"How true is it?" is a common refrain of patrons coming out of movie theatres after the latest film on pirates, Vikings, or mummies. While Hollywood usurps the past for its own entertainment purposes, archaeologists and historians know a lot about many of these subjects, digging up stories often more fascinating than the ones projected on screen. This distinguished group of archaeologists select key subjects and genres used by Hollywood and provide the historical and archaeological depth that a movie cannot--what really happened in history. Topics include Egypt, the Wild West, Civil War...

"How true is it?" is a common refrain of patrons coming out of movie theatres after the latest film on pirates, Vikings, or mummies. While Hollywood usurps the past for its own entertainment purposes, archaeologists and historians know a lot about many of these subjects, digging up stories often more fascinating than the ones projected on screen. This distinguished group of archaeologists select key subjects and genres used by Hollywood and provide the historical and archaeological depth that a movie cannot--what really happened in history. Topics include Egypt, the Wild West, Civil War...

The Donner Party is almost inextricably linked with cannibalism. In truth, we know remarkably little about what actually happened to the starving travelers stranded in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846 47. Combining the approaches of history, ethnohistory, archaeology, bioarchaeology, and social anthropology, this innovative look at the Donner Party s experience at the Alder Creek Camp offers insights into many long-unsolved mysteries.Centered on archaeological investigations in the summers of 2003 and 2004 near Truckee, California, the book includes detailed analyses of artifacts and...

This is the first summary of how archaeology has contributed to our understanding of the War of 1812. The contributors of original papers discuss recent excavations and field surveys that present an archaeological perspective that enriches, --and often conflicts with, received historical narratives. The studies cover fortifications, encampments, landscapes, shipwrecks, and battles in the midwestern, southern, mid-atlantic, and northeastern regions of the United States and in Canada. In addition to archaeologists, this volume will appeal to military history specialists and other historians.

This is the first summary of how archaeology has contributed to our understanding of the War of 1812. The contributors of original papers discuss recent excavations and field surveys that present an archaeological perspective that enriches, and often conflicts with, received historical narratives. The studies cover fortifications, encampments, landscapes, shipwrecks, and battles in the midwestern, southern, mid-atlantic, and northeastern regions of the United States and in Canada. In addition to archaeologists, this volume will appeal to military history specialists and other historians."