Customer Reviews

The Material Culture of Steamboat Passengers - Archaeological Evidence from the Missouri River (THE PLENUM SERIES IN UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY) (The Springer Series in Underwater Archaeology)

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The book lives up to its title. It is an excellent example of a study of material remains and how they actually relate to the people who left them behind. The fascinating thing about shipwrecks and what material items they house, is that people did not get a chance to pick and choose what they left behind, such as when a Great Plains family left a sod house for their first frame house. Instead, everything they brought, except for that on their back, they were forced to leave behind. It is an instant snapshot of time, place, people, and lifestyle. Dr. Corbin has done an excellent job of explaining why she undertook this project, as well as explaining her conclusions. Granted, she was only able to research so much, but these brief "pictures" of lives gone before us, are illuminating. She does a fine job of bringing the historical record to bear on the artifactual evidence, and vice-versa. Not meant as a book for public consumption, it will have a welcoming audience in "students" of the past and the westward expansion of the United States. The only drawback is the "as usual" high price for a Plenum series book.

Annalies Corbin is one of the leading lights of US underwater archaeology. This book reflects her tremendous engergy and accomplished scholoarship. Accessible to the professional and the layman. Highly recommended for archaeologists, historians, and steamboat or old west enthusiasts.