Customer Reviews

In Search of Ice Age Americans

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is way too basic for anyone who has any experience in archeology. That being said, it was the perfect book for me. I was able to read the entire book sitting around a swimming pool over two short days during summer vacation.

To Tankersley's credit, he wrote a book that's easy to read and understand, i.e., it didn't put me to sleep. It also didn't answer all my questions about the origin of ice age americans. Perhaps that's what I appreciate about this book, it got me thinking and wanting to know more, especially about the discovery of ice age americans in South America and the Kennewick man.

In his book, Tankersley addresses the problem that plaques museum and private collections, i.e., fake artifacts. I found it interesting how difficult it is to detect fakes. It reminded me of a trip through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness area. At nights around the campfire, the guides would chip rocks to make arrowheads. They would then scatter the newly made arrowheads for unsuspecting guests to find. Of course, the guides would "guide" them to their discovery and in turn would get a bigger tip at the end of the trip.

The one thing that I would have really liked to have included in the book is a graph or timeline on when ice age americans lived compared to other significant events.

It's true that "In Search of Ice Age Americans" is a fascinating tale of the history of first Americans research and of the joys and difficulties that go into the search for the elusive Paleoamerican cultures that first inhabited this continent so many thousands of years ago. If you want a joyful read with beautiful color photographs of Paleoamerican artifacts, then this book is for you.

Unfortunately, "In Search of Ice Age Americans" provides little new insight into the quest for the first Americans. It is true that this is difficult with so many books being published on this topic, but that leads me to the question, "What's the point of one more?" If you're just in it for fun, therefore, this book is a nice, well-written read. If you're a student of archeology looking for fresh, new insight into this topic, look somewhere else!

Tankersely did a fantastic job with this book. It is informative and entertaining, and very easy to read for the layperson. I am an archaeologist fascinated with early Americans and the Ice Age and couldn't put this book down for two nights!
This book covers Dr. T.'s experiences and adventures in the field, the pitfalls of studying the Clovis/ Folsom people, fraud associated with the "black market" sales of early stone tools, and even comments on lay archaeologists contributions to the field. The photographs are beautiful and if you don't fall in love with the early inhabitants of the Americas well... you will! I enjoyed it so much that I actually sat down and wrote him a note to thank him- I have never done anything like that before. I sometimes loan my books to close friends but this one will never leave my bookshelf- no way!
If you buy only one book on the peopling of the Americas, buy this book.

If you are interested in prehistoric life on the N.A. continent, this is the book for you. Clovis life, daily existance, foods, touches on fauna, flora, etc. Highly recommend for average folks like myself, to be informative, not too technical for avg. folks!