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

by Tom Koppel

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 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 the first peopling of the Americas.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Canada, Archaeology

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2003

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was half what I was expecting, and half fresh material. Lost World treads the same ground as the five other books I’ve recently read about the first Americans, detailing the history of archaeology in America, the Clovis First model, the challengers, extra input from linguistics and genetics – I’ve read this all, rephrased, before. Woven in between that are the author’s anecdotes about archaeological work on the northwest Pacific coast, attempting to determine whether pre-Clovis people reached the Americas by watercraft. There are definitely some interesting points, such as the discovery that the ice sheets never reached certain areas, which means that island hopping was possible, and a certain amount of evidence of human activity such as worked stone blades. However, it shows that the author is a journalist and not an archaeologist – I had to dig these noteworthy facts out from among more trivial information such as what the author’s archaeologist friend looked like, what joke so-and-so told, and what the diggers all had for lunch. The work is also unreferenced, which is fine for general readership but a blow to the academic reader. I personally think Adovasio and Meltzer’s books on the subject provided a lot more information.

[Angie Lisle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will probably bore anyone who isn't interested in the archaeological, anthropological, geological, or paleontological evidence surrounding the prehistoric migration of the first people in North America. Those with an interest will be entertained.

The language is simple; the author presents a very vivid picture of the evidence supporting the possibility that prehistoric people migrated along the north-western coast of North America.

However, he doesn't mention the hypothesis that the first North Americans may have came from across the Atlantic. He doesn't discuss the significance of ancient artifacts (Clovis points) found in North America that correlate to artifacts found in the Pyrenees, along with cave art that clearly details the hunting of sea creatures. He doesn't mention that carbon dating on ancient sites in North America show that the earliest sites are in the north-east (& that scientific efforts to collect data on the north-eastern coast meet many of the same problems that researchers have on the north-western coast).

I'm not saying that I adhere to one (Pacific migration) or the other (Atlantic migration) hypothesis - I think it's very likely that both are accurate. But the author's failure to discuss the other hypothesis disappoints me.

[James R · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read about 1/4 of this & quit. The book is more accurately described as travel literature, not science/history. In 2022, you may as well follow Instagram & TikTok accounts dedicated to caving.

Like all of these Atlantis books (or whatever genre term you prefer), I ask the same question; what's the purpose? Let's say I accept that there were humans along the coast of British Columbia thousands of years before historians assume. So what? Are you wanting to change school textbooks? Do you want this material put into museums? He never says.

I think the purpose of all of this is purely entertainment under the guise of facts. The world is so overloaded with Netflix documentaries & things like climbing & caving, I don't see why you'd want to pick this book up. If you like to be entertained by caving and Netflix-style infotainment, this might be for you.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

The science leading to a changing consensus regarding how America became peopled (coastal vs. overland) was covered well -- detailed but not too much so; wide-ranging to cover all the relevant studies; and not, that I could tell, overly slanted (although Koppel's attitude towards Clovis-first supporters was probably harsher than history will justify). So on matters important to why I read the book, it rates well. Koppel sets this information in the framework of his own experiences with the archaeologists doing the work, which to some extent keeps it a fresh and engaging story. Unfortunately, he overdoes this part, inserting personal anecdotes of little interest and absolutely no relevance, which only distract from the main subject.

[Mike Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting subject matter, but was slow sometimes. Mr. Koppel sometimes got more sidetracked with his telling of the story of how he researched the book instead of the point behind the book. Overall, though, I was glad to have read it.

[James Northumberland · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter is truly fascinating, and the book starts off pretty well. But after about 50 pages, it seems all the interesting stuff has already been said by the author, who wastes precious time relating irrelevant anecdotes that bring absolutely nothing to the big picture. For example, he mentions a boat trip during which a device suddenly stops working, and spends 2 pages describing how one of the archeologists managed to fix it by plugging the wire in a different outlet. As the pages go on, you gradually lose interest because you get tricked so often into following pointless plots such as that one that you stop trusting the author will ever say anything meaningful again.

While at first these digressions are easily forgiven given the fascinating subject matter, with time, anecdotes basically become the entirety of the book. The very frequent jumps through times are equally infuriating. For example, while talking about a 1999 mission, the author relates a prior 1994 mission that covers over 10 pages, and then comes back to the present. All in all, it is very hard not to give up reading this book because of its abominable style.

[Maggie Shanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows the archeology and research that is going in to proving that early man came to the America's via the Northern Coast Line. It was interesting and made you want to be part of the movement that is gathering all of this knowledge. I am not sure it proved anything, but it did teach me about the research that was going on in that 1990s and early 2000's.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read.

[Last Ranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Into the Terra Incognita!

In this well written book, author Tom Koppel investigates the controversial question of how the first Paleo-Indians got to the Americas. Did they get here by land? It's a well known story: approximately 10,000 to 12,000 YBP, as the Ice Age was coming to an end, isolated bands of hunter-gatherers crossed the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska and first set foot on North America. In time, utilizing an ice-free corridor between two continent spanning glaciers, they migrated southward and found an Eden-like paradise filled with edible wild plants and abundant game animals to hunt. In an amazing short period of time they were able to colonize all of ice-free North America, Central America and, finally, South America, all the way to Tierra del Fuego. And, while they were doing all this exploring, they somehow found time to invent the Clovis blade and to bring about the extinction of the Ice Age Mega-Fauna on both continents. Since the 1920's most archaeologist have felt that the "Clovis First" theory best described how humans got to the new world. But it wasn't long before some dissenting voices were heard. Archeological finds in both North and South America seemed to be pushing the date back by hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The ice-free corridor also came under fire; did it actually exists?and if it did, could it have supported life? Artifacts and fossils were being found on the islands just off the Pacific coast of North America and being dated as pre-Clovis. Was it possible that an early seafaring people from coastal Siberia had migrated to the new world on some kind of water craft? Could they have survived the frigid conditions? Were there any ice-free areas along the way, coastal or islands, that could support life? To find out what the latest finds were Koppel worked alongside some professional archeologist at dry land digs on the Queen Charlotte Islands off BC, Canada. He was also on hand for some underwater work done in the Inside Passage just north of Vancouver Island. The idea that ancient mariners were able to skirt the glaciers by sea instead of walking through a 2000 mile long corridor to an untouched paradise is controversial, to say the least. Evidence for either theory is hard to come by and any artifacts that are found are subjected to intense scrutiny by both sides. In his book, Lost World, Koppel presents the ideas of professional scientist who think the sea route is not only possible but very likely. This debate may go on for a long time without any resolution and , in fact, may not ever be settled to everyone's satisfaction. Thousands of years ago humans did, somehow, make it to North America. Whether they came by land or sea, or some combination of the two, we may never know. This book will give you an inside look at how archeology works and at the intense debates that rage over a possible paradigm changing theory.

Last Ranger

[Amanda Spacaj-Gorham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really accessible to a non-academic reader. I particularly enjoyed the mentions of the Hiada legends and how those legends fit into climactic history.

I followed it up with:
"The First Americans The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World"
Ed. Nina Jablonski

The best section to follow this book is:

"Ocean Trails and Prairie Paths? Thoughts about Clovis Origins"
(spoiler alert think pre-historic trans-Atlantic).

and also a long article in: World Archaeology 37.4 (2005) called "Debates in World Archaeology" by Straus, Meltzer and Goebel.

[Tommie C Sisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great new knowledge

I have always been fascinated by the question of when and where of the First Americans. The author does an excellent job of leading you through the labyrinth of knowledge from prominent scientists and theories. His conclusions are well thought out and documented. Archeology is not always an exact science and must be tempered with the thought that new evidence will force one to rethink past theories. The author has attempted to do that. Very informative and thought provoking.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that argues for coastal migration of the America's. I've never been a fan of the 'ice-free corridor' migration theory of paleolithic man; a coastal migration makes more sense to me.