Before the Indians

by Björn Kurtén

In this illustrated work, Kurten offers a vivid panorama of vertebrate animal life as it unfolded during the more than three million years before humans came to the New World.

158 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 1996

About the author

Björn Olof Lennartson Kurtén (1924–1988) was a distinguished vertebrate paleontologist. He belonged to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. He was a professor in paleontology at the University of Helsinki from 1972 up to his death in 1988. He also spent a year as lecturing guest professor at Harvard University in 1971.
In Not from the Apes (1971) Kurtén argued that man's development has been separate from that of monkeys and apes for at least 35 million years, and that man did not descend from anthropoids, but rather the reverse.
He was also the author of an acclaimed series of books about modern man's encounter with Neanderthals, such as Dance of the Tiger (1978, 1980). When asked what genre these works belonged in, Kurtén coined the term paleofiction to describe his oeuvre. This genre was popularized by Jean M. Auel in her Earth's Children series of books. He received several awards for his books around popularized science, among others the Kalinga Prize from UNESCO.
In the 1980s, Kurtén also hosted a 6-part TV series about the ice age, co-produced by several Scandinavian TV channels.

Reviews

[John Branney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great companion book to Kurten's Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Before the Indians is less technical than Pleistocene mammals and has some interesting stories and facts about prehistoric mammals. Two thumb up.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic guide to the mammals we cannot see in zoos. I am reminded of a man who hated dinosaurs, and when he was reminded that they were extinct, he said, "Good." It's nice to not have to worry about saber-tooth tigers and giant sloths here in North America. Yes, humans' propensity to extinctify animals we don't like or like too much is hugely problematic, but I saw a wooly mammoth in a natural history museum and it was very big but I don't have to worry about them nowadays; all I have to worry about are moose. Still, it's good to know our history and whether we want to clone these puppies later on and have them in some kind of post-Jurassic park. Are these animals huge? Yes! Are they fascinating? Yes! Are they beautiful? Yes! Is Bjorn Kurten a kinda dull? Yes! His novel about Early Man isn't great either. But he's a fantastic paleo-zoologist and it is an honor to see the world through his eyes even if it's a slog to pay attention to the way he describes it. You should one million percent own this book and look through the pictures and marvel and read snippets of text but maybe not read it all the way through.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pleistocene fauna of North America. A+, great illustrations, reread sometime.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, well written and with some intriguing drawings.

[Bob Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, but a good summary.