Background
Yerkes, Richard Wilfred was born on May 2, 1951 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of David M. and Patricia Ann (Highberger) Yerkes.
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book
Prehistoric Life on the Mississippi Floodplain: Stone Tool Use, Settlement Organization, and Subsistence Practices at the Labras Lake Site, Illinois (Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series)
( At the confluence of the Illinois, the Missouri, and th...)
At the confluence of the Illinois, the Missouri, and the Mississippi Rivers lies the "American Bottom," a broad floodplain that prehistoric peoples inhabited for millennia. Precisely how did they live? What were their ties to the natural world around them? In this study, based upon some six years of intensive archeological and geological research at Labras Lake in St. Clair County, Illinois, Richard W. Yerkes interprets a wealth of important new data in a stimulating and original fashion. With a fine-tuned control of the data, Yerkes challenges prevailing theories based on simple classifications of stone tools according to shape or on simple models of diffuse and focal economies. He views environment as a dynamic factor in economic and cultural life, rather than as merely a backdrop to it. Using incident light microscopy, he examines wear patterns on stone tools to determine what activities were performed during each period the site was inhabited—the Late Archaic, the Late Woodland, and the Mississippian. As he documents environmental change at Labras Lake, he analyzes plant and animal remains in context to explore diet and seasonal patterns of subsistence and settlement. The result is a more accurate and detailed picture than ever before what prehistoric life on the Mississippi floodplain was like. Yerkes shows how to assess the duration and size of occupations and how to determine where and when true permanent settlements arose. What others call "sedentary encampments" he reveals as sequences of small residental occupations for a narrow range of activities during shorter, seasonal periods. His contribution to the study of the development of sedentism is potentially far-reaching and will interest many North American anthropologists and archeologists.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226951510/?tag=2022091-20
Richard Wilfred Yerkes
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Richard Wilfred Yerkes, American Archaeologist, educator. National Science Foundation grantee, 1990, 95, 97, research grantee Werner Gren Foundation, 1990. Member Society for Archaeology (program committee 1991-1992), International Council forArchaezoology, Ohio Archaeol. Council (public committee 1986), Illinois Archaeol.Survey, Midwestern Archaeol. Conference, Southeastern Archaeol. Conference, West Virginia Archaeol. Society.
Education
Bachelor, Beloit College, 1973; Master of Arts, University of Wisconsin, 1977; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, 1984.
Career
Bioarchaeologist, Environmental Cons., Inc., North Bonneville, Washington, 1977-1979;
research associate, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1979-1980;
private practice, Madison, Wisconsin, 1980-1984;
assistant professor, Ohio State University, Columbus, 1984-1990;
associate professor, Ohio State University, Columbus, since 1990. Program chairman Midwestern Archaeol. Conference, 1986; temporary faculty employee Argonne (Illinois) National Laboratory, 1989-1990.
With Athienou Archaeol. Project, Cyprus, 1991-1994. Geoarchaeologist Ohio State.
U. excavations, Isthmia, Greece, since 1991.
Achievements
Works
book
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Prehistoric Life on the Mississippi Floodplain: Stone Tool Use, Settlement Organization, and Subsistence Practices at the Labras Lake Site, Illinois (Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series)
( At the confluence of the Illinois, the Missouri, and th...)
- Prehistoric Life on the MIssissippi Floodplain, Stone Tool Use, Settlement Organization, Subsistence Practices at the Lake Site
-
Prehistoric Life on the Mississippi Floodplain: Stone Tool Use, Settlement Organization, and Subsistence Practices at the Labras Lake Site, Illinois (Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series)
Membership
Member Society for Archaeology (program committee 1991-1992), International Council forArchaezoology, Ohio Archaeol. Council (public committee 1986), Illinois Archaeol.Survey, Midwestern Archaeol. Conference, Southeastern Archaeol.
Conference, West Virginia Archaeol.
Connections
Children: Sarah Elisabeth, Emily Susan.
