An Ice Age Mystery: Unearthing the Secrets of the Old Vero Site [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Fine unread condition dark textured brown boards with gold spine lettering contained in a fine condition non price-clipped color illustrated and photographic dust jacket. Includes Author Dedication; Preliminary Page Quote from 2 Peter 3:8; Preface; Acknowledgments; Afterword; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index and About the Author. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and diagrams. A previous owner Christmas 2017 gift inscription is neatly scripted at the upper edge of the blank first free front endpaper. "In 1916, to the shock of the scientific community and the world at large, a Florida geologist discovered human remains mixed with the bones of prehistoric animals in a Vero Beach canal and proclaimed that humans had lived in North America since the Ice Age. These new findings by Elias Sellards flew in the face of prevailing wisdom, which held that humans first came to the continent only 6,000 years ago. His claim was snubbed by the top scientists of his day, he was laughed out of the state, Vero's fame declined, and the skull Sellards found -- famously known as "Vero Man" -- was lost. An Ice Age Mystery tells the story of Sellards's exciting find and the controversy it sparked. In the years that followed, other archaeological discoveries and the rise of radiocarbon dating established that humans DID arrive in North America earlier than previously thought. The skull, however, was never recovered, and many people began to wonder: What exactly had Sellards found at Vero? And what else might be buried there? One hundred years after the first Vero discovery, construction plans threatened to cover up the legendary dig site, and a band of citizens and archaeologists protested. Excavations were reopened. Archaeologists uncovered 14,000-year-old burnt mammal bones and charcoal, signs of a human presence, and found further evidence that indicated a continuous human occupation of the site for several thousand years. Prior to the latest excavations an etching on a bone possibly 13,000 years old was discovered that could be the oldest piece of art in America. Sellards had been right all along. Many questions still remain. Who were these people? Where did they come from? And how did they get here? This book draws readers into the past, present, and future of one of the most historic discoveries in American archaeology." -- from the inner front jacket flap. "A fascinating recounting of the early discovery of a Paleolithic human and the issues that were engendered by various opposing scientific views of the validity of the discovery and its analysis." -- Dennis Stanford, author. "Since the site's discovery long ago, the complete story of the Old Vero Site has never been told. This is an informative and entertaining account of this remarkable site and its history in American archaeology." -- Thomas D. Dillehay, author. "Johnson has thoroughly investigated, and transformed into a very readable narrative, an entire century of accumulated knowledge about the research, controversy, and curiousity surrounding the Old Vero archaeological site." -- Barbara A. Purdy, author. "An engaging account of the first Paleoindian site discovered in eastern North America." -- Robert S. Carr, author. "Johnson skillfully weaves a tale of prehistoric life in Florida with the 100-year search to understand that long lost world at the Vero Site." -- Andy Hemmings, Florida Atlantic University. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rody Johnson is the author of several books, including Chasing the Wind: Inside the Alternative Energy Battle; The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown: 60 Years of Baseball in Vero Beach; and Different Battles: The Search for a World War II Hero. He holds engineering and MBA degrees and made his career in aerospace project management. He later became publisher of a communtiy newspaper. He enjoys fishing and kayaking. He lives in Vero Beach, Florida, with his wife, Tommye.…