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First Peoples in a New World
Over 15,000 years ago, a band of hunter-gatherers became the first people to set foot in the Americas. They soon found themselves in a world rich in plants and animals, but also a world still shivering itself out of the coldest depths of the Ice Age. The movement of those first Americans was one of the greatest journeys undertaken by ancient peoples. In this book, David Meltzer explores the world of Ice Age Americans, highlighting genetic, archaeological, and geological evidence that has revolutionized our understanding of their origins, antiquity, and adaptation to climate and environmental change. This fully updated edition integrates the most recent scientific discoveries, including the ancient genome revolution and human evolutionary and population history. Written for a broad audience, the book can serve as the primary text in courses on North American Archaeology, Ice Age Environments, and Human evolution and prehistory.
514 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 2021
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October 2, 2025
Definitive text on the state of science and the peopling of the Americas. If you're interested in the topic, this includes most available information on the topic.
If I were rating purely on personal preference and how much I personally enjoyed the book, it would get 3 stars.
Meltzer is skeptical to an extreme degree. Which is good for a scientist to be sure, but it puts a negative bent on the whole book. You spend more time learning about what isn't evidence than what is. I understand there's a lot of misinformation and a history of wrongness to address but the whole vibe of the book is curmudgeony not scholarly.
Sections of questionable relevance drag on and on. Especially towards the end. If humans had little to do with the extinction of the mammoths, why is there a whole chapter about it?
Why is there a chapter on post contact? That has nothing to do with anything.
All that said, it is at the same time an exceptionally researched and well enough presented book. And probably the most objective, science based source on the topic.
If I were rating purely on personal preference and how much I personally enjoyed the book, it would get 3 stars.
Meltzer is skeptical to an extreme degree. Which is good for a scientist to be sure, but it puts a negative bent on the whole book. You spend more time learning about what isn't evidence than what is. I understand there's a lot of misinformation and a history of wrongness to address but the whole vibe of the book is curmudgeony not scholarly.
Sections of questionable relevance drag on and on. Especially towards the end. If humans had little to do with the extinction of the mammoths, why is there a whole chapter about it?
Why is there a chapter on post contact? That has nothing to do with anything.
All that said, it is at the same time an exceptionally researched and well enough presented book. And probably the most objective, science based source on the topic.
Displaying 1 of 1 review