The great Journey : the peopling of ancient America /

The first edition of The Great Journey was very favorably reviewed in Choice (CH, Apr'88). Rather than rewriting the entire volume, Fagan (emer., Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) has included an introductory update that reviews the literature and the subtle changes in interpretation over the past 17 years. This was done because the new data has had very little effect on the contentious arguments that swirl around the time and mode of human entry into the Americas. Fagan continues to favor a late entry, but is less Clovis-centric than he was in 1987. The book remains a superb introduction to the peopling of the Americas. This reviewer will use it to begin her North American prehistory course, and, like the reviewer of the first edition, recommends it for "libraries from high school through university level." However, if a library has the first edition this one is not really necessary, except for the bibliographic essay that concludes the update. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All levels/libraries, especially those without the 1987 edition. L. L. Johnson Vassar College

How North America became populated has been a subject of controversy and wonder since the sixteenth century. Fagan, a noted anthropologist, collects data from many differing viewpoints and presents a coherent, highly readable work on how thousands of early humans crossed the arctic ``bridge'' to ancient America. In so doing, he offers compelling evidence on the early availability of transportation, foodstuffs, clothing, and shelter. This excellent work is enhanced by appropriate maps, ilustrations, photographs, and drawings. No index. JMM. 970.1 Paleo-Indians / North America Antiquities / South America Antiquities / Man, Prehistoric America

YAAmerican students traditionally study Indians of North America, but lit tle attention is paid to the original set tlement of the American continents. Here is a thorough discussion of the most probable routes that those original cave people took from Siberia, mov ingover thousands of years throughout North America and on into South America. Fagan methodically describes sites of early human habita tion which have been excavated and carefully dated and also describes vari ous controversies of method and con tent. While the book's factual content sounds imposing, Fagan's writing style is easy and relaxed, making all the in formation accessible and fascinating to lay readers, high-school students in cluded. Photographs and diagrams complete Fagan's effort, and the care ful index allows easy research by lo cale, tool use, age of excavation, etc. Books on archaeological methods, finds, and reconstruction of the history of other areas of the world are common in high-school libraries; it is time one of this quality be available on the Ameri cas. Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, Bellaire (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Most of us are acquainted with the European discovery of America (the Vikings, Columbus), but how and when did American Indians occupy the continent? That's the fascinating puzzle that Fagan (Elusive Treasure, Return to Babylon, Quest for the Past, etc.) discusses here--and he reveals himself as a meticulous, skeptical researcher with an adequate if plodding prose style. Humans evolved in tropical Africa, Fagan begins, millions of years after that continent separated from America. The spread of early humans (Homo erectus) into Europe and Asia is well documented--but not until modern humans appeared (40,000 years ago) was Australia occupied (via a short, tropical sea voyage). America, Fagan writes, was an altogether more difficult proposition, involving vast and improbable voyages across the Atlantic or Pacific--or did humans simply walk into Alaska from Siberia during the last Ice Age, when a land bridge certainly existed? Analysis of teeth and blood proteins reveals a strong affinity between American Indians and ancient Siberians (the linguistic evidence is more equivocal). These early pioneers, Fagan observes, faced formidable obstacles. The land bridge existed only at the height of the glaciations, when the climate was appallingly severe. Humans were still in the process of adapting to polar environments. And glaciers probably blocked the way at least some of the time. Yet, about 15,000 years ago (Fagan considers the evidence for an earlier occupation tantalizing but as yet unsubstantiated), humans arrived in North America and spread rapidly south and east. Along the way they seem to have helped the Ice Age megafauna (mammoths, giant bison, giant sloths, etc.) into extinction. Fagan marshals and analyzes a vast body of evidence, from bones and tools, climatic data, and pollen, to ancient hearths and frozen mammoths. The upshot is an informative, balanced, and often exciting account (impossible not to cheer on those brave ancient explorers!). There are copious illustrations. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.