People of Sunlight, People of Starlight: Barrenland Archaeology in the Northwest Territories of Canada

Mima Kapches is head of the Department of Anthropology at the Royal
Ontario Museum.

This latest volume in the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s Mercury
Series is more attractively designed than its predecessors but shares
with them the lack of a series editor, which perhaps accounts for such
excesses as the inclusion of some 600 tables.

The product of more than a quarter of a century of work, People of the
Sunlight, People of the Starlight should nevertheless become a standard
reference for all archaeologists and students of archaeology working in
the barrens of the Northwest Territories and of northern Alberta,
Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The book details the results of excavations
and contains excellent photographs of artefacts, drawings depicting the
use of tools, discussions of environmental changes over time, and the
above-mentioned multitude of tables.

As also noted above, some judicious pruning would have made for a more
accessible presentation. The glossary of terms is not very useful
(chithos is included, but not colour). Caveats aside, this is an
important reference.