Lost World: Rewriting Prehistory---How New Science Is Tracing America's Ice Age Mariners

By Tom Koppel

Book Overview

For decades the issue seemed moot. The first settlers, we were told, were big-game hunters who arrived from Asia at the end of the Ice Age some 12,000 years ago, crossing a land bridge at the Bering Strait and migrating south through an ice-free passage between two great glaciers blanketing the continent. But after years of sifting through data from diverse and surprising sources, the maverick scientists whose stories Lost World follows have found evidence to overthrow the "big-game hunter" scenario and reach a new and startling and controversial conclusion: The first people to arrive in North America did not come overland -- they came along the coast by water.
In this groundbreaking book, award-winning journalist Tom Koppel details these provocative discoveries as he accompanies the archaeologists, geologists, biologists, and paleontologists on their intensive search. Lost World takes readers under the sea, into caves, and out to the remote offshore islands of Alaska, British Columbia, and California to present detailed and growing evidence for ancient coastal migration. By accompanying the key scientists on their intensive investigations, Koppel brings to life the quest for that Holy Grail of New World prehistory: the first peopling of the Americas.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074345359X
• ISBN13: 9780743453592
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Readable guide to revisionist American prehistory

This is a narrative tale of how contemporary research is overturning long-held assumptions of how the Americas were first populated. It supports the new paradigm that the first Americans followed a coastal migration path from Asia, a path that has been largely submerged by the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. Part of the fascination of the book is its detailing of how scientists are trying to overcome the tremendous challenge of looking for artifacts that may be hundreds of feet under water, and succeeding. The other fascinating aspect is the demonstration of the all-too-human side of science: how egos and the competition for recognition can actually slow the discovery of new knowledge. This is where the story benefits from being told by a journalist - Koppel makes it sound like a suspenseful drama told in human terms. In comparison, as a lay reader I found archeologist Tom Dillehay's "Settlement of the Americas" too caught up in academic minutiae to be readable. Some reviewers have faulted the author for injecting too much personal commentary. Aside from an unfortunate lapse where he names an early relic hunter and then labels him a "blockhead", I personally felt that his narration improved the account by providing a layman's perspective on how dedicated and specialized these scientists are in their approach. An excellent, highly readable overview of the people and ideas that are changing our view of American prehistory.

easy, interesting read

As an avid student of Native American history, I found this to be a fine "sitting by the fire" read. It contained enough technical info to keep it from being simplistic and tied together a lot of emerging information about the possible settling of the new world by sea. This area of great conflict among archaeologists deserves a lot more study than it is currently getting. Hopefully, this volumn will direct the interest of more people in this direction. My five-star rating is based on this being a very interesting book on it's own to many people without extensive knowlege in the field, not to be compared with more technical volumes directed more toward hard-core professionals or academics. I only wish there had been more photos, clearer photos and photos of artifacts, work sites and locations mentioned in the text rather than of people standing around.

Lost World

Tom Koppel's new book, Lost World, is a wonderful narrative but packed with treasures of information as well. It is his personal journey with very talented and resourceful archaeologists and their colleagues. At the same time it is a credible account of their discoveries, and sometimes disappointments.Setting the record right with respect to the western coastal settlement is only one of his accomplishments. Also he has performed a service that is beyond measure organizing into a single volume a myriad of important facts from diverse sources.Having read many of the scientific and scholarly works relating to this subject, I must state that none has been as interesting, unbiased, forthright, unembellished and evenhanded as has Tom Koppel`s book.Louis C. Sheppard, Ph.D., D.I.C.

solid info in detective-novel form

An avid, but often "challenged" reader of science, philosophy, and culture, I value clear writing above all things. Tom Koppel's explanations of radiocarbon dating, and of all the other methods of modern archaeology, were so step-by-step and lucid that even I, techno-dummy, understood them PAINLESSLY, without my customary cerebral seize-up. On top of that, without losing any accuracy or "rigor," Koppel weaves the story like a mystery writer, seasoning necessarily slower passages with hints at just-around-the-bend revelations. And he recaps just enough to keep us straight with the story, not enough to annoy.With documentary flair reminiscent of John McPhee's work, the guy gives the facts AND the color, always in historical perspective.I learned and enjoyed, which is all I ask of a book.Thus..... five stars.

Lost World

15 June 2003Tom Koppel's new book, Lost World, is a wonderful narrative but packed with treasures of information as well. It is his personal journey with very talented and resourceful archaeologists and their colleagues. At the same time it is a credible account of their discoveries, and sometimes disappointments.Setting the record right with respect to the western coastal settlement is only one of his accomplishments. Also he has performed a service that is beyond measure organizing into a single volume a myriad of important facts from diverse sources.Having read many of the scientific and scholarly works relating to this subject, I must state that none has been as interesting, unbiased, forthright, unembellished and evenhanded as has Tom Koppel's book.Louis C. Sheppard, Ph.D., D.I.C.