In this Book

University of California Press
summary
Covering a large swath of the American West, the Great Basin, centered in Nevada and including parts of California, Utah, and Oregon, is named for the unusual fact that none of its rivers or streams flow into the sea. This fascinating illustrated journey through deep time is the definitive environmental and human history of this beautiful and little traveled region, home to Death Valley, the Great Salt Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Donald K. Grayson synthesizes what we now know about the past 25,000 years in the Great Basin—its climate, lakes, glaciers, plants, animals, and peoples—based on information gleaned from the region’s exquisite natural archives in such repositories as lake cores, packrat middens, tree rings, and archaeological sites. A perfect guide for students, scholars, travelers, and general readers alike, the book weaves together history, archaeology, botany, geology, biogeography, and other disciplines into one compelling panorama across a truly unique American landscape.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 2-7
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. ix-xii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. Part One: The Great Basins
  1. Chapter 1: Discovering a Great Basin
  2. pp. 3-10
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  1. Chapter 2: Modern Definitions of the Great Basin
  2. pp. 11-42
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  1. Part Two: Some Ice Age Background
  1. Chapter 3: Glaciers, Sea Levels, and the Peopling of the Americas
  2. pp. 45-66
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  1. Chapter 4: The End of the North American Pleistocene: Extinct Mammals and Early Peoples
  2. pp. 67-84
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  1. Part Three: The Late Ice Age Great Basin
  1. Chapter 5: The Late Pleistocene Physical Environment: Lakes and Glaciers
  2. pp. 87-134
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  1. Chapter 6: Late Pleistocene Vegetation of the Great Basin
  2. pp. 135-172
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  1. Chapter 7: Late Pleistocene Vertebrates of the Great Basin
  2. pp. 173-214
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  1. Part Four: The Last 10,000 Years
  1. Chapter 8: The Great Basin during the Holocene
  2. pp. 217-286
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  1. Part Five: Great Basin Archaeology
  1. Chapter 9: The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Great Basin
  2. pp. 289-338
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  1. Part Six: Conclusions
  1. Chapter 10: The Great Basin Today and Tomorrow
  2. pp. 341-346
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  1. Appendix 1: Relationship Between Radiocarbon and Calendar Years for the Past 25,000 Radiocarbon Years
  2. pp. 347-350
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  1. Appendix 2: Concordance of Common and Scientific Plant Names
  2. pp. 351-354
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  1. References
  2. pp. 355-408
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 409-418
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