A classic volume on the early study of American Indians.
With the settling of the New World, word spread throughout Europe of the native inhabitants, their artifacts, communities, and culturals. Prehistoric America by Marquis de Nadaillac is a prime example of a classic work of the period that addressed the antiquity of humans in the New World, drawing upon the full range of scientific data compiled on the inhabitants and their cultures. The proximity of human remains with those of extinct animals was still a very recent finding, even in the Old World. Nadaillac’s early attempts at cross-cultural comparison and theoretical explanations make this work valid despite the advances of modern-day scholarship. This work was originally published in French in 1883 and translated into English in 1884.
With the settling of the New World, word spread throughout Europe of the native inhabitants, their artifacts, communities, and culturals. Prehistoric America by Marquis de Nadaillac is a prime example of a classic work of the period that addressed the antiquity of humans in the New World, drawing upon the full range of scientific data compiled on the inhabitants and their cultures. The proximity of human remains with those of extinct animals was still a very recent finding, even in the Old World. Nadaillac’s early attempts at cross-cultural comparison and theoretical explanations make this work valid despite the advances of modern-day scholarship. This work was originally published in French in 1883 and translated into English in 1884.
Jon Muller, Southern Illinois University (retired), is the author of several books, including Mississippian Political Economy.
