The People of the Stone

In completing the sixth and final novel of THE PEOPLE OF THE STONE saga--CHILDREN OF THE CIRCLE--the choice of including the historical figure of Hernando de Soto as a central focal point for the time period and locale of this story detailing the end of Native American prehistory, especially in the eastern U.S., was not a difficult one to make.  Rarely do such clearcut historical events provide an identifiable marker for a major turning point as does the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in North America in the 1530's.  Th

Well over 1000 stone ball courts have been identified or excavated throughout Mesoamerica.  These important ceremonial structures have been identified in many ancient and diverse cultures from Nicaragua to Arizona in the American Southwest (although this identification has sometimes been challenged).  Not only does the appearance of similarly constructed stone ball courts cover a vast distance in cultural space, they also cover at least three thousand years of time as welll.  In fact, the enigmatic

North American prehistory owes much of its magnificent diversity to the availability and quality of any number of important source material sites found throughout much of the United States.  Every archeologist knows that being able to identify the source material of any artifact, or the distribution of sources in any collection or assemblage, can be most valuable in providing additional cultural information on any find.  After all, the individual stone artifact is often the only find that can be identified as to time period or cultural group.  In addition to dating, these artifacts can often be typed on the basis of where their makers obtained the source material, how far it moved, who else might have used it, and what was needed to produce the artifacts themselves.

The level of sophistication of the knowledge of ancient peoples around the entire world when it came to studying, predicting, and recording celestial events in their skies has been a major discovery and focus of late 20th century archeology.  This study has attracted many scholars from various fields, resulting in an ever-growing body of knowledge that is difficult for even the interested professional to keep up with--and positively mind-boggling for the casually interested amateur or tourist.  In the past five months this writer has been privleged to visit some of the most import

     Like any writer coming to the end of a six year journey with a series of novels on a subject that has always been very close to my head and heart, I approach the beginning of the sixth and final novel in The People of the Stone saga with a certain amount of reluctance and a deal of regret.  However, in this case the subject matter of the final story in this 12,000 year plus journey, Children of the Circle, must also deal with the tragic consequences of the coming of the first Europeans into the central river valley systems of N

Like many people, and all archeologists I assume, my recent visit to Peru was the fulfillment of a long-standing dream to witness first-hand the great site of Machu Picchu, as well as many of the other important Inca and pre-Columbian sites there.  As with most of these travelers, I was struck by the uniqueness and mystery of the world's most famous "lost city", which, much like the Grand Canyon and other such marvels of man or nature, has to be witnessed in person to be fully appreciated.  No pictures can do these places total just

Civilized man's seemingly insatiable desire to create stone monuments to his gods or to himself is as enduring as our earliest advanced cultures.  In the last thirteen months this writer has been fortunate to visit  Egypt,  Peru and Yucatan,, the source of some of the greatest and oldest monumental architecture on our planet.  As someone who has spent much of lhis adult life involved in ancient stonework in one fashion or another, visiting these important sites has often posed as many questions and riddles as they have a

  During the course of five years of near continuous work on The People of the Stone saga detailing the controversial and amazing issues surrounding the peopling of North America from the end of the Ice Age to the coming of the first Europeans, the problem of frequently dealing with an unknown mythological past has often arisen, at times even dominating the storytelling process.  As this author contemplates the beginning of the sixth and final novel in this important book series, The Children of the Circle, the satisfaction o

     Whether they go by the name of Nativistic Movement, Revival Cults, Millenarianism, or some other recognized name, the recurrence at regular intervals around the world of such cultic practices is nothing new.  Such happenings usually involve a messianic figure preaching a return to a former way of life or spiritual belief--generally in the face of a

For a limited time the readers of this blog are being offered the opportunity to submit a review of any of the five novels in THE PEOPLE OF THE STONE saga and receive a 50% discount, with personalized inscription and free shipping, on the purchase of any other novel in the series.  This offer includes a reserved copy of the new novel THE CORN MAIDEN'S GIFT, which is currently available through this website.

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