Prehistoric man in the New World.

"Estimates of man's antiquity in the Americas vary from about 12,000 to as much as 30,000 to 40,000 years. Clear evidence indicates that he lived in North America as early as 12,000 years ago as a hunter of mammoths and bison. The highest development of American Indian culture followed much later in the civilizations based on agriculture of Mesoamerica and northern South America. Learning the complete record of man's life in the New World has been one of the goals of archeology, and recent research has greatly increased our knowledge of this subject. But the vastness of the area and the variations in the quality and quantity of the data found in different parts of the country make American prehistory as unwieldy a subject as it is fascinating. Archeologists in this field long ago became specialists in restricted geographical areas, and it grows increasingly difficult to gain an over-all view. Geologists and linguists, too, have contributed through research in their disciplines to the literature of American prehistory. The volume performs a unique service for professional archeologists and lay readers alike in bringing together in straightforward, non-technical language the principal findings of the most recent research as well as the accumulated results of many years' study."--… (more)