Global changes of the past

QUATERNARY

37, 263-265

RESEARCH

(1992)

PUBLICATIONS

OF INTEREST

Human Predators and Prey Mortality. Edited by M. C. Stiner. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1991,276 pp., $39.95 (softbound).

The Evolution

These

Bones?

Studies

in Southeastern

Edited by M. L. Powell, P. S. Bridges, and A. W. Mires. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1991, 241 pp., $19.95 (softbound). Bioarchaeology, which combines theories and methof physical anthropology and archaeology, has greatly improved the understanding of human adaptation, as shown in these nine case studies from the southeastern United States. These analyses of human skeletal remains, spanning 4000 yr of culture history, include Archaic mortuary practices, prehistoric subsistence patterns, and health of colonial, late-Prehistoric, and Mississippian populations. The two final papers place the case studies in a broader context and discuss the progress of bioarchaeological studies during the past 13 yr and the general importance of this subdiscipline. The Archaeology

Plants.

Paleociimatology. By T. J. Crowley and G. R. North. Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics Volume 18, Oxford University Press, NY, 1991, 339 pp., $59.95.

ods

Ancient North America: tinent. By B. M. Fagan.

of Land

This second volume in the Ecology, Phytogeography, and Physiology Series deals with the evolutionary history of vascular land plants. The authors present the fossil record in the context of living ecosystems, rather than the more typical catalogue of plant fossils, and give equal emphasis to the development of pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. The book begins with summaries of evolutionary principles, geological time scales, and fossilization processes, followed by discussions of the development and diversification of pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Although containing little that is directly applicable to the Quatemary, this book is a solid and straightforward introduction to the development of vascular land plants.

The authors of the 11 papers in this volume examine how mortality patterns of mammalian fauna reflect basic ecological relationships between human populations and their prey, and how these age patterns can be affected by technology, biological characteristics of prey, food distribution, and nutritional concerns. The considerations are wide-ranging and include taphonomy, methods for age modeling, seasonality, hunting strategies, and prey behavior. Studies include both archeological and ethnographic data and vary from tropical to arctic biomes. What Mean Bioarchaeology.

and Palaeobiology

By B. A. Thomas and R. A. Spicer. Croom Helm Ltd., London, 1987, 309 pp.

Paleoclimatology effectively merges observations and model results to evaluate Quatemary and preQuatemary climatic fluctuations and is intended as a basic text for graduate-level courses. The introduction offers a background of how climate and climate models operate and is followed by a discussion of Quaternary climates that includes sections on fossil- and model-based interpretations, historical records, temporal trends in Pleistocene climates, and paleoclimatic time-series analysis. Then follows an overview of the remaining geological periods, emphasizing the Tertiary and Cretaceous, a synthesis of earth’s climatic history, and a discussion of the use of paleoclimatic interpretations for predicting future climate response to increased levels of greenhouse gases.

of a Con-

Thames and Hudson, Lon-

don, 1991, 480 pp.

Global Changes of the Past. Edited by R. S. Bradley. UCARKXice for Interdisciplinary Earth Studies, Boulder, CO, 1989, 514 pp., no charge.

Fagan’s book is a comprehensive summary of the past 14,000 yr of North American prehistory and provides a general introduction for the student with a basic background in archaeology. Part 1 describes the discovery of North America and both the early and current theories shaping archaeological interpretations. Part 2 is devoted to Paleo-Indians, while the next four parts consider the regional prehistories of the Great Plains, Far North, West, and Eastern Woodlands. The concluding section discusses the archaeology of European contact.

This volume, the product of a 2-week-long workshop to examine paleoclimatic trends as a means for understanding future climatic changes and responses, identifies areas where future efforts in climatic research should concentrate. The 20 background papers cover a range of relevant topics, including short-term climatic variability, the need for global and regional time series, and the usefulness of atmospheric, vege263 0033-5894/92

$3.00

Copyright 0 1992 by the University of Washington. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

264

PUBLLCATIONS

tational, and marine models. The working group reports emphasize high-resolution records of the past 2000 yr, modeling the terrestrial biosphere for the past 18,000 yr, and the importance of comparing fossil data with model simulations to help understand climate change. The Campus Site, a Prehistoric Camp at Fairbanks, Alaska. By C. M. Mobley. University of Alaska Press,

OF

INTEREST

The third edition of this introductory text updates and expands the previous version, adding sections on depositional systems analysis and mass extinctions. The book provides a general overview of principles used to interpret both biological and sedimentary aspects of past environments. Included among the eight chapters are ones on sediments, organisms, taphonomy, paleoecological analysis, and interpretations of paleoenvironments.

Fairbanks, AK, 1991, 104 pp, The Campus Site is considered a cornerstone for interpreting arctic prehistory, purportedly establishing both the antiquity of human populations in Alaska and linking them with cultures of northeastern Asia. This book, a compilation of data from ail excavations, is an elaborate site report, emphasizing the description and illustration of artifact assemblages. Sections on the history of fieidwork, fauna, dating, site activities, and reinterpretation complete the volume. Mobley’s analysis leads him to conclude that the Campus Site probably dates to 3500-2725 yr B.P., rather than to 12.0008000 yr B.P., as previously believed. Geomorphology: Cenozoic Landforms.

A Systematic

Analysis

of

This textbook, now in its second edition, examines the many processes that shape the landscape and aims to introduce students having a basic background in geology or physical geography to geomorphological concepts and analyses. Three chapters are devoted to the construction of landforms by tectonism and volcanism, and are followed by discussions of surface processes and landforms, including weathering, karst, mass-wasting, fluvial systems, and coastal processes. A chapter on relict Quatemary landfotms resulting from alternating glaciaVperiglacial/interglacial and pluvial/nonpluvial episodes should be of particular interest to Quatemary scientists. History

ofLake

Carcasses

and

Their

Paleobio-

By J. Weigelt. Translated by J. Schaefer. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1989, 188 pp.. $19.95 (softbound). Weigelt’s 1927 treatise is considered a seminal work in taphonomy, but only recently was it translated into English. Weigelt emphasized empirical observations in his own work on the Texas Gulf Coast, as reflected by the many examples used throughout the text and the detailed chapter on the Lake Smithers carcass assemblage. Other chapters include discussions of modes of death, decomposition, preservation, postdepositional processes, and carcass concentrations.

Late

By A. L. Bloom. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1991, 532 pp.

of Paleolimnology Biwa, Contribution 1987, 244 pp.

Recent Vertebrate logical Implications.

Edited by S. Horie. Institute and Paleoenvironment on Lake No. 553. Kyoto University, Japan,

Biwa.

This volume, originally published in Japanese, contains 17 papers describing the results of a 1982 deepdrilling project in Lake Biwa. Papers include details of the coring operations, sediment characteristics, age determinations, organic and inorganic compounds, microfossils, and interpretations of climate and vegetation histories. The editor also provides a brief review of previous work at the lake and ideas about the future of paleolimnology. Ancient Environments. By C. Newton and L. LaPorte. The Prentice Hall Foundations of Earth Science Series, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989, 178 pp.

Annotated Shorelines

Bibliography

of

Italian

Quaternary

(1985-1986). Edited by F. P. Bonadonna. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Pisa. Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Italy, 1987, 98 PP. This bibliography lists shoreline studies for the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Sardinia, Ionian, central Mediterranean, and Adriatic Seas. The 200 entries, all published in 1985 and 1986, are listed alphabetically by author and by geographic area. Both sections include key words in bold face to aid researchers interested in specific topics. Quaternary

Type Sections

Imagination

or Reali@?

Edited by J. Rose and C. Schluchter. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1989. 208 pp., $90.00. The 18 papers in this book were originally presented at a 1985 INQUA symposium held in conjunction with the Subcommission on European Quatemary Stratigraphy. The book is divided into three sections: basic references, European examples, and data from Switzerland. Topics are the use and abuse of type sections, marine stable isotope history, climatic information from ice cores, paleobotanical analyses, and European Quatemary stratigraphy. Hydrogeology. Edited by W. Back. J. S. Rosenshein, and P. R. Seaber. Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America. Volume O-2. Boulder, CO, 1988, 524 pp.

This volume, part of the Decade of North America Project, synthesizes the current status of hydrogeology, emphasizing its relationships to other geological