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Old Notes - New Book

A long time ago, Christy Caine and I worked up a book proposal for a text on archaeological excavation methods. It was inspired, in part, by the popularity of archaeology courses and a text on North American prehistory by Brian Fagan.

At the time, he was one of a new generation of archaeologists challenging the traditionally-accepted ways of looking at things prehistoric. He was also a pretty good writer. He has written a whole raft of books--some texts, some popular--and articles for popular and semi-scientific magazines. He's a professor at UC-Santa Barbara, probably a pretty nice venue for teaching, advising, and writing.

Way last July, I came across a new book by Brian Fagan in the Amery, Wisconsin library, Time Detectives, How to Use Technology to Recapture the Past. I couldn't resist, even though my thoughts were more on light summer reading.

His publisher's web site said that "Fagan attempts to convey the complex history of humanity....As he reports on more than 15,000 years of human history, [he] accompanies some of today's top archeologists on site to many of the most spectacular finds of recent years..."

My notes, made last summer and long lost, begin with the comment that the subtitle of the book ("How Archaeologists Use Technology to Recapture the Past") is accurate. There are wonderful descriptions of the interdisciplinary investigations of archaeology. Fagan tells us

how geologists explain how the incredible desert of Iraq could ever have been thought of as the Eden of Babylon.

how an ethnographer helped write a description of the Chumash people of prehistoric California long after they were thought to be extinct.

some of the details of how biologists can distinguish domesticated plants and animals from wild ones;

how physicists figured out how to figure out the age of artifacts by counting atoms of carbon 12, carbon 13, and carbon 14;

how NASA helped find Mayan cities and ancient roads;
and

how archaeologists recreated prehistoric farming techniques to increase food supply for present-day South American peasants.

But with all this attention to the techniques and technologies, there's not enough in the book about what the scientists found. I think the publisher's blurb is a bit misleading when it brags that Fagan's book "attempts to convey the complex history of humanity..." The book does attempt to convey the complex, interdisciplinary methodology of archaeology, and it does it very well. I'm more familiar with that and want to read more about the results of the investigations. So, I finished the book unsatisfied. My guess is that a lot of people would find it a fascinating guide to a very unfamiliar world, and for that I recommend it highly.

For example, you can read about

"The earliest Bronze Age shipwreck ever discovered, whose cargo from nine lands reveals details about ancient trade in the eastern Mediterranean.
"An ancient Mayan village recovered intact in the jungle rainforest of Central America, complete with kitchens and storehouses, harvested maize standing in neat rows, sharp knives stored in house rafters, and strings of chilies hanging from the roofs.
"The site of the immense Native American bison drives off the cliffs of the North American western plains, offering an unrivaled glimpse of Blackfoot culture.
"The excavated gardens of 18th-century Annapolis, Maryland, which provide a compelling view of white and black life in colonial American cities." (More quotes from the publisher's web site--more accurately describing the contents of the book.)

Look for the book in your favorite library.

A List of Recommended Archaeology Books

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Ken Wedding. 06.25.97 Updated 08.30.01

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