Gift of the Middle Tanana - Dene Pre-Colonial History in the Alaskan Interior

In this book, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people living in the Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska during the late Holocene. Smith illustrates how the role of deep-play rituals of reciprocity shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Charles E. Holmes
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Middle Tanana People: Modern and Historical Identities
Chapter 2: The Ethnographic Reconstruction of the Past: The Middle Tanana People and a Theory of Deep Reciprocity
Chapter 3: Complexity and Optimality in the Archaeological Record
Chapter 4: The Traditional Place Names and Language of the Middle Tanana Dene
Chapter 5: Understanding Archaeological Research
Chapter 6: The Holocene Environmental Context of the Middle Tanana
Chapter 7: The Middle Tanana Dene and the Archaeological Traditions of the Taiga
Chapter 8: Thinking About Raw Materials
Chapter 9: Identifying Reciprocity and Meaning in the Material-Cultural Record
Afterword by Evelynn Combs

About the author

Gerad M. Smith is affiliate researcher in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Summary

In this book, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people living in the Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska during the late Holocene. Smith illustrates how the role of deep-play rituals of reciprocity shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.

Product details

• Authors: Smith Gerad M. Smith, Gerad M. Smith
• Assisted by: Charles E. Holmes (Foreword), Evelynn Combs (Afterword)
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.09.2023
• EAN: 9781793654786
• ISBN: 978-1-79365-478-6
• No. of pages: 316
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Pre and early history; Non-fiction book > History > Pre and early history, antiquity; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Social & cultural anthropology, Archaeology