Audiobook Review - The First Americans

Author

Steve's Book Stuff
July 13, 2023

First published in 2002, this book takes us along on the pursuit for the first Americans. Where a did they come from and when did they get here? The book doesn't come up with a definitive answer. But the authors do provide an in depth and firsthand account of the search, and the state of knowledge as of the turn of the century.

This book has been on my to-be-read list since I finished Jennifer Raff’s New York Times bestseller Origins last fall. (You can find my review of that book here). Like that book, this story covers a lot of the history of archeological discoveries in the United States.

But where Raff is a geneticist and focuses on DNA, Adovasio is a meticulous in-the-ground old school archaeologist. He spent much of his career focused on “perishables” recovered from archeological sites. He’s considered one of the foremost experts on things like basketry.

But the thing he’s most well-known for is leading the dig at Meadowcroft. Meadowcroft is a rock shelter (or cave) in Pennsylvania. It became one of the best documented sites in American archeology. Adovasio's work at Meadowcroft shows that it has been in continuous use by humans for 15,000 years. That puts the first Americans well before the then accepted “Clovis bar” that posited that people came to the Americas only 12,000 years ago.

The book is easily readable but perhaps a bit overlong. Some of the stories of the growth and maturing of the practice that became archeology in America are interesting but more detailed than necessary. Nevertheless, it is well written, with moments of humor, and is meant for a nontechnical audience.

If you've not read about the search for the first Americans before you should know that there was an accepted theory for much of the twentieth century about how the Americas were peopled called the “Clovis First” theory. I won’t go into the details here except to say that the theory gets its name from “clovis points” - a specific style of stone tool that is supposed to have been crafted to hunt large animals, including species that no longer exist.

While some other reviewers have criticized Adovasio’s anti “Clovis First” passion I do not. In fact, I read this book specifically to get his perspective. Adovasio is, after all - with his success at Meadowcroft - one of the scientists responsible for showing that the theory could not be correct.

Having come to this book after reading Origin, I do find that it’s a good compliment to that book and provides a different take on the question of the peopling of the Americas (even though both arrive at roughly the same place). If you’ve read Origin I suspect you’ll appreciate this book as well. If you haven't, then it would be a good follow-up after you’ve read this book. 

RATING: Three and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐🌠

A note on my reading - I initially started this as an audiobook. The audiobook version just came out last year. Because of the level of detail I mentioned in my review, it became a bit too hard to follow along by just listening. So I ended up finding a library copy of the book to read, and I then both listened and read the remainder of the book. The library copy I read had a number of photos and illustrations that added quite a bit to the book.

Because of all of that I’ve knocked this review for the audiobook down half a star and would recommend you find a paper copy of the book to read.

Also note that the cover that’s shown in my photo above is from the paper copy. Here’s the actual audiobook cover:

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Title: The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archeology’s Greatest Mystery

Authors: J.M. Adovasio with Jake Page

Publisher: Tantor Media

Publish Date: Aug 9, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781666144284

Publisher’s List Price: $24.99

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