Further ReadingAuthors: Editors: All information on this book taken from the Description: Plants from the Past is a fascinating, comprehensive record of the work of two dedicated plant scientists who were instrumental in the establishment of archaeobotany and paleoethnobotany as vigorous subdisciplines within American archaeology. Hugh Carson Cutler and Leonard Watson Blake worked together for many decades at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, identifying and interpreting plant remains from archaeological sites all over North America. Covering a period of 30 years and tracing the development of the study of plant remains from archaeological sites, the volume will give archaeologists access to previously unavailable data and interpretations. It features the much-sought-after extensive inventory "Plants from Archaeological Sites East of the Rockies," which serves as a reference to archaeobotanical collections curated at the Illinois State Museum. The chapters dealing with protohistory and early historic foodways and trade in the upper Midwest are especially relevant at this time of increasing attention to early Indian-white interactions. The editors' introduction provides coherence and historical context for the papers and points to the book's potential as a resource for future research. Graced by Dr. Blake's brief introductions to each chapter, Plants from the Past neatly compiles the earliest research in archaeobotany by two originators of the science. About the Authors: Review: Other Information:
Author: All information on this book taken from the Description: James Miller describes how natural features transformed and how cultural traditions of native people, as well as Spanish, English, and American colonists, developed in response to opportunities and constraints of the environment. With an unusually broad scope in time, space, and subject matter, he uses the example of northeast Florida to explore the notion of environmental equilibrium, to illustrate the fallacy of a pristine environment, and to show how essential environmental history is to modern ecological planning. Fully illustrated with 25 photographs and 40 maps and written in an accessible style that synthesizes material usually accessible only to specialists, the book will appeal to general readers and policy planners as well as experts. No comparable environmental history of any Florida region exists. About the Author: Reviews: •Miller's volume is important for two reasons:
1) it explores historical aspects of the environment, archaeology,
culture, geography, and anthropology of a specific region; and 2)
that region is northeast Florida -- locus of the first permanent English
settlement on this continent. •Given such an unprecedented surge in population
over the past eighty years, James J. Miller's book is important because
of what it reveals and documents about the rapidly vanishing, yet
important, role of natural history in the nation's life. . . . Miller
has narratively woven together evidence from archaeological, biological,
hydrological, and climatological science, geography, cartography,
and traditional historical documents to tell a story of ignorance,
avarice, hope, and hard times. . . . His search for a usable past
makes this case study of lasting value to naturalists, writers, planners,
economists, and environmental historians alike. •Without a doubt a significant contribution to
an overall understanding of northeast Florida. . . . Reveals much
about land use in the state of Florida and the larger southeast U.S.
. . . Frees the reader to consider the human impact [in environmental
history] and our relationship to the land. This book makes you think. Other Information: |
Title:
Title: