Archaeological Insights into the Custer Battle: An Assessment of the 1984 Field Season/With Map (Paperback)

~ (Author), Richard A. Fox (Author) "It is safe to say that nearly all Americans and many people from other lands have heard of the Battle of the Little Bighorn..." (more)
Key Phrases: battlefield pattern, carbine cases, extractor marks, Little Bighorn, South Skirmish Line, Deep Ravine (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; 1st edition (May 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806120657
• ISBN-13: 978-0806120652
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,008,390 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally a technical work the layman can read and understand, July 10, 1998

By	Ward Dossche (Mortsel, Belgium) - See all my reviews

Having read a lot of popular material re: the Battle of the Little Bighorm it was with a mix of interest and apprehension I started on thisone. And what a surprise it was ... no technical lingo, and where it was used adequate explanations were included. There is a balance between the unfurling of historical events, what was discovered about them and how it enhances our insight of what may have happened. The book narrows-down many of the options while at the same time creates newones. The reader expecting the ultimate answers will be dissappointed. Reads like a novel excepts a few parts where fire-arms and types of ammunition are discussed. Not to be missed by Custer-buffs and people interested in popular archaeology. Too bad many drawings are included of the survey-activities on the battlefield and not actual photo-evidence.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It sheds new light on the battle, March 8, 2002

By	Jeff Folden (Fargo, ND United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book because it cuts through the partisan pro Custer, anti Custer views that are the main theme in almost all the books about the battle written to date. I highly recommend all the books written by Fox on this subject because he has no pre conceived ideas or biases. He bases his interpretations on the physical evidence remaining at the site and draws his conclusions from that evidence.

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the first analysis...., April 4, 2007

By	K. Patton "K. Patton" (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Readers have to understand that this was just the first book written on the battlefield archaeological project that spanned a number of years. The work culminated in a second work, Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Reexamined

Several other co-workers and collaborators have also published on their work on the archeological and forensic pathology of the battlefield.

Don't judge the conclusions of this work too harshly. As a geoscientist, I would much rather put faith in hard forensic evidence and statistical analysis, than recreations of events based on hearsay, ax grinding, faulty remembrances, flag waving, hero worship, personal bias and any other self serving motivation humans are subject to. Fox uses sound scientific analysis to lay out a time line and sequence of events that has at least been accepted by the National Park Service.
But there will still be experts with thier opinions based on conjecture and arm waving sallying forth to do battle and tilt at windmills.