Our Hidden Landscapes: Indigenous Stone Ceremonial Sites in Eastern North America

This volume challenges traditional and long-standing understandings of stone structures in eastern North America, arguing that they are sacred Indigenous sites in need of protection and preservation. It presents evidence from oral tradition, historic documentation, ethnographies, and archaeological research to support this claim. Contributors include Native American authors and professional archaeologists and anthropologists.

Format: Hardback
Length: 390 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2023
Publisher: University of Arizona Press

This volume challenges traditional and long-standing understandings of stone structures in eastern North America, suggesting that they are sacred Indigenous sites rather than settlements established by settler colonialism. The contributors argue that these locations deserve protection and preservation as significant cultural landscapes. The book features perspectives from Native American authors on the cultural meaning and significance of CSLs, as well as approaches for better understanding, protecting, and preserving them by professional archaeologists and anthropologists. The chapters present extensive evidence, including oral tradition, historic documentation, ethnographies, and archaeological research, demonstrating the importance of these sites to Indigenous peoples. This work enables archaeologists, historians, conservationists, foresters, and the general public to recognize and appreciate these important ritual sites. The contributors include Nohham Rolf Cachat-Schilling, Robert DeFosses, James Gage, Mary Gage, Doug Harris, Julia A. King, Lucianne Lavin, Johannes (Jannie) H. N. Loubser, Frederick W. Martin, Norman Muller, Charity Moore Norton, Paul A. Robinson, Laurie W. Rush, Scott M. Strickland, Elaine Thomas, Kathleen Patricia Thrane, and Matthew Victor Weiss.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780816550876