Anthropology Resources: Regional Resources: North America

The following articles summarize in plain English the key laws and regulations that protect archeological resources. Understanding these laws is an important step in preserving and maintaining fragile archeological resources. Additional resources for more information are included after each entry.

Indian Affairs (IA) is the oldest bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. Established in 1824, IA currently provides services (directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts) to approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Explore the DAACS Website to learn more about enslaved Africans and their descendants, living in the Chesapeake, Carolinas, and Caribbean during the Colonial and Ante-Bellum Periods.

The US Center for Disease Control's main portal provides access to vital statistics, medical, and demographic data for the US.

Generate profiles, tables, charts, and maps for key demographic variables for the world's countries or for the US. DataFinder pulls data from several reputable sources.

The National Historical Geographic Information System provides nearly full decennial census data from 1790 to 2000. You can also download historic census boundaries for use in GIS. Registration is required but is free.

Provides quality data about the nation's people and economy

Provides data on the labor market, working conditions, job outloook, and economic changes such as employment and unemployment, inflation and prices.

This archaeological site at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland contains the excavated remains of an 11th century Viking settlement consisting of timber-framed turf buildings (houses, workshops, etc.) that are identical with those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland at the same period. The site is thus unique evidence of the earliest known European presence on the American continent.

According to archaeological finds, the city of Cahokia was inhabited from about A.D. 700 to 1400. At its peak, from A.D. 1050 to 1200, the city covered nearly six square miles and 10,000 to 20,000 people lived here. Over 120 mounds were built over time, and most of the mounds were enlarged several times. Houses were arranged in rows and around open plazas, and vast agricultural fields lay outside the city.

The Chaco Research Archive is an online resource providing access to a wealth of information documenting the history of archaeological research in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The archive includes material from dozens of sites excavated in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park and beyond.

Founded in 1983, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is dedicated to understanding, teaching, and helping to preserve the rich history of the ancestral Pueblo people (also called the Anasazi) of the American Southwest.

The Leake archaeological site represents a large Native American mound and village located in northwestern Georgia along the Etowah River. From approximately 300 B.C. until 650 A.D., the site served as a ceremonial center and a gateway between the Southeastern and Midwestern regions of the U.S. The site was reoccupied by Native Americans several hundred years later during the 15th and 16th centuries, around the time of Hernando de Soto's exploration of the Southeast.

Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300. Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

Includes archaeological information that has been exposed through US State Park research.