settlement patterns), site-formation processes, and landscape reconstruction. An introductory chapter (Cremeens and Hart) briefly summarizes the genesis of the publication and its general goals, and is followed by 12 chapters organized into three sections: two chapters (2-3) providing background on regional geology and glaciation; five chapters (4-8) focused on aspects of sites in upland settings; and five chapters (9-13) that deal with alluvial settings. Chapters in the second and third sections are a combination of site-specific studies and more synthetic works. The organization of the volume-upland versus alluvial setting-is strained, given the broad focus of many of the contributions.
Chapter 2 (Cadwell, Muller, and Fleisher), a geomorphic history of New York, is the only offering in the book providing detailed, overarching geological background and, of course, is focused exclusively on New York state. For archaeologists just beginning to explore New York, whether in the field or through the existing literature, this chapter is a useful starting place for crafting an understanding of environmental context. Ridge (Chapter 3) follows with a very detailed summary of late Wisconsinan deglaciation (20,000-11,000 yr B.P.) of the Northeast, including a refined chronology (using radiocarbon dates for terrestrial plant macrofossils and correlated varve chronologies), associated climate oscillations, and landscape characteristics. This is a significant synthesis of value to both archaeologists and environmental scientists. Contrary to statements made in the volume's introduction, Chapters 2 and 3 do not provide essential context for understanding the subsequent studies that are presented; each chapter easily stands on its own. Chapters 4 (Cremeens) and 5 (Thorson and Tryon) address aspects of site formation that are potentially applicable over large regions, not simply the glaciated Northeast. Cremeens considers the effects of soil formation on the vertical distribution of artifact deposits. The majority of the chapter consists of a basic review of the nature of soil horizons and soil profiles. His model posits a linkage between the subsurface dispersal of artifacts with the degree of soil formation in existence at the time that a geomorphic surface is occupied. Stratigraphic patterning of artifacts deposited on young landscapes or young soils is more likely to be altered than deposits associated with a mature soil at the time of occupation. The model assumes relative landscape stability and little change in soil-forming factors following occupations. Thorson and Tryon show how west-facing bluff-top settings, in conjunction with aeolian deposition and other environmental factors, leads to site burial and relative preservation of context, a circumstance not often associated with archaeological sites in the uplands. The Neville Site (Middle Archaic through Woodland components), located in Manchester, New Hampshire, is used as a test case of the model.
Aspects of settlement systems and site selection are presented in Chapters 6-8 and employ varying degrees of geoarchaeological data. Explaining the different occupational histories of two Connecticut sites situated in superficially similar locations is the goal of Jones and Forrest in Chapter 6. The paleoenvironments of the Hidden Creek Site (Paleoindian) and the Sandy Hill Site (Early Archaic) are reconstructed and significant distinctions drawn. This forms the basis of an interpretation of the human ecology of the time, reconciling the shifting position of settlements on the landscape.