Product Description
Voted "one of the 100 best sci-tech books of the year" byLibrary Journal when first published, Koster: Americans in Search of Their Prehistoric Past is the extraordinarily well-told story of the long-term excavation of a deep Archaic site in the Lower Illinois Valley that piecestogether a fascinating picture of the earliest known settlers in the Western Hemisphere. The Koster site in Kampsville, Illinois, is considered one of the most important archaeological treasures in North America. Hundreds of students, archaeologists, botanists, and geologists worked to explore the many layers of this remarkable settlement. From clues as small as pollen grains,mussel shells, and animal bone fragments unearthed at the Koster farm, they have been able to solve many intriguing mysteries about these earliest Americans--what they ate, how their tools were made and used, what diseases plagued them, and how they built their homes. Koster is a highly readabletrue-life adventure that offers clear, take-the-reader-along explanations of the thought processes involved in generating and testing hypotheses and inferences from available data. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

AMAZING, CAPTIVATING WORK
This is one of those works that has sort of drifted off into the black hole of library shelves.It is the history of the Koster Dig, located in the lower Illinoise Vally, near St. Louis.The dig, located on what was the Koster Farm, is a teaching site which has been used by hundreds of students over the years.The author has given us a wonderful picture of the workings of such an excavation site, has given us some wonderful insight to early human life in North America.The book is very well written, informative and very well organized.It is a science book, a history book and just a very good read.Hate to use the phrase "page turner," but it this case it fits well.Those interested is our history and those interested in the science of archaeology will love this one.Highly recommend. ... Read more