Book Description

Jeremy Green's systematic overview of maritime archaeology offers a step-by-step description of this fast-growing field. With new information about the use of computers and Global Positioning Systems, the second edition of this handbook shows how to extract as much information as possible from a site, how to record and document the data, and how to act ethically and responsibly wth the artifacts. Treating underwater archaeology as a discipline, the book demonstrates how archaeologists, "looters," academics, and governments interact and how the market for archaeological artifacts creates obstacles and opportunities for these groups. Well illustrated and comprehensive in its approach to the subject, this book provides an essential foundation for everybody interested in underwater environments, submerged land structures, and conditions created by sea level changes.

*Covers five broad areas: searching for sites, recording sites, excavation, management of collections, and study, research and publication
*Describes a variety of techniques and procedures in considerable detail, accessible to both professional and amateur archaeologists
*More than 250 photographs, charts, and diagrams explain everything from how to operate a sextant and a hand-held GPS to how a swim line should be laid out by the dive team before excavation begins ... Read more

Book Description

The Stone Age is the common denominator of mankind, and through experimental archeology—the relearning and replication of ancient skills—we take a step of discovery and understanding into this rich past. In this collection, drawn from the pages of the Bulletin of Primitive Technology, learn to create tools to fabricate more complex technologies; master the arts of the bow and arrow; build a shelter or fashion clothing from fibers or buckskin.

Primitive Technology II: Ancestral Skills provides the guide to rediscovery of the skills and crafts that bind us all into this great human family.

David Wescott is author of Camping in the Old Style and editor of Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills. Formerly education director for the Boulder Outdoor School, he has been a leading figure in wilderness education for more than thirty years. He lives with his wife in Rexburg, Idaho. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Highly Recommended by a Paleotechnologist!!!
This book together with the first book: A Book of Earth Skills from the same author, will show you nearly everything you need to know on primitive technology.
Buy the " Naked into the Wilderness" books written by the McPhersons as well and your library on the subject is complete.
No better books available then these four!!

I also bought the companion piece...
I liked the book so much, I checked out the Society of Primitive Technology web site and joined. Great stuff!

not worth your money
I got this book to learn how to survive and live in the wilderness. To be honest other than making a bow which is so complicated and tanning deer hide, I didnt learn anything. It didnt go into any depth on any survival skills. Dont waste your money if you want to learn anything. This book is for people who already have a basic skill..

An excellent companion book to Primitive Technology I
Combined with their first book, Primitive Technology - A Book of Earth Skills - SPT has produced, in my humble opinion, the BEST resources for Primitive Skills out there - PERIOD.

If you've ever looked through a scientific journal or periodical, that is the basic layout for this book (and the first book also): a compendium of articles, each one detailing a different tool, task, method, or application of a primitive skill. It isn't a high-cut, Ph.D.-required-to-understand kind of book - you can take this out in the backyard and follow right along, AND SUCCEED! That doesn't mean it isn't chock full of data and information - plenty here to satisfy any skeptical practitioner of primitive skills. Learn from the leaders in each skill area as they share with you their tips and techniques that they've learned over time (the hard way). I challenge you to read it without wanting to get your hands dirty right then and there.

CONTENTS

Section 1 - INTRODUCTION - Searching the Past

Section 2 - FOOD SOURCES - Eating to Live
Section 3 - CONTAINERS - Holding it All Together
Section 4 - PROJECTILES - Bows and Arrows
Section 5 - BUCKSKIN - Enough Brains to Tan Your Hide
Section 6 - TRANSPORTATION - Moving Along
Section 7 - BACK TO BASICS - Tools Through Time ... Read more

Book Description

American things, American material culture, and Americanarchaeology are the themes of this book. The authors use goods used ormade in America to illuminate issues such as tenancy, racism, sexism,and regional bias. Contributors utilize data about everyday objects- from tin cans and bottles to namebrand items, from fish bonesto machinery - to analyze the way American capitalism works.Their cogent analyses take us literally from broken dishes to theinternational economy. Especially notable chapters examine how anarchaeologist formulates questions about exploitation undercapitalism, and how the study of artifacts reveals African-Americanmiddle class culture and its response to racism. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Review
`Matthew Johnson's commentary does an excellent job of pulling the articles ... together, exploring the problems that they raise, and placing their concerns in an even broader temporal and spatial context. As he points out, writing a historical archaeology of capitalism is a complex and difficult task. This volume is a welcome and useful contribution to that task.'

Journal of Anthropological Research, 56 (2000) ... Read more

Book Description

Over the centuries, researchers have found bones and artifacts proving that humans like us have existed for millions of years.Mainstream science, however, has supppressed these facts.Prejudices based on current scientific theory act as a "knowledge filter," giving us a picture of prehistory that is largely incorrect. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

A Call for the Return of Science
(This is an edit of my previous review which has mysteriously reverted to "a reader.")

A level-headed, painstakingly researched tome documenting the systematic suppression of paleontological evidence militating against currently popular theories of human evolution. A chilling, non-sensationalistic look at the "sloppiness" and general lack of integrity of members of the scientific establishment who, in their devotion to defending the current models of human origins, reject or ignore unwelcome data - much of it seemingly impeccably researched - that would throw much of their field into (even more) utter confusion.

It is hilarious and tragic to see this book being ridiculed by "reviewers" who have obviously never read it, but another symptom of the close-mindedness of the keepers of evolutionist dogma, as lamented by Richard Milton ("Shattering the Myths of Darwinism"). Now that their religion has been debunked by Behe's "Darwin's Black Box," it remains to be seen their level of true scientific curiosity as regards Cremo & Thompson's findings.

There are the howls about Cremo's religion. Do they reject Newtonian physics because of Newton's creationist beliefs? Do they likewise pooh-pooh the contributions of Lister, Pasteur, Boyle, Maxwell, Peirce? Cremo admits his beliefs up front, and never do they impinge on his detailed, sober analyses in this book. They would do better to reject Darwinism ("[T]he literalists are absolutely right. Evolution is a religion" - M. Ruse, atheist), a religion whose adherents see fit to fit false feet to fossils ("Lucy" was modeled with human feet and hands for public consumption although she was known to have had apelike ones).

Any objective reading will show that Cremo is ironically more scientific than his detractors, and has a thorough grasp of the subject matter.

The sheer volume and detailed discussion of "anomalous" data compiled in this book is staggering: traces of the hand of man (tools, etc.) found in strata millions of years before his supposed appearance on the evolutionary scene; off-the-cuff dismissals of such evidence by influential scientists for sometimes contradictory reasons (and sometimes almost none at all!); the findings of distinguished, top-notch scientists ridiculed and being branded as heresy for going against the prevailing dogma.

It is instructive that most scientists today are totally unaware of the controversial evidence presented here, even in their fields of specialty. If we are able to do as the authors ask and evaluate the evidence as it stands without prejudice against their (eastern) religious beliefs, we might well find that the underpinnings for their belief in the great antiquity of the human race is at least as solid as that of the ruling paradigm - and probably even more so. Even if we do not agree with their conclusions (I don't), an open-minded inquiry into these findings will certainly show current theories to be, at best, seriously negligent in blissful ignorance - Mr. Magoo in a lab coat - or, at worst, anti-science.

Remember, Piltdown was "scientifically" worshipped as our ancestor for near 40 years. Whereas science may be self-correcting, evolutionists are obviously somewhat deficient in this regard.

Be Careful
Cremo and Thompson are known for their slanted views of archeology formed from Hindu theology. What they claim as fact, others have shown as false. Certainly, this is not the "hidden history of the human race." I suggest you check the web for resources. (Geologist, writer, and former professor)

Mostly nonsense premise
A lot has been learned of genetics in the last 5 to 10 years.We know for a scientific fact the human race is way under 10 millon years old. Though it's multiple times older than the ridiculous YEC proposal of just 10,000 years tops. This book is under the foolish impresion, I thought, that humankind is around 55 million years old. Or something like that. Nonsense!

An Important Book
This book is a difficult read but the ideas discussed are important and relevant. If you have an interest in archeology, creationism, or the history of human development, you need to read this book.

Darwin
The only thing evolving in reference to the theory of evolution is the theory itself ... Read more

Book Description

Complex hunter-gatherers have captivated anthropological and archaeological interest in the past two decades. Where it was once commonplace to view hunting and gathering as little more than a starting point for social evolution, today scholars appreciate great diversity in past and present hunter-gatherer societies. The challenge of explaining the development of complexity in hunter-gatherer groups breathes new life into hunter-gatherer studies, focusing not only on adaptive variation but also on evolution and history. This book makes a contribution to the developing field of complex hunter-gatherer studies with an archaeological analysis of the development of one such group. This book examines the evolution of complex hunter-gatherers on the North Pacific coast of Alaska. It strives to account for the dynamics and processes that transformed a population from low density, disaggregated, relatively mobile, and relatively egalitarian organizations into the demographically dense, sedentary, aggregated, militaristic, and ranked/stratified populations around the North Pacific by the time of ethnographic contact. To do so, this book examines seven thousand years of archaeological history on the Kodiak Archipelago - a region that 250 years ago was part of a broader phenomenon of complex hunter-gatherers ringing the North American Pacific Northwest Coast from California to the Aleutian Islands. This is one of the first books available to examine in depth the social evolution of a specific complex hunter-gatherer tradition on the North Pacific Rim. As such, it provides readers with an intimate look at archaeological evidence integrated into a problem-oriented study of emergent complex hunter-gatherers. It will be of interest to professional archaeologists, anthropologists, students of archaeology and anthropology, and general readers interested in social evolution, complex hunter-gatherers, and/or Alaskan prehistory. ... Read more

Book Description

Since Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, the story of the lost city of Pompeii continues to intrigue the public. Discoveries at Pompeii and the nearby village of Herculaneum include elegant villas, whole rooms intact adorned with classical motifs and exquisite frescoes-as vivid as the day they were painted-as well as skillfully laid-out gardens. Excavations began in 1748 but halted from 1954-94. Today, new funding mean that parts of the site are being opened and recorded for the first time. This book provides more than 150 new photographs by Chris Caldicott, Royal Geographic Society photographer-in-residence. Its covers such topics as the history of the city, the discovery of the remains, the town plan, the private life of Pompeii, Pompeii's design legacy, and the site today. Published in association with the World Monuments Fund, this lavish book offers readers a fresh and comprehensive exploration of Pompeii and Herculaneum. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Better Than a Trip to Pompeii
A few years ago, our son, an art student, decided that Pompeii would be the perfect place to do an architectural dig. He came back with all kinds of strange stories about a stray dog for every excavated room, poor protection for delicate fresco paintings, and incredible heat and dust. Having been fascinated by volcanoes since I was a youngster, that meant that I had to get to Pompeii and see what was up.

Three years ago, the opportunity arose to spend part of a day there during a quick trip to the Naples region while visiting in Rome. I was totally astonished by what I saw. Pompeii is much larger and richer than I would have ever imagined. As I went from fascinating room to fascinating room, I found myself wishing I had months to spend there . . . and someone to explain what I was seeing in much more detail. There is much to pique one's curiosity . . . including the many graphic references to bacchanalia. What was life there really like?

Until I found The Lost World of Pompeii, I had no answers to my questions. I deeply regret that this book was not available to me before visiting Pompeii. Whether you will ever get to Pompeii or not, this book is a must for those who are interested in the story of Pompeii, Roman life and art history.

The book is divided into 7 sections, each of which addresses a different aspect of Pompeii:

(1) The city's destruction through the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79. The current thinking on the destruction is different from what I was told by more tour guide at the time of my visit.

(2) How Pompeii was rediscovered and excavated (with much work left to be done). This unveils the city and explains the slow development of archeology as applied to the city.

(3) Voices from a Lost World captures what life was like before the eruption. There are also helpful maps and a great top-down view of the site.

(4) The Pompeian House is an excellent explanation of architecture and how homes were used then.

(5) Life and Art looks at what the many paintings and sculptures suggest about the pleasure-seeking life of those who lived there.

(6) The Grand Tour investigates how visiting Pompeii influenced other Europeans during the last three centuries.

(7) The Legacy of Pompeian Style examines some ways that Pompeii became a template for more modern expressions of the architecture and decoration for those who admired the Pompeii look.

The essays in each case told me much more than I knew to ask and were very helpful.

But the greatest strength of the book is in its many wonderful photographs of the current site, art objects and paintings inspired by Pompeii. The book exceeded my expectations of what might be included, and the quality of the images is remarkable. You would have to travel for weeks just to see all of the images captured here.

As I finished reading the book, I found myself wondering how our decorations and entertainments from today could be misleading to people 2000 years from now. Is it possible that abstract art will be confused with religious worship? Will remnants of today's pervasive pornography lead people to think that we lead wild lives? Will soap operas be seen as reflections of daily life?

How, too, are we misreading the Romans? It's interesting to think about.

Truly immersive and informative
Collaboratively written and presented by Colin Amery (Directory of the World Monuments Fund in Britain) and Brian Curran, Jr. (West Coast Consultant for the World Monuments Fund), and enhanced by the photography of Chris Caldicott, The Lost World Of Pompeii is a lavishly illustrated history, filled from cover to cover with full-color photographs, showcasing what history and archaeology can tell us of the ancient Roman seaside community and culture of Pompeii that suffered sudden oblivion from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. An erudite text combines with revealing artworks and the results of archaeological excavation to make The Lost World Of Pompeii a truly immersive, informative, and enthusiastically recommended reading experience.

A FASCINATING STUDY
Of all the fascinating sites in the world few have continued to draw as much interest or conjecture as Pompeii. It was on August 24, AD 79 that this well-to-do Roman city located in central Italy fell victim to one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded. Some 20,000 people lost their lives when the volcano Vesuvius erupted and spread hot ash and rock over the city. Pompeii was so buried for centuries to come.

Archaeologists did not begin excavating until 1748 as is revealed in this beautifully illustrated volume, which details the ancient city's history from its beginnings to its fatal ending. An extremely well researched text reveals not only the city's politics and commerce but also everyday life.

Also discussed is the great meaning the discoveries at Pompeii have for art, archaeology and interior design. And, we learn that this work is not over as restoration continues to take place today.

Generously illustrated the volume holds 100 color and 50 black and white illustrations. Those who have an interest in ancient history will find "The Lost World of Pompeii" indispensable.

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Book Description

Beautifully illustrated in color with many rare and unique photographs, prints, and drawings, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art presents the first balanced and truly worldwide survey of prehistoric art. The book also offers the first detailed account of how the world of scholarship became aware of the existence of prehistoric art, reproducing the very earliest drawings by explorers and surveyors from the 1600s onward to create a unique pictorial as well as discursive resource. With this powerful combination of illustration and analysis, Paul Bahn describes what prehistoric art is and the different ways in which it can shed light on the lives and preoccupations of our ancestors: sexual, humorous, social, economic, and religious. The result is a fascinating exploration: a book that Desmond Morris describes as "a model of scientific restraint and objectivity....this is ultimately an art book, and as such it is endlessly provocative and engaging."Paul Bahn is an archaeologist and the author of more than 400 publications. He has authored or coauthored eight books, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology. Dr. Bahn is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Outstanding survey of the history of prehistoric art.
Few scholars could deign to undertake a survey of the world's prehistoric art, but Bahn is well chosen. He has experienced a breadth of world rock art equaled by few others. But, it is his command of history and literature that distinguish this book. The first 70 pages define the study of prehistoric art and survey the history of rock art research on each continent. For example, Chinese philosopher Han Fei produced the earliest written account about 2,300 years ago (much of the world's prehistoric art is younger than this). Modern scholars, on the other hand, only "discovered" Chinese rock art about 1950. Two-thirds of the book is devoted to Art on Rocks and Walls, rock art. Bahn leads the reader through the amazing array of rock art around the world and through time, skipping from place-to-place, style-to-style, and culture-to-culture while holding the reader's interest. He takes the reader through the science of dating and style. He turns to literal interpretations of vulvas and sex, human portraiture, zoophilia, and birth. Violence and warfare, sound and music, humor-the vast array of human experiences are revealed in his survey of rock art through the art itself. The reader learns not so much about the art of any one people as about how humans see and experience the world. Bahn's volume on prehistoric art is not the final word on the subject, but it is a valuable contribution to the literature. His survey of works predating 1900 alone makes this book and invaluable addition to one's library.

Too Politically Correct
This is a lovely book, but is so politically correct that it is obnoxious. The primitive art of Australian aborigines, for example, is given as much, if not more, coverage than that of Europe and the Middle East. There is too much emphasis on the peripheral in a misguided attempt to be "fair," with a corresponding reduction in coverage for the prehistoric art of peoples who eventually created civilizations. ... Read more

Book Description

This major new revised edition of African Civilizations reexamines the physical evidence for developing social complexity in tropical Africa over the past four thousand years and considers possible explanations of the developments that gave rise to it. Graham Connah focuses on urbanism and state formation in seven main areas of Africa: Nubia, Ethiopia, the West African savanna, the West African forest, the East African coast and islands, the Zimbabwe Plateau, and parts of Central Africa. Extensively illustrated and offering an extended bibliography, this book provides essential reading on the topic. ... Read more

Book Description

The great empire of the Incas at its height encompassed an area of western South America comparable in size to the Roman Empire in Europe. This book describes and explains its extraordinary progress from a small Andean society in southern Peru to its rapid demise little more than a century later at the hands of the Spanish conquerors.

The Incas provides the first book to fully synthesize history and archeology in an exploration of the entire empire from Chile to Ecuador. Drawing from commentaries and research by hundreds of chroniclers, explorers, and scholars, the author explains how the Incas drew from millennia of cultural developments to mould a diverse land into a dynamic, powerful, and yet fragile polity. From this integrated perspective, The Incas profoundly rethinks the nature of imperial formation, ideology, and social, economic, and political relations in Inca society.

Illustrated with numerous maps and photographs, this scholarly yet accessible book should become the new standard account of the most impressive of the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Synthesis
This book is intended as a synthesis of information on the Inca state. Written both as an introductory book for the broad reading public and as a benchmark for scholars, this book distills historical, archaeologic, and ethnographic information into a single nicely organized and written volume. D'Altroy, an archaeologist who has worked extensively in the Andes, covers the prehistory and history of the Inca state, its social and political organization, its religous ideology, and its material culture. The judicious use of historic sources, largely post-Spanish conquest writings, combined with archaeologically derived information is excellent. The writing is free of academic jargon and D'Altroy provides a comparative perspective by sparing but insightful comparisons with other pre-modern empires. It is difficult to write a book that will be interesting to general readers and useful to scholars but D'Altroy has done an excellent job of serving two masters. I've read other books on the Incas and this is beyond question the best single volume on this topic.

Best overview currently available
Incorporating much of the most recent research into Inca history and society, Terence D'Altroy's work is undoubtedly the best (and most readable!) of the serious introductory texts in the field. He covers the various aspects clearly and thoroughly, elucidating the complexities of the historical narrative, social organisation, and economic production, alongside information on ritual practice, accounting methods, architecture and geography. We are given a synthesis of modern research, together with an awareness of how much remains to be understood, such the _khipu_ rope-knotting techniques that the Incas used to record the movement of goods and transmit laws.

There is a wealth of black-and-white photographs and near-contemporary illustrations, and D'Altroy makes extensive, judicious use of both archaeological finds and written sources (native and Spanish) from the decades immediately after the Conquest. The slant is primarily historical, and while - as with any study of Andean history - anthropological theory enters the picture, this is rather less jargon-filled and abstract than the average ethnographic study, but instead shows awareness of historical change and social evolution.

Extremely useful. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Unique guide for archaeology minded traveler to Israel
Unique guide for archaeology minded traveler

The little known Oxford Archaeological Guides series provides information that you cannot find elsewhere This guide was written by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor in 1980 and was revised for the new Oxford Archaeological guides series in 1997 as the initial offering of the series. O'Connor provides a wealth of information here that you wont find in regular guidebooks. The topic of biblical archaeology is too large to be addressed by any one book. The author squeezes all he can into less than 500 pages. The section dealing with Jerusalem is most detailed. Outlying sites receive less attention. There is useful information about hours of operation and practical matters such as directions to remote sites. In addition to describing the various areas of interest, there are sections giving the history of the different peoples of the holy land, both historical and present day including sections on the Druze, the Philistines, the Samaritans, the Essenes and the Nabateans. There is a good attention here to changes over time with an emphasis on how the appearance of each site evolved over the years. Interesting comparisons are made with the condition of sites in the present day and their description in ancient texts including Josephus' "The Jewish War" and the Bible itself. This book would be inadequate as the only guidebook for a visit to Israel. I would recommend the Knopf Guide to the Holy Land and Baedeker Israel for routine tourist information. Some minor drawbacks: the drawings and maps are not as detailed as they could be and the few photographs that are provided are black and white and of poor quality. These complaints are not critical flaws; the book would still be invaluable even if it didn't contain a single illustration.

An excellent guide for the layman.
We recently returned from two weeks in Israel where we traveled around on our own with this book and the Lonely Planet Guide. Our trip would have been much poorer without The Holy Land. The strength of the book is its description of almost every ancient site of interest in Israel with line maps of the present structures and historical descriptions of the sites. The author includes quotes from ancient historians and medieval pilgrims as well as citations to the Bible. He approaches all the sites with respect but does not hesitate to call the authenticity of some sites into question when the historical or archaeological evidence does not support it. He points out that greater faith can be placed in the Christian sites where there was evidence of pre-Constantinian veneration, before the questions of pilgrims "excited the imaginations of local guides." For me this makes the more credible sites such as the Holy Sepulchre and the house of Peter even more moving.

For practical information on hotels, buses, etc. you should pick up the Lonely Planet Guide, but for infomation on the historical and religious sites this is the best book I have seen. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Easter Island revealed
In the early 1900's Katherine Routledge sailed from England to Easter Island on the schooner 'Mana', leading a group of experts on the first modern day scientific expedition to uncover the secrets of the island. This book is a first-hand account of the expedition. It includes lots of detail on the famous stone statues (moai), the native people & their legends, the mysterious script (rongo-rongo), the bird cult, and much more. Routledge even managed to learn the local language in the hope that interviewing the natives would shed some light on the island's prehistory.

The book is well written and fun to read. It includes lots of fine illustrations, including photos and drawings, depicting the most important sites. It is definately a must-read for visitors to the island, or just for anyone interested in Easter Island and its strange history.

I fancy the image of Katherine Routledge as a kind of Indiana Jones of the feminine persuasion. Certainly she was adventurous for a woman of the early part of the century; just getting to the island in a yacht ranks as a mildly swashbuckling achievement. There are also some references in the book that she had already been to East Africa, perhaps before the turn of the century, although I have been unable to find further information on this.

excellent early view of Easter Island (1914-1915)
The Mystery of Easter Island was originally published in 1919, based upon the research of an English lady, Katherine Routledge, who lived on the island in 1914-15. She learned the Rapanui language and interviewed all the old people she could find who still remembered the past. The more we now know about the archaeology of Easter Island, the better this material looks. Routledge did excavations, camped out all over the island and accumulated vast quantities of research material. A 'must read' for someone going to Easter Island. ... Read more

Book Description

The Arhcaeology of Difference presents a new and radically different perspective on the archaeology of cross-cultural contact and engagement in the recent historical past. Using case studies from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia, the contributors all share a concern with tracking the processes of contact between indigenous peoples and outsiders, primarily Europeans, across the varied physical and cultural landscapes of the region. ... Read more

Book Description

160 drawings 6 x 9 Complete beginners guide to fossil collectingIncludes lesser-studied vertebrate fossilsDetailed illustrations for identification and comparison Earlier life forms are buried all over the earths surfacein oceans, on mountain slopes, in our backyards. Discovering Fossils provides an essential background on where to search for fossils, how to scan for the right textures and shapes, and how to properly extract and protect ones findsa perfect reference for new collectors young and old. Includes practical advice on what to wear and which tools to carry as well as an illustrated identification section of common fossil finds. Frank A. Garcia is responsible for more than 30 previously undiscovered species of prehistoric animals. He lives in Ruskin, Florida. Donald S. Miller is a fossil collector, writer, and proprietor of Millers Fossils in Wilmington, Delaware. Artist, author, and fossil collector Jasper Burns lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great book about fossils
This book has very accurate illustrations. It is very helpful for people who are interested in fossils, and everything that has to do with collecting them. It is easy to understand, and interesting to read over and over.

Best Fossil Reference Book, Ever
Frank Garcia pierces the veil of paleontology and brings you right down to the surface of your own dig.

This book is the best fossil reference book for the casual collector as well as a great addition to any science or teacher's library where geology and-or paleontology are included.

Written in a very down-to-earth style, the book walks you step-by-step through the basics of why fossils exist, where you will find them, how to properly (and safely) collect them and what to do when you get them home or back to the classroom.

Any family that includes fossil-hunting in their vacation, home-school or travel plans should pack this book along for the added benefit of the wide range of fossils identified within.

Any teacher who brings students to potential fossil or geology sites on field trips should include readings from this book BEFORE heading out as well as keeping it handy while in the field.

There's enough packed into this book that every school library science section should include this volume if budgets restrict purchases.

It's a great gift for the budding fossil collector and an excellent addition to a serious collector's library.

The soft, but protected cover, makes it safe to handle in the field.

Take my advice - purchase two: one for the field and one for the desk or prep table.

Great guide to get you started in fossil collecting
A very good guide book to get started in collecting fossils. Great advice on equipment, locations and methods for collecting. The illustrations of typical specimens are extremely helpful in identifying finds. Mr Garcia writes with a great wit and a genuine love of science. His matter of fact story telling coupled with the excitement of discovery makes it obvious that to him, science is a verb.

Informative and easy to understand, with a sense of wit .
I enjoyed reading this book, as well as others by the same author. It was well written and easy to understand by the beginning fossil collector, yet it was not in any way condensending to the amateur. Frank writes, as he speaks, in a down to earth, witty and conversational form. I especially enjoyed his commentary on the other great amateur and professional paleontologists, in particular, Ben Waller. One could tell, by reading, that Ben help a special place in Frank's heart, it was good to see him write his feelings in this book. I would gladly reccommend this book to all ages. The book contains valuable knowledge for fossil collects of all types, and the well drawn and accurate illustrations provide excellent examples for what one should be searching. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

read this
A well written very informative book which gives a good overview of precolumbian Peru. The starting point for everybody interested in this subject.

A little dry, but not too dry.
I bought this book in preparation for a trip I was taking to Peru. I wanted to understand a bit about where I was traveling. Davies' style is reasonably conversational, considering the academic nature of the subject. Thus I was pleased to be able to read the book without wishing I was doing something else.

great
A fascinating book about a fascinating time in history. ... Read more

Book Description

This book recounts the complete history and teachings of thespiritual masters around the world who have been associated with theserpent.

According to this book, ancient records claim thatspiritual masters associated with the serpent initially appeared withinMotherlands which once existed in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.These Motherlands are referred to as Atlantis, Pan, or the Old Red Landof the Atlantic, and as Lemuria, Mu, Rua, or Kumari Nadu in thePacific. The records maintain that the ancestors of the first"Serpents" were extraterrestrials who came to Earth and mated with thenative population.

The records further maintain that when theMotherlands were destroyed, the Serpents migrated to various parts ofthe world and founded new civilizations. Within these civilizationsthey reigned as priest kings and as the heads of mystery schooltraditions. They taught their new, adopted people the esoteric wisdomand rites they had learned on the Motherlands. In India these colonialSerpents and their descendants became known as the Nagas (Sanscrit forSerpent); in China they were known as the Lung Dragons; in Egypt theywere referred to as the Djedhi (the "Stable Serpents"); in Peru theywere the Amarus (Quechuan for Serpent); in Mexico they were called theQuetzlcoatls (Nahuatl for "Plumed Serpent"); in Britain they were theDruid Adders (Welsh for Serpents).

Some of the wisdom themigrating Serpents carried with them from the Motherlands concerned theawakening of the internal "Serpent Power," the latent, alchemical forcewithin humans which normally lies dormant at the base of the spine.Once awakened, this mysterious power moves up the spine of a seeker andeventually transmutes him or her into a living god and goddess.Pyramidal temples and mystery schools were established around the globeby the Serpents in order to disseminate the wisdom of the Serpent Powerand promote its awakening within worthy seekers. Megalithic remindersof their ancient schools survive as the Great Pyramid of Egypt,Stonehenge of Britain, Machu Picchu of Peru, and Teotihuacan ofMexico.

During the rise of Christianity, the Serpents wereforced to hide within clandestine orders or become assimilated intoeastern cultures which welcomed their ancient rites and practices. Inthe west the Serpents continued to survive as the Freemasons, Templars,and Rosicrucians- organizations which from their inception strove tooverthrow the shackles of Christianity and eventually transform theentire Earth into a world based upon freedom of belief andspeech.

According to the prophecies of many traditionsmentioned in this book, the free world dreamed of by the Serpents isnow on the threshold. We will soon move into a new cycle of time calledthe 5th World, the World of Love, and the World of Venus. This timeperiod has also been referred to as "the thousand year reign of Christ"and as the Aquarian Age. In the 5th World all polarities, allnationalities, and all ideologies will unite through the power of love.The perennial battle between science and religion will come to aconclusion and the two will unite as Sacred Science. Many people willhave the opportunity to fully develop the Serpent Power and becomeSerpents during this New Age. They, and other "returning" Serpents,will oversee the creation of a new World Government. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

VERY misleading title
This book is a historical and cultural survey of serpents, dragons, and some other really strange things. The premise of the book was supposed to be (from what I understood) the Return of the Serpents of Wisdom (a group of enlightened beings possibility of extraterrestrial origin). That's not what this book is about.

The author says he was initiated into an order of serpent wisdom from Mesoamerica by Anton Ponce De Leon Paiva (see The Wisdom of the Ancient One: An Inca Initiation). So you would think this book is information about the *Return* of those people to the earth either literally or figuratively.

Instead this book talks about all manner of cultural appearances of snakes, serpents, and dragons regardless of the degree of their association to the serpent masters. There are even some very dark figures in this book such as the magical dragon baphomet whom monotheistic readers would object to as a blatant depiction of satan (who is not usually considered an enlightened being).

Although the book shows very serious research it looses much credibility by including things like a copy of the supposed image of Sananda (Jesus) taken in Mexico by an archeologist in 1961 (which in this reviewers opinion is clearly a painting). It causes this book to associate to the same level of authenticity as the Cottingly fairy hoax of the 1920s.

So while the breadth of this book as a historical survey of all things serpenty is admirable, it's ability to stay within the context of a group of enlightened masters has failed. The associations the author attempts to make with any appearance of a snake, serpent, or dragon to some universal brotherhood of enlightened masters ranges from possible to tenuous to fictional.

If you want up to date information on the serpent masters there are much better works out there. Amoung them is Return of the Children of Light: Incan and Mayan Prophecies for a New World by Judith Bluestone Polich. This book is a better blend of myth, history, current scientific research, and future esoteric possibilities. Books by the mentor of this author (Anton Ponce De Leon Paiva) may also do a better job.

A Beautiful Alex Gray Cover...
There are probably some really weird "true" things in here. This book is what happens when your brain chemistry is pure LSD and you don't have a very rational approach or strong grip on "average reality" to begin with. It was a fun book however...and I'm sure the author is a blast to hang out with.

Return of the Serpents of Wisdom
Great book...dove tails with metaphysical information from other books I've read on this subject. Detailed and in good order, this book pares down to detail the information offered in The Pleiadian Agenda, A New Cosmology for the Age of Light by Barbara Hand Clow. Gives good information on "how to become"...Other good books: When God Was A Woman, by Merlin Stone, and the Inner Temple of Witchcraft by Christopher Penczak (which offers much more than your traditional "Witchcraft" information!)...All books clarify the cosmic picture and our own place in it.

thick with information
I came across this book by accident, and picked it up because of the wonderful Alex Grey artwork on the cover. I am SOOO glad I found it. This book is a wonderful tool for students of ancient hermetic/esoteric wisdom, and is a valuable tool for people interested in Atlantis, or Lemuria, as well as those interested in the symbolism of the serpent from ancient times. Intuitively this book struck so many chords with me that I had to read it little by little each night to process the information. Fortunately, the writing is structured in such a way that it is easy to stop at any time & pick it back up later. I highly recommend it in your study of Esoteric philosphy.

In addition to this book (mostly for the serpent symbolism) I recommend Jeremy Narby's "The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge".

You dont get it
Ask your Shepherd, self-righteous Book ref, how do you know?
You just dont get it, thats all. Anyone who has had direct experiences and connections will not doubt it ... Read more

Book Description

Palaeolithic societies have been a neglected topic in the discussion of human origins. But in the past forty years archaeologists have recovered a wealth of information from Palaeolithic sites throughout the European continent that reveal many illuminating facets of social life over this 500,000-year period. Clive Gamble, introducinga new approach to this material, interrogates the data for information on the scale of social interaction, and the forms of social existence. The result is a reconstruction of ancient human societies, anda fresh perspective on the unique experience of human beings. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Insights Buried in Data
This book attempts to analyze European culture over the 500,000 years before history despite the fact that culture is not directly preserved in the archaeological record.The analysis is ingenious.The author draws on scientific evidence such as skeletons, stone tools, hearth sites, etc. and asks of each element, "How could this have fit into a society?" For example, if you have an old stone age hand axe, you can fell small trees.Presumably you would do so, repeatedly.That's a lot of chopping.Chopping would become a well-practiced gesture in your behavioral repertoire.Would it become generalized to other situations? It's reasonable to think that it would. What could you do with that gesture?Could you use it to communicate?To think abstractly about obstacles in general?The traversal from scientific data point to psychological and social inference is performed repeatedly in the book. It's exciting, very Sherlock-Holmesy.The book is quite difficult to read, especially for the non specialist, like me.It is thick withscientific jargon and dense with minutia. But every few pages there is one of these terrific inferences that makes you think again about how our very earliest ancestors lived. ... Read more

Book Description

"Sphinxes are legion in Egypt-what is so special about this one? .. . We shall take a stroll around the monument itself, scrutinizing its specialfeatures and analyzing the changes it experienced throughout its history. Theevidence linked to the statue will enable us to trace its evolution . . . downto the worship it received in the first centuries of our own era, whenEgyptians, Greeks, and Romans mingled together in devotion to this colossus,illustrious witness to a past that was already more than two millennia old."- from the Introduction

The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the few monuments from ancient Egypt familiarto nearly everyone. In a land where the colossal is part of the landscape, itstill stands out, the largest known statue in Egypt. Originally constructed asthe image of King Chephren, builder of the second of the Great Pyramids, theSphinx later acquired new fame in the guise of the sun god Harmakhis. Majorconstruction efforts in the New Kingdom and Roman Period transformed themonument and its environs into an impressive place of pilgrimage, visited untilthe end of pagan antiquity.

Christiane Zivie-Coche, a distinguished Egyptologist, surveys the long historyof the Great Sphinx, and discusses its original appearance, its functions andreligious significance, its relation to the many other Egyptian sphinxes, andthe various discoveries connected with it. From votive objects deposited by thefaithful and inscriptions that testify to details of worship, she reconstructsthe cult of Harmakhis (in Egyptian, Har-em-akhet, or "Horus-in-the-horizon"),which arose around the monument in the second millennium. "We are faced," shewrites, "with a religious phenomenon that is entirely original, though notunique: a theological reinterpretation turned an existing statue into the imageof the god who had been invented on its basis."

The coming of Christianity ended the Great Sphinx's religious role. The ever- present sand buried it, thus sparing it the fate that overtook the nearbypyramids, which were stripped of their stone by medieval builders. The monumentremained untouched, covered by its desert blanket, until the first excavations.Zivie-Coche details the archaeological activity aimed at clearing the Sphinxand, later, at preserving it from the corrosive effects of a rising water table. ... Read more

Book Description

Based on Pat O'Neill's 35mm film, "The Decay of Fiction" (2002), this interactive DVD-ROM is an archeological exploration of the Hotel Ambassador, a vintage building now vacant that was erected in 1920 and played a crucial role in the development of Los Angeles. Well known for its glamorous Cocoanut Grove nightclub where Hollywood stars and movie moguls mingled with foreign dignitaries and wealthy tourists, this hotel was also the site of one of our nation's most disturbing events - the 1968 assassination of Democratic Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy. Visitors wander through abandoned rooms encountering cultural traces of the historical events and personal stories that occurred there. Inside the Ambassador, borders blur between past and present, history and fiction.

Power Macintosh with Power PC Processor, G4 or higher recommended. Intel Pentium 3 Processor, Pentium 4 or higher recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition explains how recent advances in radiometric dating, functional morphology, molecular biology, and archaeological inference have changed our modern interpretations of how hominins lived and dispersed across the globe during the last five million years or more. The updating includes ample discussion of the most recent fossil finds. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent. Another masterpiece. A must have.
I have just finished to read the book in a first reading. This second edition of the book is another masterpiece of the Prof. Conroy. The book is updated and it includes all the aspects of the human evolution, from the plio-pleistocene world to our modern origins. Notable the number of figures, schemes, diagrams and tables present in the book. The book is so updated that it includes the recent dwarf species Homo floresiensis.
Any sort of australopithecus and any sort of homo are included. This is a serious book for the one that really wants to learn the human evolution. I currently think it it is the best. If you purchase it you won't repent of it.
See my previous review of the first edition of this book.
A big thanks to Prof. Conroy. ... Read more