To preserve the legacy of the earliest Americans, the National Park Service asked the Society for American Archaeology to lead an initiative to nominate archeological sites as National Historic Landmarks. In 1995, that effort evolved into a study called “The Earliest Americans.” Advised by over 30 prominent archeologists—and a broad array of public and private sector colleagues—we set the study goals shown opposite.

This website highlights historic contexts related to Early American archeological sites for regions east of the Mississippi. The contexts—which synthesize the latest science in ways that can be quickly grasped by nonspecialists—are consensus statements rigorously reviewed by scholars, avocationalists, preservationists, and public land managers. NPS and SAA invite archeologists, avocationalists, and others to use the theme study's contexts as guides for nominating new landmarks and properties for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.