Books With Flair

The ancient rock art on the cover decorates the walks of Indian Creek Canyon in Newspaper Rock State Park, Utah, near Canyonlands National Park. What could its symbols and horned figures represent? Are they a Native American observer's depiction of space-suited extraterrestrials who once explored the American continent? Or do the images reflect the human imagination, blending, human and animal elements into new mythical beings? Ken Feder addresses questions such as these in this entertaining and informative exploration of fascinating frauds and genuine mysteries. Through well-chosen examples, he demonstrates what is - and what is not - the scientific method; in the process, he clearly conveys why the veritable past is as exciting and intriguing as the fantasies concocted by the purveyors of pseudoscience. New to this Edition: 25% more illustrations, including side by side photographic comparisons in Chapter 6, 8, and 9; additional topics, including tabloid anthropology, the deconstructionist challenge to science, tracing the source of skeletal populations through mitochondrial DNA analysis, the so-called Mars face, the New Age use of Native American beliefsand Native Americans' reactions, the Ice Man, Chauvet Cave and our understanding of cave painting, and more.

Committed to the scientific investigation of human antiquity, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology uses interesting archaeological hoaxes, myths, and mysteries to show how we can use science to learn things about the past. By placing wildly inaccurate claims within the context of the scientific method, this indispensable supplementary text demonstrates how science approaches questions about human antiquity and, in doing so, shows where pseudoscience falls short.

This book provides a fascinating, encyclopedic antidote for the mysticism and pseudoscience surrounding well-known or highly publicized archaeological and anthropological "discoveries." • 134 alphabetical entries of terms related to extraordinary archaeological claims, many related to popular frauds, misinterpretations, and misrepresentations of the human past • Contains 50 illustrations, including depictions of the Maya calendar day and month glyphs, ancient astronomical alignments, the sarcophagus lid of the Maya ruler Pacal, and the Ica Stones • Photographs of such monuments and artifacts as the pyramids at Giza, Serpent Mound, Nazca ground drawings, Tucson artifacts, Michigan Relics, and Easter Island Moai bring the topics to life • A comprehensive bibliography and further reading suggestions at the end of each entry feed further investigation

"A college textbook for the Introduction to Prehistory course"--Provided by publisher.

Where did we come from? To answer this question, anthropologists reconstruct the human past and study the human present from both biological and cultural perspectives. Human Antiquity offers an absorbing, straightforward explanation of human origins and evolution by thoroughly integrating physical anthropology and archaeology. Co-authors Kenneth Feder and Michael Park combine the ideas, methods, and knowledge from both biological anthropology and archaeology into a unified effort: Feder is an archeologist who conducts surveys, excavations, and analyses to understand the native inhabitants of New England; Park is a biological anthropologist interested in the application of evolutionary theory to the biological history of our species.

This book is an offbeat field guide for sites in North America that reflect the rejection of the facts of prehistory and history. They are the physical equivalents of "fake news" about America's ancient past. Feder provides an entertaining summary forty sites along with the practical information you’ll need to visit these fun and fascinating sites.

Including case studies, this collection of engaging and stimulating essays written by a diverse group of scholars, scientists and writers examines the phenomenon of pseudoarchaeology from a variety of perspectives.

Explore the stunning architectural, artistic, and technological achievements of America's first peoples (and the archaeological stories behind them) in this accessible guide to fifty historically- and culturally-significant sites, all open to the public and located across the United States.

Theory and Methods in Archaeology and Prehistory Written for complete beginners in a narrative style, Ancient Lives is aimed at introductory courses in archaeology and prehistory that cover archaeological methods and theory, as well as world prehistory. The first half of Ancient Lives covers the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology. The second half is devoted to a summary of the major developments of human prehistory: the origins of humankind and the archaic world, the origins and spread of modern humans, the emergence of food production, and the beginnings of civilization. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: Understand the basic principles of archaeology Summarize the major developments of human prehistory

Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology, Second Edition, offers an engaging introduction to the methods archaeologists use to reveal the human past. Employing an accessible and conversational writing style, Feder uses his students' field study of a three-thousand-year-old North American village site as the backdrop to illustrate how archaeologists find, recover, study, and interpret the material culture left behind by earlier peoples.