Call For Papers, 2008 Society for American Archaeology Meeting,
Vancouver: North American Cave Archaeology
Scott Nicolay and Joel Craig Williams are planning a double session on cave archaeology in North America for the 2008 SAA Meeting in Vancouver. The combined abstract for both sessions follows:
Dark Origins and Bright Futures: Speleocentric Approaches to the Archaeology of Caves in North America
Even before archaeology existed as a discrete discipline, archaeologists sought out caves and rockshelters for the excellent preservation of their protected deposits. This made caves ideal for
addressing many research questions, yet little research examined the actual purposes for which prehistoric people entered caves. These two sessions will present speleocentric research from across North America that recognizes prehistoric cave activity as qualitatively different
from surface activity and primarily religious in nature.
The sessions will be divided geographically, with the eastern half covering the Mississippi Valley and all archaeological areas to the east, and the western half covering the Plains, Rocky Mountains, Central Texas and the Trans-Pecos, the Southwest, the Great Basin, the
Plateau, California, the Northwest Coast, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, as well as the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, Coahuila, Baja California Norte y Baja California Norte Sur, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon. We welcome papers addressing not only the use of caves, but all types of earth openings, including but not limited to rockshelters, lava tubes, fissures, earth cracks, sinkholes, and travertine pits. Papers taking a broader extra-regional
approach will be distributed as best we see fit. Papers on sites in Canada and northern Mexico are of special interest. Joel Craig Williams will chair the eastern half, and Scott Nicolay, the western half. It is our goal at the outset to seek a university press publishing contract for the combined symposium papers as an edited volume.
Scott Nicolay, Shiprock, NM / Joel Craig Williams, St. Louis, MO
Please send all abstracts and/or questions to Scott Nicolay at matariki1@frontiernet.net as Craig will be in the field much of the summer.