Bones, Boats and Bison: Archaeology and the First Colonization of Western North America

by E. James Dixon

Book Overview

This revolutionary archeological synthesis argues an alternative model of the earliest human population of North America. E. James Dixon dispels the stereotype of big-game hunters following mammoths... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826320570
• ISBN13: 9780826320575
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Gushing review of a landmark book!

Strangely enough I had purchased and read Dr. Dixon's later book Quest for the Origins of the First Americans, before purchasing this earlier book. Let me state flatly that I much prefer this earlier book, as it is an overview, of the Paleo American archaeology scene mostly in N. America! Let me state also that Dr. Dixon in the preface to his later book (noted above) stated his philosophy on writing books, that his book is "directed to a broad and diverse audience including the lay reader, interested students, and professional archaeologists".....this is obvious in both "Bones, Boats and Bison", as well as the later book! I am an interested "student", a "lay reader" but have studied archaeology all of my adult life, and I am so thankful for Dr. Dixon's approach, because it made the reading of this book an Extreme PLEASURE and delight!! Dr. Dixon, I humbly kiss your feet for this approach. Anyone with an interest in North American archaeology, especially amateur archaeologists and armchair archys, will LOVE this book. It provides a framework for North American Paleo American archaeology. Dr. Dixon was kind enough to use both the technical and immediately in parenthesis give the lay definition of the technical term, each time. This saves the poor soul like myself from having to either google or look every technical term up in a dictionary. I consider myself an empty vessel, willing to learn and look at new theories, and I have learned a lot of very important and new theories and ideas, from this book, including proof of the use of boats of early man here, and the small time frame between Clovis and Folsom to name only two. Dr. Dixon explains clearly physical descriptions of the way atlatl darts were built, the proof of the use of atlatls by Clovis peoples, the economy of Clovis peoples, and the variety of foods of Clovis people. Also discuseed in interesting detail are the physical characteristics of various pre 8000 B.P. skeletons and mummies found in North America, including many little known facts (Spirit Cave mummy, long headedness, etc). The use of sewing, making fiber sandals, moccasins, fiber mats, etc by Paleo Americans, as well as hair color, and genetic defects. I can highly recommend this book and if there were ten stars, I would award all ten to this book....I only wish I had bought the hardback when it first came out!

Interesting and readable

I have just started reading this book but so far it is giving me a different look at how North America was settled.

Boans, Boats and Bison Review

Bones, Boats and Bison provides an excellent overview of current thinking about the peopling and occupation of western North America to ca. 8,000 years ago. The book synthesizes a broad array of literature, making it a valuable resource for professional archaeologists. However, the book's greatest strength may be its accessible writing style. Avocational archaeologists, interested members of the public, and students will find this text both highly informative and refreshingly judicious in its use of jargon. The book would make a good text for a "Peopling of the New World" or "Paleoindian Archaeology" course, and it could also be profitably excerpted for various regional archaeology classes (e.g. "Plains Archaeology" or "Alaskan Archaeology.")Nine of Dixon's ten chapters are straightforward data-oriented chapters on key "peopling" topics and regional Paleoindian prehistory. These data are important, and synthetic texts like this one are helpful to those unable to keep up with the ever-expanding "peopling" literature. In Dixon's final chapter, he presents his model for the peopling of the New World (ca. 13,500 years ago and via watercraft). Certainly some will disagree with Dixon's interpretation, but (a) Dixon is careful to point out that his interpretations are speculative, and (b) after painstakingly outlining the data in the preceding chapters, Dixon earns the right to propose whatever model he likes.