Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling Artifacts

by William R. Corliss (Compiler)

Nearly four hundred articles and archaeological investigations probe the enigmatic artifacts of prehistoric man including pyramids, mounds and engineering structures as well as tools, flints, pictographs, drawings, skeletons, and fossils

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History

786 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1977

About the author

William Roger Corliss was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...

Reviews

[Brad Belschner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is simple, yet rare. It's a compilation of hundreds of fascinating newspaper and journal articles from the 19th century until the 1970s on the subject of puzzling ancient artifacts. Some of them are just unsubstantiated tabloid reprints from the 1890s, but some are genuine archaeological finds (and others are in a sort of grey area between). Read this book with a bucketful of salt.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most books are rated related to their usefulness and contributions to my research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FASCINATING COLLECTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL "ANOMALIES"

William R. Corliss (1926-2011) was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena in astronomy, geophysics, geology, archaeology, biology, etc., which he published in books such as Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena, Biological Anomalies: Humans (Catalog of Biological Anomalies), Biological Anomalies, Mammals I: A Catalog of Biological Anomalies, Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1978 book, "The primary objective of this handbook is to provide libraries and individuals with a wide selection of reliable descriptions of unusual artifacts of ancient man. To meet this goal, I have analyzed hundreds of volumes of archaeological journals as well as the complete files of 'Nature' and 'Science.' The result of this research is an incomparable collection of information on the frontiers of archaeology. From this assemblage, I have selected the most interesting and controversial for this book." He also admits that "I have introduced a handful of articles from fringe periodicals and books that are doubtless considered offbeat and 'wild' by most professional archaeologists." Some of the publications included are from as far back as the 19th century.

He includes such items as Lat'te ("Houses of the Old People") stone monuments, which seem out of place among the "thatched huts of naked Indians" (pg. 11); or a medicine wheel marking the summer solstice sunrise found on a "cold and windy" trail (pg. 125); an article notes excitedly that some of the famous Nazca lines in Peru were constructed "to mark the winter solstice" (pg. 495), and many more.

All of Corliss's "Sourcebook" are stimulating and thought-provoking---the more so, since most of them are taken directly from "respectable" mainstream scientific journals.