Monica Smith Edits "The Power of Nature: Archaeology and Human-Environmental Dynamic"

Monica Smith, a core faulty member of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, has edited a new book titled The Power of Nature: Archaeology and Human-Environmental Dynamic. She also wrote two chapters in the book: “Nature as Agent: Mass-Event, Incremental, and Biotic Perspectives” and “Fire as an Agentive Force, from Forest to Hearth to Forest Again.” Smith is director of the South Asian Archaeology Laboratory at the Cotsen Institute and professor in the department of anthropology and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, as well as the Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian Studies.

Three additional chapters in the volume were written by UCLA archaeology alumni: Kanika Kalra contributed “Navigating the Scarcity and Abundance of Monsoonal Rainfall in South Asia;” Katelyn J. Bishop “Bird Behavior and Biology: The Agentive Role of Birds in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico;” and Steven Ammerman “Animal Agents in the Human Environment.”