George C. Frison

George Frison’s Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains has been the standard text on plains prehistory since its first publication in 1978, influencing generations of archaeologists. Now, a third edition of this classic work is available for scholars, students, and avocational archaeologists. Thorough and comprehensive, extensively illustrated, the book provides an introduction to the archaeology of the more than 13,000 year long history of the western Plains and the adjacent Rocky Mountains. Reflecting the boom in recent archaeological data, it reports on studies at a wide array of sites from deep prehistory to recent times examining the variability in the archeological record as well as in field, analytical, and interpretive methods. The 3rd edition brings the book up to date in a number of significant areas, as well as addressing several topics inadequately developed in previous editions.

This practical, down-to-earth guide for surface collectors of arrowheads and stone artifacts is designed especially for amateur archaeologists and people interested in learning how to study and collect artifacts safely and responsibly. The author reveals invaluable tips on: where to look for artifacts; how to identify artifacts; where surface collecting is permissible; starting and caring for your own collection. With more than fifty new photographs and illustrations of common and rare artifacts, this book is the perfect addition to libraries of amateur archaeologists thirsty for knowledge about preserving and interpreting the remains of a prehistoric culture.

This practical, down-to-earth guide for surface collectors of arrowheads and stone artifacts is designed especially for amateur archaeologists and people interested in learning how to study and collect artifacts safely and responsibly. The author reveals invaluable tips on where to look for artifacts, how to identify artifacts, where surface collecting is permissible, and how to start and care for your own collection. With more than fifty new photographs and illustrations of common and rare artifacts in this new edition, Arrowheads and Stone Artifacts is the perfect addition to libraries of amateur archaeologists thirsty for knowledge about preserving and interpreting the remains of a prehistoric culture. With this ethical and informative handbook, aspiring archaeologists across the United States can learn where to look for and how to identify and preserve their own collections of common and rare stone artifacts. One of very few guides written on subject, this Nationally recognized and respected guide has sold over 80,000 copies in previous editions. The newest edition includes 100 photos (28 color photos new to this edition), 58 line drawings, and 6 maps. Author C. G. Yeager presents stone-artifact hunting as a learning experience for individuals and families. He also covers required permissions and code of ethics with respect to antiquity laws relating to Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA), private landowner permissions, state permits, the prohibition against digging or excavating at sites, cataloging and documenting sites, and reporting unusual sites of scientific importance.

George Frison and Dennis Stanford's Agate Basin monograph is not only a classic of Plains paleoindian archaeology, but also of multidisciplinary research, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, and experimental archaeology. Lucid presentation of meticulously excavated and analyzed sediments, bones and artifacts convey an unmatched sense of the sights, sounds and smells of Paleoindian life on the High Plains—from brutal winters and blistering summers, to killing and butchering bison, and to making lethal weaponry. As Matthew Hill writes in his new prologue, 'Not merely an important volume of the Frison canon, Agate Basin stands as a foundational document in modern Americanist archaeology and a major accomplishment in American science.' Originally published by Academic Press in 1982

Sometimes childhood events can shape a person’s destiny. Such was the case for George Frison. His father’s accidental death meant that Frison was raised by his grandparents, thus experiencing life on a ranch instead of the small town childhood he otherwise would have had. He was fascinated by the wealth of prehistoric artifacts on the ranch; eventually, this interest prompted him to change his life’s course at age thirty-seven. In this memoir, Frison shares his work and his atypical journey from rancher to professor and archaeologist. Herding cattle, chopping watering holes in sub-zero weather, and guiding hunters in the fall were very different than teaching classes, performing laboratory work, and attending faculty and committee meetings in air-conditioned buildings. But his practical and observational experience around both domestic and wild animals proved a valuable asset to his research. His knowledge of specific animal behaviours added insight to his studies of the Paleoindians of the Northern Plains as he sought to understand how their stone tools were used most effectively for hunting and how bison jumps, mammoth kills, and sheep traps actually worked. Frison’s careful research and strong involvement in the scholarly and organisational aspects of archaeology made him influential not only as an authority on the prehistory of the Northern Plains but also as a leader in Wyoming archaeology and North American archaeology at large. This book will appeal to both the professional and the lay reader with interests in archaeology, anthropology, paleontology, plains history, animal science, hunting, or game management. Frison’s shift from ranching to academic archaeology serves as a reminder that you are never too old to change your life.

George Frison’s Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains has been the standard text on plains prehistory since its first publication in 1978, influencing generations of archaeologists. Now, a third edition of this classic work is available for scholars, students, and avocational archaeologists. Thorough and comprehensive, extensively illustrated, the book provides an introduction to the archaeology of the more than 13,000 year long history of the western Plains and the adjacent Rocky Mountains. Reflecting the boom in recent archaeological data, it reports on studies at a wide array of sites from deep prehistory to recent times examining the variability in the archeological record as well as in field, analytical, and interpretive methods. The 3rd edition brings the book up to date in a number of significant areas, as well as addressing several topics inadequately developed in previous editions.

The Late Prehistoric buffalo trap and meat-processing area known as the Wardell site is in Sublette County, in western Wyoming. In this volume, George C. Frison reports on the 1970–1971 excavation at the site. He describes the artifact assemblage and botanical materials and offers radiocarbon dates and an archaeological interpretation of the site. Contribution by Charles A. Reher.