Reviews

From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle’s Shipwreck, La Belle

By James E.Bruseth and Toni S.Turner (Texas A & M University Press,2005; 176 pgs.,illus., $40 cloth; www.tamu.edu/upress)

In June 1995, scientists from the Texas Historical Commission discovered the wreck of La Belle in Matagora Bay near Port O’Connor.It had been the flagship of La Salle’s expedition to the New World and had sunk on a cold,stormy February day in 1686.Over the next two years,archaeologists excavated La Belle and recovered more than a million artifacts,including bronze cannon, muskets,trade beads,axes,rings,bells,dishes,medicines, and everything else needed to start a new colony.

From a Watery Grave is the story of this remarkable discovery and excavation as told by the principal investigator,archaeologist Jim Bruseth and his wife,writer Toni Turner.The water of Matagora Bay is extremely murky, offering nearly zero visibility.Removing the fragile wreck from the bay risked losing a significant part of the ship,so it was decided to build a cofferdam around it and do a “dry”excavation.Funds were raised,the cofferdam built, and when the water was pumped out,the wreck was exposed for the first time in more than 300 years.The archaeological team recovered and preserved a fantastic variety of materials,including much of the wooden hull. Burseth and Turner share all the excitement of discovery after discovery as the wreck yielded its many secrets. From a Watery Grave is richly illustrated and written for the general public.It reads like a good detective story with a happy ending. The Peopling of Bandelier: New Insights from the Archaeology of the Pajarito Plateau

Edited by Robert P.Powers (School of American Research Press,2005; 142 pgs.,illus., $20 paper,$60 cloth; www.sarweb.org)

Next to Mesa Verde, Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico is the most visited archaeological park in America. Yet precious little is known about the ancestral Puebloan people who lived there from about A.D. 1150 to 1600 in a setting that’s as spectacular as it is unforgiving. While a few of the earliest Americans made Bandelier home, its population ballooned dramatically after A.D. 1300, roughly the same time Mesa Verde and the entire Four Corners region was being abandoned. Many of those refugees made their way to the safety of what we now call Bandelier, where they flourished until moving to modern pueblos in the nearby Rio Grande Valley.

National Park Service archaeologist Bob Powers has assembled 17 noted archaeologists, historians, ecologists, and Puebloan scholars to tell the story of this isolated plateau in the Jemez Mountains that is also home to Los Alamos National Laboratory and the atomic bomb. This richly illustrated volume is written for lay people, and it informs the public of much of the new research resulting from three recent projects. The Bandelier Archaeological Survey was directed by Powers and recorded nearly 2,000 archaeological sites in the 33,000-acre monument. The eight-year Pajarito Archaeological Research Project was directed by James N. Hill of UCLA, and six sites were tested by Timothy A. Kohler’s Bandelier Archaeological Excavation Project.

This wealth of new data shows that Bandelier and the surrounding plateau saw a number of dramatic changes in which Pueblo people moved in and out as conditions allowed. It is an area still used and held sacred by nearby Pueblo people. Every visitor to the dramatic sites of Bandelier National Monument will want this book, as will every student of the American Southwest.

Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio’s Ancient American Indian Cultures

By Bradley T.Lepper (Orange Frazer Press,2005; 304 pgs.,illus.,$40 cloth; www.orangefrazer.com)

In the 19th century, Ohio was the center of archaeological research in America. Its rich diversity and enigmatic mounds and earthworks attracted scholars from near and far. The first archaeological preserves in America were created here. But by the 20th century, interest was waning as the Moundbuilder mystery appeared to be solved. In the last 15 years or so, Ohio’s archaeology has returned to the national limelight with a new generation of scholars tackling long forgotten problems and coming up with dramatic answers. The non-profit Voyageur Media Group has produced this wonderful book on the 13,000 plus years of human presence in what we call Ohio. Brad Lepper, curator of archaeology at the Ohio Historical Society, is the primary author, but the book also includes 28 articles by top scholars on most every aspect of Ohio prehistory. Illustrated with photos, maps, charts, and artists’ re-creations, the editors have designed a book that is a joy to read.

The archaeologist authors describe their latest research, which is daily adding to our knowledge and understanding of Midwestern prehistory. Dates are being determined with fantastic new technology. Astronomical alignments are giving us new insights into octagon shaped earthworks. Computer simulations re-create massive mounds and earthworks that are barely visible on the ground, a technique made necessary by the wide-spread destruction of Ohio’s prehistory by urban sprawl, modern agriculture, and looting

Ohio Archaeology reflects the archaeological renaissance of the region, and it sets a high standard for presentation that every publisher should seek in books produced for the general public. It is an important step in rebuilding a grand archaeological tradition in a state where much of American archaeology got its start. —Mark Michel

Reviews

The Calusa and Their Legacy: South Florida People and Their Environments

By Darcie A.MacMahon and William H.Marquardt (University Press of Florida,2004; 240 pgs.,illus,$40 cloth; www.upf.com)

The Calusa of southwestern Florida were the last Florida group to succumb to European colonization, resisting the Spanish invaders for some 150 years.But by the mid1700s they had disappeared.The ethnographic and archaeological record they left behind is a rich one that indicates a vibrant people who dominated their homeland as long ago as the first millennium B.C.They were so in tune with their watery environment that they never had to develop agriculture,depending entirely on the rich marine ecosystems for their sustenance. In The Calusa and Their Legacy,noted archaeologists Marcie MacMahon and William Marquardt have produced the first popular study of these fascinating people.This volume in enhanced by outstanding illustrations created by artists at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville for their award winning Hall of South Florida People and Environments.This is a book that makes the Calusa come alive.