The great journey : the peopling of ancient America

Widely regarded as a classic, The Great Journey tells the story of one of archaeology's great controversies: How, where, when, and why did human beings take the first steps in their journey to populate North America? In this new edition updating the debates and discoveries that have occurred since the late 1980s, internationally renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan fills us in on the latest archaeological findings on both sides of the Bering Strait. Fagan sets forth different scenarios for first settlement, the controversies over the extinction of large Ice Age animals, and a brief overview of cultural developments since the time of the Paleo-Indians. He includes new genetic and linguistic research that amplifies earlier theories, assesses the importance of global warming to first settlement, and evaluates the various routes that brought Stone Age hunter-gatherers from Siberia into North America and beyond. Illustrated with 126 photographs, line drawings, and maps, Fagan's account provides an entertaining and thorough assessment of what we know about the first Americans. Book jacket.… (more)