Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals About the First Americans

YES!! A MAINSTREAM ARCHAEOLOGY BOOK THAT DESCRIBES PRE-CLOVIS SITES!!And, yes, I read the book.The book is expensive, tall, and printed on slick paper, but it’s worth the price. It is profusely illustrated with mostly full color photographs and maps. There is a well-written synopsis of each site, including controversial pre-clovis ones.I’ve read (and have) many archaeology and archaeological heresy books. Not being an archaeologist with funding and reputation to protect, I have formed my own opinions as to the validity of some of the sites and the length of time humans/hominins have been in the Americas. In my opinion (and please note that this is just my personal opinion), these sites: Calico (California, US) and Pedra Furada (Brazil), are valid human/hominin sites dating back to 50,000+ years. In my opinion, humans/hominins have been in the Americas a minimum of 250,000 years and maximum of 1,000,000 years. Since Homo erectus probably had watercraft at least 800,000 years ago, they could have (and probably did) make it to the Americas. It may be possible that other humans/hominins also made it to the Americas before Homo sapiens (who have been here 50,000+ years and came from many places at many times).The book does not include the site at Hueyatlaco (Valsequillo, Mexico) where tools dated to about 240,000 years were found. Also, the book makes no mention of the work of George Carter in San Diego. I have two books of his: “Pleistocene Man in San Diego” Johns Hopkins Press 1957 and “Earlier than You Think” Texas A&M Press 1980. I’ve read the latter book and am just starting the other one.

When I received this fantastic book, I was immediately overwhelmed by its size. It is not a daunting book, however. This archeology book about the first Americans is full of interesting information. I learned so much and eagerly devoured every tidbit of information. The book is probably one of the best sources of information on paleo Indians I have ever seen -- Internet sites and all. The authors' writing flows smoothly and makes the information very accessible.Readers would be strongly advised to famiarize themselves with the organization of the chapters so as to better understand the material (that is, check the organization in the table of contents). It is set up according to the author's cognitive categories, not the categories I expected. Unfortunately, words in the handy glossary are not bold-faced in the text, so I didn't even know there was a glossary until I got to the very end of the book. Use it, very helpful, especially for novices like me.On the other hand, I should add that the photos & artwork deeply nhance the reader's understanding. Overall, one of my favorite resources on my new love -- paleo archeology.

The principal author of this book is famous for discovering the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. This discovery was one of the earliest discoveries that challenged the scientific-dogmatic theory of "Clovis-first" in how people first came to the American continents, since Meadowcroft predated Clovis. I am in favor of this viewpoint too, and I am also a "new theorist" in which people came to the American continents from several migrations and not all were from the same starting point. I believe that there was a circum-Pacific migration route (that was rather large and that originated in southeast Asia) and a circum-Atlantic migration route (that was rather small and that originated in western Europe) with both taking place during the LGM. I also believe that there was a trans-Beringian migration route (that was also rather large and that originated in central-eastern Siberia) that took place after the LGM. The principal author only vaguely touched up on the migration routes (and mentioned the three that I mentioned just now), but he moreso stressed another true notion that not only that there were human settlements before Clovis, not everyone was looking for big game to hunt, even though some most definitely hunted big game. The Clovis-first model also promotes that people very rapidly colonized the American continents, all while hunting big game. The principal author rightfully argues that in many archaeological sites, like with the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, people actually relied on hunting small game and leaned a lot on gathering and even fishing. This allows a settlement to remain in one spot for a very long time, and Meadowcroft was quite popular to be so for those who lived many thousands of years BP. Though not mentioned in this book, the Puritjarra Rockshelter in Australia also manifests how one area can be a popular settlement ground for a very long time for people, who lived a few tens of thousands of years BP. The principal author stressed the use of watercraft for circum-oceanic travels, and I strongly believe this too. Remember that Australian aborigines had to use watercraft to get to Australia for the first time at c.45000BP. Furthermore, "Homo erectus" had to use watercraft to reach the East Indies c.800,000BP as well.The book overall splits itself up in to several parts. There is an introduction, and then the book talks about established Clovis and Folsom sites. Then the book heads to talking about pre-Clovis/before-Clovis sites. The book talks about the legitimate pre-/before-Clovis sites (i.e. Meadowcroft, Cactus Hill, Mont Verde, Buttermilk Creek, Paisley Caves). The book also talks about disputed and controversial pre-/before-Clovis sites (i.e. Pedra Furada, Old Crow, Topper and Bluefish Caves). The disputed/controversial sites are as such because they appear to date many tens of thousands of years ago, which are not in tune with the legitimately dated sites. To me, some of this disputed/controversial-site dating is indeed far-fetched but some may hold some merit. For instance, Topper and Pedra Furada are valid pre-/before-Clovis sites, but their dating really should be more in tune with other well-dated sites. However, the book is well-sectioned and well-detailed. Some illustrations are nicely done in this book too. It is overall a good book, yet there are many other books that can present the same within this topic as well.

This is a very readable book, appropriate for the professional and avocational archaeologist. The photographs and maps are very high quality. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the peopling of the western hemisphere.

I received the book and could not put it down. I stayed up late to review each section of the book and the pictures. My husband and I will be reading and discussing the information provided. We want to visit several of the sites this year. An excellent way to become more familiar with the Native American entrance in to North and South America. My granddaughter discovered she is 15% indigenous Native American from Boliva, Mexico and Southwest US, so we will have fun with her this summer talking about the discovery sites of early americans.

This is the book I've been looking for. I have been anxious to find recent information about pre-Clovis people. I love the way the book is organized and, even though I'm not a professional, I have found it to be comfortable to read and hard to put down. The many illustrations are sharp, clear, and beautiful, including excellent photographs, drawings and maps.

A must book for anyone interested in the Paleo period of North America. I can understand now why it is only in a hardcover because the excellent diagrams and photos would not be of the quality that is shown in this large book. It is worth every penny to purchase this hardcover (I hesitated at first); I always try to save money by purchasing softcovers, but not in this case.

While ambitious in its scope, Adovasio's "Strangers in a New Land" is seriously marred by the number of typographical errors. When basic editing is ignored, the credibility of the entire book may be called into question. Scores of grammatical errors, omitted words and other issues abound -- most notably in the captions for the books' generous suite of accompanying photographs. In one instance, an image of a Folsom point is so badly clipped that both the distal and basal portions of the projectile point are missing -- hardly an ideal way to describe an artifact. Why no one took the time to do a final edit of this book is a mystery.

Overall, a very good attempt to consolidate and explain the science behind early man's arrivals in post-glacial North America. Final product marred by numerous typos which should have been caught by the editorial process, and inexplicable omission of 20-year old theories debunking the so-called "ice-free corridor" as a viable migration path during the final deglaciation.

Great pictures, great reviews, I have not finished, but am reading at my leisure.