Surveys the pitfalls facing American archaeology, recounts recent achievements, and discusses the debates surrounding such issues as when humans entered North America.

DIVShows how a modern nationalism was constructed in Japan from existing notions of community, at a time before the idea of “nation.”/div

This remarkable book is the most ambitious work on mythology since that of the renowned Mircea Eliade, who all but single-handedly invented the modern study of myth and religion. Focusing on the oldest available texts, buttressed by data from archeology, comparative linguistics and human population genetics, Michael Witzel reconstructs a

Provides alphabetically arranged entries on the architecture, art, ecology, folklore, food, religion, and recreation of each major United States region.

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan is the first book to focus on the role of the sea in Japanese religions. While many leading Shinto deities tend to be understood today as unrelated to the sea, and mountains are considered the privileged sites of sacredness, this book provides new