Review by Choice Review
A survey of the anthropological, historical, archaeological, and art historical literature on the native peoples of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. The primary focus is on the spectacular gold ornaments and ceramic figures and containers these peoples produced and used in burials, with numerous anecdotes about the habits of the people as described by early Spanish explorers and missionaries. The book is organized geographically, discussing in turn the art history of the Tairona, Sinu, and Quimbaya peoples from separate regions of Colombia. The discussion of styles is illustrated with black-and-white photographs of poor to adequate quality. There are extensive notes, a lengthy bibliography that covers such diverse topics as the philosophy of the Jews and the slaughter of Native Americans at Wounded Knee Creek, and a general subject index that leans heavily on names of peoples and places. With the exception of the analyses of styles, this is a secondary source that is flawed by an inadequate diffusionist chapter titled "Origins." The chapter discusses the attempts by eccentrics such as the Viscount of Kingsborough to trace connections to the Old World, including the Phoenecians and King Solomon, and assumes that someone must have introduced gold-working to Colombia. A far more useful and authoritative source for this material, especially for a general audience, is Warwick Bray's The Gold of El Dorado (London, 1978), which has the advantage of more numerous maps and drawings and beautiful color photographs, and is by one of the prominent scholars of the region. -C. D. Roy, University of Iowa
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
