Great Basin

Donald K. Grayson is Professor of Anthropology and Adjunct Professor at the Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington. He is the author of The Desert's Past, the previous edition of his Great Basin prehistory, and The Establishment of Human Antiquity, an American Library Association "Best Book of the Year."

• PREFACEACKNOWLEDGMENTSPART ONE The Great Basins1. Discovering a Great Basin Chapter Notes2. Modern Definitions of the Great Basin The Hydrographic Great BasinThe Physiographic Great BasinThe Floristic Great BasinThe Ethnographic Great BasinChoosing a Great BasinChapter Notes PART TWO Some Ice Age Background3. Glaciers, Sea Levels, and the Peopling of the AmericasThe Bering Land Bridge and the Human ArrivalIdentifying the Earliest American ArchaeologyThe Earliest American Archaeology Chapter Notes4. The End of the North American Pleistocene: Extinct Mammals and Early PeoplesThe Mammals / 67A Note on Eurasian ExtinctionsBack to North AmericaWhat Caused the Extinctions?Chapter NotesPART THREE The Late Ice Age Great Basin5. The Late Pleistocene Physical Environment: Lakes and GlaciersModern Great Basin Lakes Pleistocene Lakes in the Great BasinGreat Basin GlaciersThe Relationship between Pleistocene Glaciers and Lakes in the Great Basin Pluvial Lakes, Glaciers, and Late Pleistocene ClimatesChapter Notes6. Late Pleistocene Vegetation of the Great Basin Learning about Ancient Vegetation Five Regional PicturesA General Look at Late Pleistocene Great Basin VegetationGreat Basin Conifers in Deeper Historical PerspectiveChapter Notes 7. Late Pleistocene Vertebrates of the Great BasinThe Extinct Late Pleistocene Mammals of the Great BasinExtinct Late Pleistocene Birds Altered Late Pleistocene Distributions of Existing Great Basin Mammals Why Are There Fishes in Devils Hole, but None in the Great Salt Lake? Other VertebratesChapter Notes PART FOUR The Last 10,000 Years8. The Great Basin during the Holocene / 217The Early Holocene (10,000 to 7,500 Years Ago)The Middle Holocene (7,500 to 4,500 Years Ago)The Late Holocene (The Last 4,500 Years)Chapter NotesPART FIVE Great Basin Archaeology9. The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Great Basin Pre-Clovis Sites in the Great BasinThe Latest Pleistocene and Early HoloceneThe Middle HoloceneThe Late Holocene Chapter NotesPART SIX Conclusions10. The Great Basin Today and Tomorrow Deer, Cougars, Porcupines, and Cattle More Lessons from the Past The Great Basin Today Chapter Notes APPENDIX 1: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RADIOCARBON AND CALENDAR YEARS FOR THE PAST 25,000 RADIOCARBON YEARSAPPENDIX 2: CONCORDANCE OF COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC PLANT NAMESREFERENCESINDEX

"Well supported by photographs, maps, and tables, along with detailed chapter notes and extensive references." Choice "It is ... an excellent resource for scholars and professionals working in the Great Basin and ... is essential for beginning archaeologists." -- Mark A. Giambastiani Journal Of Anthropological Research "This fascinating illustrated journey through deep time is the definitive environmental and human history of this beautiful and little traveled region, home to Death Valley, the Great Salt Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the Bonneville Salt Flats." Scienceblogs.com/The Guardian