PERSPECTIVES ON THE GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

The impact of Harold N. Fisk's work on the archaeology and geoarchaeol ogy of the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) has been monumental. As a re sult of his landmark publications on the geology of the alluvial valle y of the Mississippi River our comprehension of the interplay between geological, geomorphic, and human actions is relatively well developed . However, geologists and archaeologists still need to work together m ore closely to appreciate and understand the contributions each held h as to offer. Examination of the interplay between geologists and archa eologists in the realm of dating and landscape evolution provides the basis for an investigation of the state of geoarchaeology in the LMV t oday. Integration of research demands an appreciation of scale which m ust be approached from an historical perspective. Humans have, both in the past and the present, impacted the natural environment of the Mis sissippi River and its floodplain. Only when this fact is fully apprec iated by archaeologists and geologists alike will it be possible to fo rge a new synthesis of the relationship between the dynamic alluvial v alley and its human occupants.