Plains Anthropologist

Plains Anthropologist is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal published by the Plains Anthropological Society focusing on archaeological, ethnohistorical, and cultural research pertaining to the North American Plains and adjacent regions. The journal bridges research communities associated with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, University of Nebraska, University of Kansas, and University of Oklahoma while engaging practitioners from museums like the Field Museum, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and American Museum of Natural History.

History

Plains Anthropologist was established in 1956 amid postwar expansions in regional archaeology connected to projects at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, University of Chicago, and Bureau of American Ethnology; early volumes documented excavations influenced by figures tied to the Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, Oklahoma Historical Society, and Nebraska State Historical Society. The journal's editorial lineage reflects associations with scholars from institutions such as the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Colorado State University, and University of New Mexico and was shaped by funding and policy shifts involving the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Historic Preservation. Over decades Plains Anthropologist published work responding to landmark events and legal frameworks including research prompted by the Antiquities Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and interstate projects with agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Land Management.

Scope and Focus

The journal concentrates on research themes spanning prehistoric archaeology, historic-period ethnohistory, mortuary studies, lithic analysis, ceramic typologies, paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and indigenous histories across regions linked to the Missouri River, Platte River, Arkansas River, Red River, and Saskatchewan River watersheds. Contributions often address methodological and theoretical debates associated with culture-historical approaches, processualism, post-processual critiques, landscape archaeology, and settlement-subsistence models developed in dialogues with work from institutions such as Texas A&M University, University of Texas at Austin, Washington State University, and Arizona State University. Geographic and topical scope encompasses interactions documented in contexts connected to the Black Hills, Badlands, Sandhills, Great Plains, High Plains, and Prairie Potholes and engages comparative frameworks involving the Southwest, Northern Plains, Eastern Woodlands, and Canadian Prairies with reference to cultures like the Plains Woodland, Blackduck, Oneota, Mississippian, and Woodland traditions.

Publication and Editorial Practices

Plains Anthropologist operates as a peer-reviewed venue with editorial boards drawing editors and reviewers from universities including Yale University, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Arizona as well as federal repositories such as the National Anthropological Archives and State Historic Preservation Offices. The journal issues include standard research articles, technical reports, book reviews, and special thematic volumes coordinated with conferences hosted by the Plains Anthropological Society, Society for American Archaeology, American Anthropological Association, and International Union for Quaternary Research. Editorial policies reflect compliance with professional guidelines from the Society for American Archaeology, American Anthropological Association, Register of Professional Archaeologists, and ethical considerations informed by consultations with tribal governments, tribal historic preservation officers, the National Congress of American Indians, and organizations such as the Native American Rights Fund.

Impact and Reception

Plains Anthropologist has been cited in works across monographs, regional syntheses, and cultural resource management reports produced by institutions like the University of Kansas Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge and used in coursework at universities including Indiana University, Michigan State University, Kansas State University, and Montana State University. The journal's influence is visible in citation networks connecting scholars such as Lewis Binford, Marjorie Lambert, James A. Brown, George Frison, Patricia Crown, and William Mulloy and in its role informing museum exhibits at institutions like the Plains Art Museum, Gilcrease Museum, and Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. Critical reception includes discussion in forums at the Society for Historical Archaeology, Plains Anthropological Society meetings, regional archives like the Nebraska State Historical Society, and federal advisory panels convened by the National Park Service and National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Plains Anthropologist has published influential articles and special issues on topics such as bison ecology and hunting strategies engaging researchers affiliated with the University of Wyoming, South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, and Montana Historical Society; studies of projectile point typologies referencing Clovis, Folsom, Agate Basin, and Cody complexes; and thematic issues on topics like Forts and Frontiers, Contact-period Studies, Paleoindian Occupations, and Plains Ceramic Variability coordinated with scholars from the American Antiquity community, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and Quaternary Research. Special issues have featured collaborations with editors and contributors connected to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Canadian Museum of History, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, and Memorial University and have highlighted debates involving radiocarbon calibration, Bayesian chronology building, geomorphology, zooarchaeology, and ancient DNA studies led by teams at the University of Copenhagen, Max Planck Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Broad Institute.

Category:Archaeology journals Category:Anthropology journals