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ONE of the benefits of glasnost has been the dissolving of artificial constraints on research. In Anthropology of the North Pacific Rim, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Valérie Chaussonet (Smithsonian Institution Press, pp 368, $49), scholars from both sides of the Bering Straits renew a discourse that José de Acosta began in 1598 by asserting there were cultural and racial links between people from Asia and native Americans. In this collection of essays, writers take the opportunity to examine maritime cultures using artefacts from Russian and American sources, providing an excellent example of interdisciplinary work in a fascinating area.