Tag Archives: archaeology

Lives in Ruins

Posted on September 10, 2020 by smellincoffee

Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble© 2014 Marilyn Johnson272 pages Archaeology’s blend of history and science, topped off with a bit of danger, is a winsome combination. For those curious about it, Marilyn Johnson’s account … Continue reading →

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House of Rain

Posted on February 17, 2018 by smellincoffee

House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest © 2007 Craig Childs 482 pages Throughout the southwest United States and northern Mexico there are ruins from a people long gone, people remembered as the Anasazi. The name … Continue reading →

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Dragon’s Teeth

Posted on August 27, 2017 by smellincoffee

Dragon’s Teeth © 2017 Michael Crichton288 pages Scientific discovery isn’t always a gentlemanly affair.  Dragon’s Teeth, published by the estate of Michael Crichton in his name, inserts a fictional character into the real-life feud of two paleontologists who went to such … Continue reading →

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Three for One: Robbing Banks and Being Robbed by the Banks

Posted on June 21, 2016 by smellincoffee

I stumbled upon The Great Taos Bank Robbery at some point last year. What road led me to it I can’t say, but it is a most interesting little book — a combination of folk history, humorous stories, and archaeology.  The … Continue reading →

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Forward March

Posted on September 28, 2015 by smellincoffee

This past week I’ve made further progress on the 2015 reading challenge: Book on Bottom of To-Read Shelf:  The Search for Ice Age Americans As many times as I walk past this book in the library, I’ve never broken down … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Chimpanzees, El Niño, and simple living

Posted on March 13, 2014 by smellincoffee

This week at the library I’ve been working through a lull, having finished my last Stack o’ Books and having not yet gotten another one. My plans to fetch said stack were modified after I did a twelve-mile hike through … Continue reading →

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The Ghosts of Evolution

Posted on July 31, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Ghosts of Evolution: Nonsense Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other Ecological Anachronisms© 2000 Connie Barlow291 pages Grocery stores are excellent places to encounter ghosts. They lurk in the fruit section, feasting on anachronisms. The biological world is a wondrous web … Continue reading →

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Walking with Dinosaurs

Posted on September 28, 2011 by smellincoffee

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History© 1999 Tim Haines288 pages A dull pre-dawn light spreads across the horizon, illuminating a landscape covered in forest. Rivers trace silvery lines through the dense vegetation, and along their banks icy puddles are melting. … Continue reading →

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The Great Journey

Posted on May 3, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Great Journey: Peopling the Americas© 1987 Brian Fagan288 pages Fourth grade history was most memorable for me, for it was that year that we learned local history. Because Alabama was home to at least four native populations before the … Continue reading →

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Kingdoms of Gold, Kingdoms of Jade

Posted on April 18, 2009 by smellincoffee

Kingdoms of Gold, Kingdoms of Jade: the Americas Before Columbus© 1991 Brian M. Fagan240 pages, including 180 photographs set into the text I’ve had a fascination with the Aztecs for most of my life, since I first saw pictures in … Continue reading →

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