Edited by Douglas Sharon, Ph.D., Mesas & Cosmologies in the Central Andes gives a focused overview of the subject matter, dealing with both archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence for pre-Hispanic shamanism in the Andes. It gives insight into cosmological concepts underlying the rites and power objects of contemporary shamans, including ethnological interpretation of the ritual paraphernalia and practices of contemporary shamans inhabiting parts of the Andes where pre-Columbian cultural legacies are still alive. In these regions, shamanism enjoys a widespread popular appeal because it is effective in meeting a basic human need to attribute meaning to existence.

The publication includes the following papers: "Mountain-Body Metaphor of Kallawaya Andeans Expressed in Mesas" by Joseph Bastien (University of Texas, Arlington); "The Power of the Enqaychu and the Cosmos of Andeans Pastoralists" by Inge Bolin (Malaspina University College, British Columbia); "The Emergence of the Modern Mesa: African Influence and Syncretisms Revisited" by Bonnie Glass-Coffin (Utah State University); "Constructing the Mesa: From Extirpation to Adoration" by Donald Joralemon (Smith College, Massachusetts); "Spellbound: Love and Magic on the North Coast of Peru" by Luis Milliones and Laura León-Llerena (Lima, Peru); "Andean Cosmology and Cosmography in the North-Peruvian Shamanic Mesa" by Mario Polia (Rome); "Shamanism, Mesas, and Cosmologies in the Central Andes" by Douglas Sharon (P. A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley); "Curanderismo at La Pescadera-Salas" by Donald Skillman (Logan, Utah); "Chavín de Huántar: Evidence for an Evolved Shamanism" by John Rick (Stanford University); and "Social Organization as Ritual: The Chipaya Andeans of the Bolivian Altiplano" by Henri Migala. The new book is illustrated with 76 photographs, drawings, and maps.

Topics in the new volume include rock art on the northern periphery of the Coso Range, Luiseño cultural figurations, cultural contact rock art sites, petroglyphs of Grapevine Canyon, Nevada, regional variation in Virgin Anasazi rock art, cupules in north-central Arizona, bird-masked anthropomorphs in central Arizona, rock art of Baby Canyon Pueblo, Hohokam hunting petroglyphs, the surprising "Caballo de Uffington" in northern Chihuahua, rock art motifs and spirit beings in echo myths, shamanic metaphors in rock art, and Inca carved rocks in Samaipata, Bolivia, and Machu Picchu, Peru. The volume is illustrated with 329 photos and drawings.

Edited by Douglas Sharon, Ph.D., Mesas & Cosmologies in Mesoamerica includes the following papers: Curanderos' Altar-Mesas in Mexico City by Roberto Navarro-Campos, National University of Mexico; Sierra Otomí Religious Symbolism: Mankind Responding to the Natural World by James Dow, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan; The Annual "Royal Ceremony" on Mt. Tlaloc: Mountain Fertility Ritualism in the Late Pre-Hispanic Basin of Mexico by H.B. Nicholson, University of California at Los Angeles; Sacred Mountains and Miniature Worlds: Altar Design Among the Nahua of Northern Veracruz, Mexico by Alan Sandstrom, Indiana-Purdue University; The Wixárika (Huichol) Altar: Place of the Souls, Stairway of the Sun by Stacy Schaefer, California State University at Chico; In My Hill, In My Valley: The Importance of Place in Ancient Maya Ritual by James Brady, California State University at Los Angeles; Manipulating the Cosmos: Shamanic Tables Among the Highland Maya by Allen Christenson, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Altars for Ancestors: Maya Altars for the Days of the Dead in Yucatán by Judith Green, Research Associate, San Diego Museum of Man; Wind, Rain, and Stone: Ancient and Contemporary Maya Meteorology by Matthew Looper, California State University at Chico; Shamanic Mesas of Yucatán and Their Historical Roots by Bruce Love, independent scholar; and Shamanism, Mesas, & Cosmologies in Middle America by Douglas Sharon, P.A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, California. The new book is illustrated with 91 photographs, drawings, and maps.

The 16th volume in the Museum's ongoing series of Rock Art Papers features 14 papers on rock art from Nevada to South America. Illustrated with 216 photos and drawings, topics in the new volume include the petroglyph birds of Arizona, the dramatic rock art of Centipede Cave, acoustics of rock art sites, historic petroglyphs in southern Arizona, shamanic symbols in rock art, rock art of Nevada, miniature rock art on a stone tablet from the California desert, Chumash rock art and cosmology, petroglyphs of Harmony Grove, unique wave-shaped cupule boulders, shamanic art and the trance state, petroglyphs from Alta de la Guitarra in Peru, and Inca carved boulders at three Peruvian sites.

Footsteps Through Time: Four Million Years of Human Evolution, is a supplement to the permanent exhibition which opened in 2002. The colorfully illustrated, 100-page book was funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the Footsteps project and fulfills one of our major goals—to make science accessible to the public. The catalog sells for $20.00.

The book interprets information from the exhibit, especially the Timestones, and takes the reader through the story of human evolution. Additional information, not included in the exhibit, provides a connecting storyline between the Timestones, the text, and the many illustrations. Depth and breadth are added in eleven essays by scholars working in the fields of evolutionary biology, genetics, archaeology, paleoanthropology, and primatology, including Cheryl Knott, Ph.D., Harvard University, writing about her orangutan research in Borneo; Ian Tattersall, Ph.D., American Museum of Natural History, commenting on the Neandertals; and James Moore, Ph.D., and Christopher Wills, Ph.D., both of UCSD, discussing "missing links" and human evolution in the future.