Prehistoric hunters of the High Plains /

Frison's first edition (CH, Dec'78) detailed 12,000 years of northwestern Plains culture history, lucidly delineating human adaptations in this under-studied region. Of special import was documentation of Paleo-Indian hunting practices and lifeways. The new edition incorporates the results of 15 years of further research by Frison and his associates, including continued Paleo-Indian work, most important being his experiments on the effectiveness of their hunting equipment, and explications of animal behaviors and their impact on human subsistence strategies. Four new specialized chapters, on lithic technology (B. Bradley) and lithic resources (J. Miller), on rock art (J. Francis), and on human skeletal biology (G. Gill) are significant. Since the historic northwestern Plains Indians placed their dead on scaffolds, the burial data gives insights into human health for the earlier populations, but also reveal these peoples' all too human frailties by documenting murder and assault; one poor man was shot in the back with 12 arrows. Required reading for all North American archaeologists, but the avocational archaeologist will enjoy the clear style and wealth of illustrative material. P. J. O'Brien; Kansas State University