History

Linda Culbersons (1993) book entitled Arrowheads and Spear Points in the Pre-Historic Southeast A Guide to Understanding Cultural Artifacts addresses peoples curiosity about American Indians without complicating or romanticizing their historical contributions to the world. History would not have been understood or appreciated without the help of artifacts and the discovery of pre-history items.

Culbersons (1993) book contains detailed information about descriptions on materials used by pre-historic men and how their weapons like arrowheads and spear points were made. The book also features where and when the designs originated.

Culbersons discussion in her work is very meaningful and may appeal to people of any age. One of the strengths of the book is that it provides interesting and easy to grasp information that will not be hard to understand for the younger ages. The book also contains maps and sketches for easier and clearer discussions of the different topics explored by the authors research. For example, the illustrations on pages 25 to 29 make the descriptions of arrowheads more interesting because of the visual presentations.

Culbersons work is divided between several subtopics for better discussion of the cultural artifacts of the pre-historic times. The book covers several periods of time including the era of the Paleo-Indians, the Archaic Stage, the Woodlands Stage, and the Mississippian Stage. The book matches the artifacts that have already been discovered to their date and place of origin. The book also has sufficient discussion about the origination of the modern Native Americans, describing them as morphologically most like the peoples of Asia, although the two races cultivated very different cultures (Culberson, 1993, p. 30). The book also gives a complete description of the first people of the New World.

The books weakness is that it is too short and very limited, not only in page count but also in the explored topics. There are more materials available that could make the book fuller and more comprehensive. However, as Culberson (1993) states in the preface, her book attempts to help collectors to identify their find and it is not intended to be a comprehensive or academic text (p. 2). But the book is still a good instruction guide that provides an understandable overview of the cultural artifacts for the enthusiasts of archeology and the general public. The book is very helpful in increasing awareness and promoting the value of archeological discoveries.

Arrowheads and Spear Points is an interesting read because readers would never feel lost or too bombarded by information as they read along, and the dates, events, and information are also well-organized. The book provides explicit definitions of hard to understand words so the readers would not be intimidated by the very big words. It even provides a glossary in its last pages to aid amateur researchers and for the work to be easily understood.

As a whole, Culbersons book is a well-written and informative introduction of archeology.  The discussions on the materials and process of creating the artifacts used by the earliest man are beneficial for readers who want to understand the importance of cultural artifacts. Reading about and getting oriented on the importance of artifacts to the environment, to history, and to todays modern study is a must for all people. Arrowheads and Spear Points achieved its goal of delivering lessons on culture artifacts and the story of pre-historic people in a simple and easy to understand manner.