First Floridians and Last Mastodons: The Page-Ladson Site in the Aucilla River (Topics in Geobiology) [Hardcover]

S. David Webb (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1402043252 | ISBN-13: 978-1402043253 | Publication Date: November 10, 2006 | Edition: 1

This book reveals the remarkable wealth of prehistoric evidence recovered during twenty years delving into an ancient sinkhole in the remote swamps of north Florida. The authors describe the new methods of precise underwater excavations by which they survived hurricanes and worked in dark water. The deepest strata produced powerful evidence of the first Floridians, some 14,000 years ago, butchering tusks from American Mastodon in order to manufacture at least nine kinds of ivory tools. They also utilized at least a dozen other large terrestrial species of the late Ice Ages. Clever studies of stable isotopes tell that the Mastodons migrated north out of Florida into glacial terrain during the winter and spring. They also show which of the megafauna were browsers and which grazers. Digesta of the Mastodon display their rich summer diet and also contain steroids and epithelial cells. Pollen studies and sediments trace the environmental history of the region through eight millenia beginning more than 14,000 years ago.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "A monument of interdisciplinary scientific analysis and reporting, and absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in the early human settlement of the Americas." David G. Anderson, Dept. of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. "An excellent array of interdisciplinary studies conducted at an important site offering new and exciting clues on the origins of the First Americans" Dr. Stanford, Dept. of Archeology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA "This impressive volume represents the culmination of over 20 years of underwater archaeological and paleontological research on one of the most significant Paleoindian sites in the southeastern United States. … The many important contributions in this volume have made tremendous progress toward that goal. … I highly recommend First Floridians and Last Mastodons to anyone interested in Paleoindian archaeology, late Pleistocene paleontology, or Quaternary paleoecology and climate change. It is certain to become an important reference work in those fields." (Gary S. Morgan, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Vol. 15, 2008) "This collective, edited work represents the culmination of 20 years of research, collection, and management of one of the most productive, underwater paleontological sites in the southeastern US … . The book is a fine addition to the library for those of us concerned with Pleistocene and Holocene aspects of the fossil record. … Certainly the book will appeal to academics, scientists and researchers in the fields of geology, paleontology, archaeology, biology, and ecology." (D. M. Jarzen, AASP Newsletter, Vol. 41 (3), 2008)

About the Author

During four decades of service to the Florida Museum of Natural History, David Webb led paleontological excavations at two dozen major sites within the Late Cenozoic Era. Some of these, including the Aucilla River Prehistory Project, involved unique SCUBA excavations yielding extraordinary wet-site preservation. Professor Webb served as President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Guggenheim Fellow in western Europe, Visiting Professor of Geology at Yale University, and Distinguished Visiting Curator at the Field Museum in Chicago. He has conducted field work in Central and South America, Africa, China and Australia. He has edited or authored six books, and written some 200 scientific papers. Outstanding specialists from other leading universities, U of Colorado, Columbia, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Santa Cruz, Stanford, and Texas have lent their expertise to this extraordinary project.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 613 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (November 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402043252
• ISBN-13: 978-1402043253
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)