Holocene Human Adaptations in the Missouri Prairie Timberlands

This overview is a synthesis of current knowledge about archeological resources in that portion of Missouri primarily north and east of the southern Ozarks. Prepared by a number of regional specialists, we refer to the study area as the prairie-timberlands region to reflect the two major biomes that exist in the region. As we emphasize throughout the volume, these biomes—especially given their sensitivity to climatic variation- were important variables in prehistoric as well as historical-period adaptations by human groups. Our purpose in preparing the volume is to give the reader, whether he or she be a professional archeologist, a cultural resource manager, or simply an interested lay person, a sense of what we see as the important archeological resources. The report is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of everything that is known about the archeological record of Missouri. Rather, the report is a distillation of information gleaned from literally thousands of reports, articles, and other documents—information that we view as important from several standpoints…