author
L. Mark Raab
b. 1946
An archaeologist and professor whose work helped reshape how readers and researchers think about California's deep past. Best known for writing and editing books on maritime archaeology and prehistory, he brought a clear, evidence-based voice to big questions about climate, culture, and change.
1 Audiobook
Conservation Archaeology of the Richland/Chambers Dam and Reservoir
by L. Mark Raab, Randall W. Moir
About the author
L. Mark Raab was an American archaeologist and professor of anthropology, born in 1946. Sources from California State University, Northridge and his curriculum vitae show that he earned a B.A. from California State University, Fullerton in 1968, an M.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970, and a Ph.D. in anthropology with an archaeology specialization from Arizona State University in 1976.
He taught at California State University, Northridge, where he became emeritus professor of anthropology, and his work centered on archaeology in California and the broader American West. His research interests included hunter-gatherer cultural ecology, maritime prehistory, and especially San Clemente Island, and publishers describe him as the author of many scholarly articles as well as books including California Maritime Archaeology and the edited volume Prehistoric California: Archaeology and the Myth of Paradise.
An obituary record indicates that he died in 2019 after retirement, and that his career left a strong mark on archaeological research in Alta and Baja California. Across his writing, he is remembered for combining field experience with a careful, questioning approach to long-held ideas about the prehistoric past.