ceremonial artefacts and metallurgical items of gold or tumbaga. Students in particular may find this website useful.
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Archaeological Institute of America
http://www.archaeological.org/
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is the oldest corporate body for the promotion and regulation of archaeology in North America and is a major sponsor of academic and educational programmes as well as the publisher of several archaeological periodicals. This website provides a comprehensive overview of the structure and history of the AIA together with information on a wide range of AIA activities including : lectures, conferences and educational programmes; professional activities and career placements; fellowships and funding opportunities; details of publications by the AIA such as Dig, the American Journal of Archaeology and various monographs. There is also an useful news service of recent heritage-related stories drawn from another AIA publication, Archaeology Magazine. The resource includes guidelines for individuals intending to set up and manage an archaeological project (including an extensive bibliography tailored to individual regions) as well as a searchable guide to fieldwork opportunities for students and interested amateurs. Also featured is online discussion forum (free but requiring registration) and information on relevant email lists. On-line and down-loadable application forms for various AIA activities and programmes are provided throughout the website. Links to the websites of the main publications of the AIA are also provided. This is a wide-ranging resource which will benefit a larger audience ranging from the interested amateur to university students and tenured academics and professionals working within commercial archaeology, particularly for the insights it offers into North American practise and procedure in this subject area.
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Archaeological predictive modelling in Ontario's forests
http://modelling.pictographics.com/
This website provides information about the development and subsequent usage of Archaeological predictive modelling. Since 1991, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) has actively pursued the protection of Ontario's cultural resources through the forest management planning process. The OMNR publication 'Timber Management Guidelines for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Resources' outlines the manner in which cultural resources such as archaeological sites will be protected through forest management planning. Archaeological Predictive Modelling is considered to play a key role in this management process. Between 1991 and 1994, Lakeland University developed a computerized model which could assist managers and planners in identifying areas most likely to be of archaeological potential. This entailed a three year research and development project, in addition to subsequent pilot applications. This website provides information about the development and subsequent usage of this predictive model. Reports and images are also provided.
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Archaeological project Nasca-Palpa, Peru
http://www.dainst.org/index.php?id=593&sessionLanguage=en
This website publishes the preliminary report of the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute at Nasca and Palpa, southern Peru, where the ancient climatic and environmental conditions of the region today famous for the geoglyphs have been studied. A bibliography with some papers available in PDF format provides good information for researchers.
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Archaeological research in Jalisco
http://web.archive.org/web/20080225010920/http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~cbeek
Based on the research interests of Mesoamericanist Chris Beekman of the University of Colorado at Denver, this resource provides a useful overview to past and current research in the Jalisco province of modern Mexico by a variety of scholars. While the author's interest are presently concentrated on the Tequila valleys in the centre of the region, this site is intended to become a platform of Jalisco studies in general. The subject is usefully introduced by a link to an online essay on recent work in Jalisco from the journal Ancient Mesoamerica while a series of short essays, some illustrated, describes individual projects currently working in the region. These include studies of settlement patterns, burial customs, social complexity, ancient agriculture, and art, while there is also a link to a project attempting to establish a database of C14 dates for western and north-western Mesoamerica. Individual essays include links to the texts of various publications and lectures (or else to bibliographic references) and provide valuable additional material for students and researchers in this area of archaeology and anthropology.
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Archaeology & native peoples of Tennessee : Frank H. McClung museum
http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/permanent/native/index.shtml
Archaeology and the Native Peoples of Tennessee is an educational website published by the Frank H. McClung Museum, University of Tennessee. There are two main sections, one with some historical photographs of archaeological research in Tennessee between 1934 and 1942 and a timeline of ancient Tennessee. The latter section has pages focusing on the main periods detected in the archaeological records and plenty of colour pictures. The website summarises the main evidence available to archaeologists on Native Americans in Tennessee since 12,000 years ago (Palaeoindian period). The history of Tennessee is narrated through a selection of artefacts individually presented and allows readers to familiarise with the archaeological evidence. This website may be useful to students up to undergraduate level; schoolteachers may also use this website after introducing the Native Americans and archaeology.
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Archaeology at Crow Canyon : Shields Pueblo
http://www.crowcanyon.org/publications/shields_pueblo.asp
Shields Pueblo, the subject of this website publishing the excavations reports, was occupied primarily between 1050 and 1300 A.D., but the earliest traces of human settlers date back to at least 775 A.D. The pueblo is located in Colorado (Mesa Verde region). Crow Canyon Center has carried out fieldwork at the pueblo from 1997 to 2000. The website aggregates three excavation reports; the 1997 report is only available on paper. Thirty-five architectural structures and significant amounts of pottery, especially Mancos black-on-white ware, have been unearthed. The 1999 report documents most of the findings. Although the archaeologists at Crow Canyon Center have produced better websites for other settlements, Shields pueblo is a particularly important settlement for the period from 1200 to 1300. Whilst this is normally a declining period in the Mesa Verde region, at Shields pueblo circular masonry features were constructed within the depressions created by the collapse of late-abandoned kivas dating ca 1200 A.D. The lengthy and very detailed reports succeed to engage the reader in the stimulating subject. This website will be most useful to researchers.
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Archaeology at Crow Canyon archaeological center
http://www.crowcanyon.org/
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center's website provides information on the center's research on the archaeology of the Mesa Verde region, and the educational programs in partnership with Native Americans linked to this research. The website provides detailed information on their full program of activities for adults, youths and schools groups and is primarily aimed at an American audience. The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center's mission is to conduct archaeological research and public education programs in partnership with Native Americans and institutions with common interests. The website has links to current research projects and an important multisite database useful also to map most contexts. The centre also offers fellowships and fieldwork opportunities. This website may be useful to both students and researchers.
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Archaeology at Crow Canyon: Castle Rock Pueblo
http://www.crowcanyon.org/publications/castle_rock_pueblo.asp
An attractively illustrated online publication of the excavations at Castle Rock Pueblo in the Mesa Verde region of south-western Colorado between 1990 and 1994 consisting of a rich, multi-layered presentation of the finds from the site within its wider geographic and cultural context including detailed documentation of the oral history of the site from the time the area was first examined archaeologically in the 1870s until recent times and a Native American perspective of the ancient village by Marie Renya. The excavations at the pueblo have revealed that it was occupied from the A.D. 1260s until A.D. 1280s and that it included at least 16 kivas, 40 surface rooms, nine possible towers, a D-shaped enclosure, two possible plazas, numerous retaining and village-enclosing walls, and several middens. The website is designed and structured to interest a wide variety of individuals from specialist researchers to school children. The main report resembles a traditional printed volume with sections on geographic background, architecture and settlement organisation, chronology, artefacts and ecofacts, and a wealth of multi-scale maps and images together with synthetic accounts of population, subsistence, trade, rock art and an extensive glossary and bibliography. This report and the accompanying database of all the finds, contexts and laboratory results from the site are easily navigable and appreciation of the archaeology. The website features, in addition, a virtual fieldtrip of the pueblo at several key periods of its use, namely the mid 13th, late 19th and late 20th centuries AD, aimed at students, teachers and the general public. The website site is a highly successful attempt to develop the traditional archaeological site report in electronic form and present an important period of native North American culture in addition to offering a fascinating insight into the history and practice of North American archaeology. Both students and researchers may find this website useful.
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Archaeology in Arctic North America
http://anthropology.uwaterloo.ca/ArcticArchStuff/
"Archaeology in Arctic North America", hosted by the University of Waterloo, Canada, is the work of Dr Robert Park - an archaeologist specialising in the study of past societies in the northernmost reaches of the North American continent. The archaeology of this area examines some of the most fascinating human adaptations to be seen anywhere, and presents logistical problems over and above those encountered during normal archaeological activity (including very short field seasons, permanently frozen ground and complicated travel and accommodation arrangements). Information provided by these pages is wide-ranging and varied. Information on the region's environment and climate, relevant to assessing human occupation in areas, is given, along with examples of the problems of conducting fieldwork in the Arctic. Following this is a discussion of the archaeological sequence (as it currently stands) of the North American Arctic region, centring on the Inuit-Eskimo groups of the area. A short and referenced excavation report of site QkHn-12, a Thule settlement dating to roughly 1000 years ago, is available. Of particular interest is the page on artefacts that singles out a Dorset culture figurine from a predominantly Thule culture assemblage. A further section details links and literature on North American Arctic archaeology, whilst three Quicktime videos are available online showing archaeological fieldwork being carried out. This website may be useful primarily to students.
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Archaeology of K'axob and Xibun
http://www.bu.edu/tricia/
This website present the fieldwork carried out at K'axob and Xibun (Sibun River valley), Belize, by a Boston University team. The two separate regions were once inhabited by the Maya. The section about K'axob includes two commented "slideshows" which are illustrated articles of the excavations of the Classical Maya town and the surrounding wetlands. It is possible to access large versions of each picture. The section about fieldwork reports lists them and allows to download the most recent ones in PDF format. The PDF files can be very large and should be downloaded on the computer before attempting to open them. An essential bibliography and information on the fieldworkers is included. This website makes large use of multimedia content and is at times poorly designed with many pages opening in new windows, some contents missing and music automatically playing on the home page. It requires a Javascript enabled browser, the Flash plug-in and a PDF reader. Students may appreciate the multimedia style of the website and learn a few things on the Classical Maya. Researchers should instead head directly to the excellent report section.
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Archaeology of the battle of the Little Bighorn
http://www.nps.gov/mwac/libi/
The Archeology of the Battle of the Little Bighorn website from the Midwest Archeological Center provides a brief overview of the recent archaeological examination of the site of the battle, where General George Armstrong Custer fell while fighting a coalition of Plains Indian tribes (Sioux and Cheyenne), on 25th June 1876. Brief passages of text providing the context of this investigation into one of the most enigmatic military history events are organised on pages that relate to: History; Methods; Excavations; Artefacts; and Firearms. Unfortunately the interesting images that accompany the text cannot be enlarged. The analysis of the Battle of the Little Bighorn by metal detector is discussed, and the combination of archaeological field practice (such as archaeological formulae of spatial patterning and individual artefact analysis) with forensic techniques (such as studies of firing pin marks on cartridge cases and rifling marks on bullets, as well as studies on the human skeletal remains such as forensic anthropology). A comprehensive, briefly annotated bibliography is provided.
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Archaeology of the Inca : Wiñay Wayna
http://www.stanford.edu/~johnrick/Inca/WW/index.html
This simple website produced by John Rick focuses on Wiñay Wayna, an Inca settlement located on an elevated perch overlooking the Urubamba River, near Machu Picchu. There is a short descriptive summary of the research carried out; an interactive map; and a virtual tour (Zoom plug-in required) connected with the map. The virtual tour consists of a series of panoramic images linked one with the other, so that it is possible to explore the archaeological site with the computer. Considering that the archaeological site cannot be easily accessed, this website may be useful to both students and researchers interested on this Inca site.
The required Zoom plug-in appears discontinued and as a result the existing version does not install correctly for use in recent browsers. A solution for Firefox in Windows is to install the plug-in for Internet Explorer and then copy the file "NPRVRT34.dll" (readers may need to search the file in the hard disk) into the "plugin" directory of Firefox.
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ArchaeoPlanet
http://maya.csuhayward.edu/archaeoplanet/
A useful collection of illustrated academic papers on various aspects of Mesoamerican topics authored or assembled by archaeologist Lawrence Desmond, a Senior Research Fellow at the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. The papers, a number of which are multi-authored research reports, fall into two main areas of interest, namely, the use of ground penetrating radar and close-range photogrammetry at Mesoamerican archaeological sites, and early archaeological exploration in Mesoamerica from the Spanish conquest to the 19th century, particularly focusing on the work of 19th Augustus Le Plongeon and Alice Dixon who pioneered early archaeological, ethnographic and photographic work in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. There is also an excellent and judiciously chosen series of external links to websites on world archaeology, heritage and preservation, and archaeology and technology. Many of the papers are reproduced from academic journals and collected volumes but the resource also includes the full-text of the monograph 'A dream of Maya. Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon in nineteenth century Yucatan' (University of New Mexico Press, 1988) by Lawrence Desmond and Phyllis Messenger. While the immediate subject matter of this resource will appeal to students and researchers working in Mesoamerican archaeology, there is much here to interest a wider audience, both in the technical matters dealt with by the first group of papers and the historical content of the latter.
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Arqueología
http://sites.google.com/site/revistaarqueologia/
This is the official website of the site of Arqueología, a yearly peer-reviewed journal of the Institute of the Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires. In addition to general information on the publication and information on prospective authors, the website publishes the table of contents of recent issues, abstracts (also in PDF format for recent issues), and the indexes of the journal. Researchers in particular may find this website useful.
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Arqueología iberoamericana
http://www.laiesken.net/arqueologia/
This is the official website of Arqueología Iberoamericana, an open access international scientific journal devoted to the archaeological study of prehistoric, protohistoric, ancient and historical societies of Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the Philippines. The papers are mostly written in Spanish, with colour illustrations. There are notices of new books. It is possible to download each issue as a PDF file or preview it by using Flash. There are English abstracts for each paper. Both researchers and advanced students may find this website useful.
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Aucilla river prehistory project
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/arpp.htm
The underwater excavations of several sites along the Aucilla River in Florida are presented in this website. The site is divided in two sections: one is an illustrated newsletter with several informal papers from members of the excavation team and the other is a gallery of commented pictures, in PowerPoint style. Only a few editions of the newsletter are available and these present a variety of information not always relevant. The gallery of pictures shows several charts, environmental data and pictures, reconstructions of Pleistocene fauna and artefacts. These date as back as the time of the earliest inhabitants of Florida, the Paleoindians. The site is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History, which sponsored the project. Accordingly, the main research goal of the project was to assess the interaction between animals and Native Americans from the earliest period. The overall site is an essential resource on early archaeology in Florida.
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Boletín : Museo de arqueología y antropología
http://sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe/bibvirtual/publicaciones/antropologia/
This website publishes the online free and full-text version of the Boletín del Museo de Arqueología y Antropología, which publishes papers, reports and articles focusing on the archaeological heritage of Peru. All articles are available in PDF format. At the time of review, all issues of the Boletín (except the very first) were available online. The illustrations in the online version are often blurred, dark or otherwise difficult to read and most articles concentrate on exhibitions at the museum or recent discoveries. The articles are also very short, and overall the Boletín aims at being an informative newsletter rather than an academic journal. Despite these shortcomings, the Boletín is a good resource of information on the archaeology of Peru. This website may be useful primarily to researchers.
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