The book, The Burnham Site in Northwestern Oklahoma: Glimpses Beyond Clovis? is a comprehensive summary of results of large-scale, multidisciplinary investigations into the Late Pleistocene (mid-Wisconsin) of the central Great Plains. These investigations were inspired in May 1986 when Don Wyckoff was notified that a concentration of large animal remains and snails had been exposed on both sides of a ravine by a bulldozer during construction of a dam for a small pond. The following month, Wyckoff, Larry Martin, and Wakefield Dort visited the site, and observed that a very large bison cranium had been partially exposed during these activities. Martin suggested the specimen be salvaged, and in November 1986, Wyckoff and several volunteers recovered the bison and water-screened all the excavated sediment. The excavations also revealed several other bison remains and a large chert cobble ~30 cm below the cranium. Months later, two small flint flakes (interpreted as artifacts as opposed to geofacts) were discovered in the water-screened residue. These findings led to a reexamination of the chert cobble and its reclassification as a possible tested cobble-that is, a chunk of lithic raw material displaying characteristics suggesting it was evaluated by a flintknapper for its potential as a chipped stone artifact. Other key developments around this time include a radiocarbon date of ~31,000 yr B.P. on snail shells from the water-screen residue and Martin's taxonomic classification of the bison cranium as Bison chaynei, an assessment compatible with the radiometric age. The combined evidence hinted at a very early human presence in North America, hence the monograph's subtitle. So began the Burnham site odyssey for Wyckoff and his colleagues, culminating nearly two decades later in this wonderful monograph with 20 chapters by 14 different authors. Although it is strongly paleontological and paleoenvironmental in its orientation, the ephemeral yet tantalizing archaeological evidence from the site will whet the appetite of anyone interested in recent research concerning the early human occupation of North America.
Editorial comments first. My copy came with a half-page errata sheet; if yours didn't, get it. Most of the problems involve table and figure numbering, as opposed to spelling errors and the like, and making these changes is mandatory for serious readers. I caught several additional, minor typos. Generally, the illustrations and photographs are good, although some have been so greatly reduced for production that they are difficult to decipher. Likewise, the format of the tables varies noticeably from one chapter to the next, and several probably should have been appendices. Bottom line: another round or two of final polishing would have enhanced the overall quality of the production.
In Chapter 1, Wyckoff provides a short overview of the discovery of the Burnham site, its past and present geological and environmental context, and its contribution to Pleistocene studies on the central Great Plains. It sets the stage for Chapter 2, in which Wyckoff and Rubenstein chronicle the major events and developments over the course of the Burnham site investigations, from initial discovery by Gene Burnham in 1986, to the final season of field work in 1992, and finally, to publication of the monograph in 2003. Careful reading of this chapter is especially important because it contains descriptions, illustrations, and photographs of the various areas of the site that are necessary to effectively digest the information presented in subsequent chapters by the project specialists.
Three areas of the site exist, named in relation to the modern, manmade pond. The hub of investigation was the East Exposure, which is where the Bison chaynei remains and all of the suspected chipped stone artifacts were recovered. Approximately 10 m northeast of the cluster of bison remains