Spirit Lands of the Eagle and Bear: Numic Archaeology and Ethnohistory in the Rocky Mountains and Borderlands. Robert H. Brunswig, editor. 2020. University Press of Colorado, Louisville. xii + 390 pp. $97.00 (hardcover), ISBN 978-1-64642-017-9. $75.00 (e-book), ISBN 978-1-64642-018-6.

Abstract

cuisine during the Woodland and Mississippian periods. Neill J. Wallis and Thomas J. Pluckhahn present a regional analysis of Swift Creek pottery, documenting long-term changes in vessel wall thickness and size. They argue that these changes in vessel form represent previously unrecognized shifts in food preparation and cuisine in the context of decreasing intercommunity commensal events. Rachel V. Briggs concludes by championing an historical anthropology approach to foodways archaeology through an examination of the complexity of hominy foodways in the Mississippian Southeast. This chapter provides an important theoretical discussion of foodways archaeology that is broadly relevant, engaging with the metaphorical grounding of food and the complexity of taste in understanding continuity and change in foodways. Peres and Deter-Wolf are both experienced authors on the topic of foodways, and this book builds on their thought-provoking and innovative approaches through contributions that emphasize the untapped potentials and challenges of the archaeology of US Southeast foodways. It will not only be an important reference for those concerned with foodways and subsistence in the American Southeast but will also be valuable for any archaeologist seeking to engage with the rich relationships between food and social life in the past.