The New England Indians

C. Keith Wilbur's expertise on the fascinating subject of the daily lives of the New England Indians is stunning. Anyone who has wondered how they withstood the harsh winters, how they sheltered and clothed themselves, and how they raised their families, will have his questions answered. The topics are endless: firemaking, snares, stone tools and weapons, needles and thread, canoes, language, ornamentation, their Iroquois adversaries, and the first contact with European settlers; it's all here. Where the archaeological and historic record is equivocal, the author makes educated guesses, such as the probable way stone tools were hafted to their shafts. One exception stands out, and that is his guess as to the earliest dates for Indian habitation in New England. For some reason Wilbur states this date as 32,000 years ago. In fact, there is no evidence that humans inhabited New England earlier than 15,000 years ago, following the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. With this minor (and unnecessary) error, the book constitutes a rich compendium of factual detail about New England Indian life.

This nicely illustrated book provides an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the early Indian inhabitants of the New England region. Stretching back to 30,000BC, the book opens with descriptions of the first inhabitants of North America, the Paleo Indians, and continues up through the Archaic and later Woodland cultures, finally concluding with the early years of contact between the eastern Algonquians and Europeans in the region that would become Massachusetts. This book is filled with well researched information and detailed illustrations and depictions of everything from spear and arrow points, to flintknapping techniques, clothing, cookware, and religious rites. This book is perfect for someone with little or no previous knowledge of pre-historic Indian culture in North Americ, but can be a nice addition to a collection of someone already familiar with the subject and is well worth the price. It should lead the interested reader to even more in-depth works on the subject.

This nicely illustrated book provides an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the early Indian inhabitants of the New England region. Stretching back to 30,000BC, the book opens with descriptions of the first inhabitants of North America, the Paleo Indians, and continues up through the Archaic and later Woodland cultures, finally concluding with the early years of contact between the eastern Algonquians and Europeans in the region that would become Massachusetts. This book is filled with well researched information and detailed illustrations and depictions of everything from spear and arrow points, to flintknapping techniques, clothing, cookware, and religious rites. This book is perfect for someone with little or no previous knowledge of pre-historic Indian culture in North Americ, but can be a nice addition to a collection of someone already familiar with the subject and is well worth the price. It should lead the interested reader to even more in-depth works on the subject.