Native American societies, often viewed as unchanging, in fact experienced a rich process of cultural innovation in the millennia prior to recorded history. Societies of the Hocking River Valley in southeastern Ohio, part of the Ohio River Valley, created a tribal organization beginning about 2000 bc.

Edited by Elliot M. Abrams and AnnCorinne Freter, The Emergence of the Moundbuilders: The Archaeology of Tribal Societies in Southeastern Ohio presents the process of tribal formation and change in the region based on analyses of all available archaeological data from the Hocking River Valley. Drawing on the work of scholars in archaeology, anthropology, geography, geology, and botany, the collection addresses tribal society formation through such topics as the first pottery made in the valley, aggregate feasting by nomadic groups, the social context for burying their dead in earthen mounds, the formation of religious ceremonial centers, and the earliest adoption of corn.

Providing the most current research on indigenous societies in the Hocking Valley, The Emergence of the Moundbuilders is distinguished by its broad, comparative overview of tribal life.

Elliot M. Abrams, a professor of anthropology at Ohio University, has conducted field research for more than two decades in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize, as well as in the Ohio River Valley. He is the author of How the Maya Built Their World.

AnnCorinne Freter is a professor of anthropology at Ohio University and has conducted archaeological research since 1982 in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Ohio River Valley. She is the coauthor of Copán: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Mayan Kingdom.