The Sea-craft of Prehistory

This sweeping and authoritative history of primitive man's first efforts to go to sea is at once a great detective story and a reconstruction of the past through illustrations. Johnstone's work supersedes all previous interpretations of the extent of water transport among early societies. Long established ideas of how and when early populations expanded and relocated have been rendered obsolete. The dynamic advances in archacology combined with sensitive renderings of the artifacts of preliterate peoples have yielded remarkable results. The nautical information Johnstone has marshaled is admirable. He describes the carly types of water transport: raft and reed, skin, dugouts, and the first plank-built boats. He surveys the simultaneous developments of seafaring technology and the uses of maritime transport in commerce and war throughout prehistoric Europe, the Orient, the Pacific, and developments of seafaring technology and the uses of maritime transport in commerce and war throughout prehistoric Europe, the Orient, the Pacific, and the Americas. Combining exhaustive research with brilliant theoretical imagination, Johnstone offers some unprecedented solutions to such problems as the early dates for the presence of man in Australia and the West Indies, and the inconsistency of geological evidence with several convenient land bridge speculations. Johnstone supplements his archaeological evidence with a close analysis of iconographic materials and a judicioususe of ethnographic parallels with contemporary primitive societies. Folklore and legends provide clues to early man's maritime exploits, as do linguistics and etymology. Even the occurrences of chickens and sweet potatoes in unexpected places are duly noted and ex-plained. Not only definitive, The Seacraft of Prehistory is also highly readable. Profusely illustrated and consistently original and provocative, it is truly an outstanding achievement. The late Paul Johnstone worked for BBC Overseas and BBC Television, where he was head of the History and Archaeology unit.