I have always enjoyed following the saga of the peopleing of the America's as promulgated by the various camps of American archaeology.
Charles Mann takes us on a virutal tour of the America's before Columbus by introducing us to it's first peoples. The resulting impact and scope of life here before and after the arrival of "modern" Europeans is well illustrated and documented.
The pristine wilderness that greeted the earliest European visitors had already been engineered by the original inhabitants to enable them to enjoy a viable and civilized America with a well fed and organized population. Savanna's and forests were here by virtue of the careful management by the first occupants who thickly populated the continents of North and South America.
Once again I am confronted with the reluctance of science to accept new ideas simply to defend turf.
"1491" is a great book, an enjoyable read and a real service to all interested in the history of the America's, the people who first managed it, and we who continue to do so today.
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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Lawrence Gaye, January 22, 2007
I have always enjoyed following the saga of the peopleing of the America's as promulgated by the various camps of American archaeology.Charles Mann takes us on a virutal tour of the America's before Columbus by introducing us to it's first peoples. The resulting impact and scope of life here before and after the arrival of "modern" Europeans is well illustrated and documented.
The pristine wilderness that greeted the earliest European visitors had already been engineered by the original inhabitants to enable them to enjoy a viable and civilized America with a well fed and organized population. Savanna's and forests were here by virtue of the careful management by the first occupants who thickly populated the continents of North and South America.
Once again I am confronted with the reluctance of science to accept new ideas simply to defend turf.
"1491" is a great book, an enjoyable read and a real service to all interested in the history of the America's, the people who first managed it, and we who continue to do so today.
(8 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)