It is my pleasure to announce the publication of Michael G. Michlovic’s An Archaeology of the Red River of the North from The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota. When the press first started, I had this idea that we could somehow contribute to archaeology and regional history. This book, along with its companion volume Archaeological Cultures of the Sheyenne Bend (co-authored by Michlovic and George R. Holley) do both things.

An Archaeology of the Red River of the North offers an expansive survey of the indigenous cultures and peoples in the region of the Red River from the recession of Lake Agassiz around 9000 years ago to the intrusion of the Europeans. Beginning with an overview of the practice of regional archaeology and a justification for its pursuit, Michael Michlovic uses a traditional culture-historical sequence as a framework to incorporate archaeological studies from the late nineteenth century to the present time. Relevant research in fields such as ethnohistory, ethnography, radiometric dating, paleoecology, and geomorphology are used throughout the presentation. Dozens of individual sites and survey projects are summarized and take their place in an overview of the characteristic features of past times, from the earliest hunting and gathering cultures to later farming societies.

The press release is below the fold.

New Book on the Archaeology of the Red River of the North

For residents of eastern North Dakota, the Red River of the North is both a familiar companion and a sometimes unruly neighbor. The environmental resources provided by the Red River, its wooded banks, and the Lake Agassiz prairie land have long drawn people to the region. Michael G. Michlovic’s latest book, An Archaeology of the Red River of the North, tells the story of the region and its human past prior to the arrival of European settlers.

Written for a general audience, Michlovic’s book introduces readers to the archaeology of the Red River and its sites and peoples. He explains that the goal of the book is for “the reader to take the overview statements and the various site summaries to arrive at a basic understanding of the archaeological past of the Valley and its people and come to some deeper appreciation of the adaptability and accomplishments of the region’s indigenous communities.”

Each chapter explores a period in the Red River’s history and highlights significant sites and discoveries. The introduction provides the reader with an overview of archaeology as a method for understanding the distant past.

For Michlovic “archaeology is practiced world-wide. The techniques vary from place to place, but generally they are systematic and broadly comparable. Archaeology is one of the ways of learning about this past, and perhaps the best way of uncovering the very distant past.”

The organization of the book makes it suitable for classroom use, casual readers, and seasoned experts alike. It brings together the often-diffuse reports on work in the Red River region of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba into an easily digested form supported by an expansive bibliography of work in the region.

An Archaeology of the Red River of the North is a companion volume to Michlovic and George R. Holley’s Archaeological Cultures of the Sheyenne Bend (2022). These two books form an important contribution to a comprehensive understanding of the archaeology of eastern North Dakota. Both books are available as free downloads and as low-cost paperbacks from The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota.

To download the book go here: https://thedigitalpress.org/red-river/