Bones: Discovering the First Americans

Like many others, I have something of an interest in the origins of people, and take some notice of the findings of the scientists whose job it is to gather and interpret hard data. The peopling of the Americas has some special interest, of course, not the least because it is so controversial. The central dogma, found in all the textbooks and encyclopedias of our day, is that the earliest Americans arrived at about 11,000 BC or so ago, and the route was over the Beringian land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. This book, written by a very well informed journalist, is an honest effort at an examination of the data, pro and con, for the dogma, told in a most delightful way. Her method is to read everything, visit every museum involved, and interview everybody involved in the controversy that she can. It is not a dry tome that merely relates the findings, but a sort of personal journey through it, a travelogue to some of the important sites, and a reflection on the meaning of it all. What she finds is at times quite eye-opening and even sometimes pretty distressing. It seems that the dogma is so strong that some investigators suppress evidence against it for fear of losing standing and funding, which is controlled by a tyranical old guard, charged with a righteous fervor to protect it. I found the story quite fascinating. Was it possible for people to traverse the land at the time required? Apparently not, according to the latest findings. Are there sites older than 11,000 BC? It seems there were! A most persuasive argument to me was the finding that the migrants brought the hookworm with them. Because the hookworm must reside for part of its life-cycle in warm soil, it could not have come by the Beringian route. Pretty persuasive to me! The style of writing is lively and immediate and the book is hard to put down, once started. I only regret that there are no illustrations at all. Dewar has done quite an outstanding job in bring this story together, and it will reward your time spent with it.

First, I think that comments concerning the length of this book are valid. There are extraneous elements that could be removed in order to streamline it (such as the mini-autobiography at the beginning and throughout the text). However, unlike some of the other reviewers, I don't mind the asides that occur, nor am I bothered by her descriptions of the characters involved, the locations, and the mundane aspects of daily life (i.e. getting coffee at Starbucks). I think people have to remember that Dewar is trained as a journalist, not an archaeologist or forensic anthropologist. As such, she continues to write in a journalistic style and, given the subject of her book, this style is not inappropriate. It is this style that makes the book readable. While more informative, I'm not sure there would be a market for a purely descriptive examination of New World pre-history. Hell, I'm an archaeologist who would understand what is being discussed and I'm sure I'd be bored to tears.The one problem I do have with the book is that Dewar seems to have believed that archaeology should be treated as a hard science and cannot understand the ambiguities that exist (though she does touch on some of the reasons, perhaps by accident, such as the relative newness of the science, a rather disreputable history - archaeology as treasure hunting and looting, and the lack of funding that exists). Still, I enjoyed the book for what it is.

Elaine Dewar traversed the Western Hemisphere in a quest to understand the origins of Native Americans. This book presents the results of her search in a thought-provoking and thoroughly researched account. Her focus is the Kennewick Man - an ancient skeleton found on the banks of the Columbia River. Kennewick Man became the centre of storms of political, anthropological and racial controversy. Native Americans sought the remains for burial under the provisions of the Native Americans Graves Protection and Repatriation Act [NAGPRA], while the anthropologists sought to date and establish their historical origins. An announcement that the skull appeared "Caucasoid" fanned the flames of racism among scientists and politicians alike. What, precisely, constitutes "Caucasoid" features in a skull, ancient or modern? In answering that question, and others it raises, Dewar expanded her quest for information, visiting scholars and leading her into a maelstrom of debate.The "Caucasoid" contention raised the issue of the validity of consensus theories about the origins of Native Americans. Anthropologists have long contended that Native Americans are migrants from Eastern Asia. The time frame suggests their migration would have to have taken place during the time the Laurentian Ice Sheet left a narrow corridor in Western Canada allowing these invaders to journey south into North America. As Dewar notes, this idea gave early anthropologists a handle for ranking "natives" as inferior to later European invaders. The tenuous grounds for this assertion are thoroughly explained in this book. However, the idea persisted as part of the "out of Africa" theory of prehistoric human migration used to refute the "multi-regional" evolution of humanity. Dewar attempts to balance the evidence of artifact and skeletal evidence age, with what is known about the environment in times past. Timing in resolving those two theses is the critical factor, as Dewar shows. Standard thinking on humanity's evolution means Homo sapiens must have arrived here about 12 000 years ago. She explains the importance of the "Clovis Culture" artifacts supporting this date. She then introduces the hitch in the timing issue caused by the discovery of the Monte Verde site in Chile. This site suggests human occupation far down the South American coast as long ago as 35 000 years. Dewar also spoke with Brazilian sources, who claim finding evidence of human occupation there up to 30 000 years ago. She follows the claims back and forth among those who support and those rejecting the dating trying to determine who is likely to have a final answer.One can only sympathize with Dewar's clearing articulated frustrations. She strives to find the balance point among the many contending claims. Untrained as an anthropologist, molecular geneticist or even lawyer, she makes an outstanding effort to present the evidence given her and try to evaluate it for us. The process is doubly complicat

Given that Canadian First Peoples have traditions and creation stories that say they come from right here in North America and have been here for Eons; journalist Elaine Dewar wants to know why the tale that passes as history - about arrival by way of the Bering Strait some 11,000 years ago - still remains such a widely held belief. BONES: DISCOVERING THE FIRST AMERICANS is her investigative journey into this subject. Traditional history says that Mongoloid migrants from Siberia came across a land-bridge spanning the Bering Straits at the end of the last Ice Age. They penetrated South from Alaska through an "ice-free corridor" then East and eventually back North, thus occupying the entire North American continent.A lot of this is now in doubt by scientists but Dewar takes relish in dismantling the whole theory. At 600 plus pages her book has plenty of room to do so. For someone who is a self-admitted non-expert in the field she puts together seemingly well reasoned arguments. I'm a lay person in this area so I can't say if she's correct with her analysis. What I can say is that the book is well written and heavily researched and she puts forward her views in a way that makes it clear that readers like me, not experts, are her intended audience. As such I would expect this book to be criticized by anthropologists, ethnographers, and archaeologists, as usually happens when non specialists dare to tred on scientists turf. Dewar highlights the sloppiness and selective nature of some archaeological research and is able to assert that "the practice of archaeology in Ontario has become a disgrace." She's backed up in this by the Province's former director of the London Museum of Archaeology. It's certainly not just in Canada though and it's not just corporate and government influence and interference either.In a couple of chapters dealing with Kennewick Man and one of the primary researchers on his origins - American archaeologist Jim Chatters - we see a very modern menace raise its head. Chatters had been receiving cooperation from Native Americans of the Colville tribe, even with regards to the vexing issue of destruction of ancestral bones for DNA research. Chatters tells Dewar that once he published findings that indicated possible Caucasoid origins for Kennewick Man the tribe suddenly said "all studies of human remains are a desecration." Chatters suffered as a result of "suppression of anything negative about Native Americans" The uniquely 21st century threat to his reasearch "was all a result of political correctness."BONES will certainly rattle some professionals and stakeholders in the relevant sciences. To the extent that the author has uncovered skeletons in the closet as it relates to issues such as the issuance of grants, academic rivalries, and selective science, she has does her own area of specialization - that of investigative journalism - quite proud.