The last giant of Beringia : the mystery of the Bering Land Bridge

240 Pages·2005·17.215 MB·English

by  O'Neill, Dan

NATURAL HISTORY “A fascinating look at the long-rumored land bridge between Alaska and Siberia
O and the unlikely geologist who devoted his life to proving its existence.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“A beautiful and engrossing book…This wonderful integration of science and history, of ’
N
anecdote and theory, of reflection and controversy, is the most complete review of our under-
E
standing of Beringia and of how that knowledge came to be…I recommend it to anyone I THE LAST GIANT OF
L
interested in the Arctic, the Pleistocene epoch, Native Americans, archaeology, geology, explo-
L
ration…well, I recommend it to everyone.” —The Times(London)
“Gripping…If O’Neill was looking for a scientific mystery, the Bering Land Bridge was a B E R I N G I A
great one.” —Anchorage Daily News
B T
H
E E
The intriguing theory of a land bridge linking Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Ages—a path R L
A
for such prehistoric giants as woolly mammoths, steppe bison, and saber-toothed cats—had S
I T THE MYSTERY OF THE
been much debated since the idea was first proposed over 400 years ago. But proof of the land N G
bridge (now called Beringia) eluded scientists until an inquiring geologist named Dave I
G A
Hopkins set himself to the task of solving the mystery. The Last Giant of Beringiatells this fas- N
cinating scientific detective story through the life story of the eclectic Hopkins, who rewrote IA T O BERING LAND BRIDGE
history, and in doing so earned his place as the last giant the land bridge would ever know. F
“A synthesis of biography, history, and scientific explanation, O’Neill’s book is a fitting tribute
to a man known for his multi-disciplinarian approach and intellectual progeny.”
—Times Literary Supplement B T
E H
R E
“Finely researched, elegantly written...Be enthralled by O’Neill’s work.” —Booklist IN M
G Y
“A satisfying [tale], an instructive record of an inquiring mind and a life well lived.” LA ST
—Natural History N E
R
D
Y
“O’Neill is a talented and imaginative writer…This is strikingly effective—vivid imagery that BR O
F
does in a paragraph what would be difficult to do in pages of ordinary laborious prose, and ID T
something that good poetry and the very best prose have in common.” —Anchorage Press G H
E E

DAN O’NEILL was named Alaska Historian of the Year by the Alaska Historical Society
for his first book, The Firecracker Boys, which also won the Distinguished Alaskana Award
from the Alaska Library Association. He lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Cover design by Rick Pracher; photographs courtesy of the author
$15.00 US / $19.95 CAN
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.basicbooks.com
DAN O’NEILL
Author of THE FIRECRACKER BOYS
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THE LAST GIANT OF
BERINGIA
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TH
B E
The M
D
Hopkins’1948 field crew amid grassy hummocks and dead
willow near Imuruk Lake, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Left is
probably Bob Sigafoos; the others (with mosquito headnets)
are probably Art Fernald and Jim Seitz
(Photo by Dave Hopkins, courtesy of Dana Hopkins)
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THE LAST GIANT OF
B E R I N G I A
The Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge
D A N O ’ N E I L L
AMember of the Perseus Books Group
New York
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All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any informa-
tion storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
Copyright ©2004 by Dan O’Neill.
Hardcover first published in 2004 by Westview Press, A Member of the
Perseus Books Group. Paperback first published in 2005 by Basic Books.
Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk
purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other orga-
nizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets
Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center,
Cambridge, MA02142, or call [phone], [phone] or email
[email protected].
ACataloging-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the
Library of Congress.
HC: ISBN-13 978-0-8133-4197-2; ISBN 0-8133-4197-3.
PBK: ISBN-13 978-0-465-05157-1; ISBN 0-465-05157-X
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials
Z39.48−1984.
Typeface used in this text: Times
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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FOR SARAH
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C
ONTENTS
1 THE TOAST OF KHABAROVSK 1
2 THE ICEAGE 11
3 HEBE’S SON 19
4 CALLING 37
5 FIELDWORK INARCTICALASKA 51
6 SOMETHING GOING ON 77
7 GIDDINGS 83
8 ASIMULTANEOUS EQUATION 109
9 WRITING THE BIBLE 117
10 THE PRODUCTIVITYPARADOX 127
11 MAMMOTH FAUNA 139
12 SOILFROM MAARS 151
13 THE FIRSTAMERICANS 163
14 THE FIRST OF THE FIRST 177
15 THE LAST OF THE LAST 185
AFTERWORD 197
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES 201
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 219
INDEX 223
vii
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1
T
HE TOAST OF
K
HABAROVSK
W
est to east, from the Ural Mountains on the edge of
Europe to the Sea of Japan, the Trans-Siberian Railroad strad-
dles a quarter of the globe. It runs across the Barabiniskaya
Steppe and into the taiga, skirting Lake Baikal to the south and
Manchuria to the north. One raw spring day during the Cold
War, a train carrying scientists clattered east along this great
thoroughfare. All across the breadth of the Soviet Union, the
train stopped to collect technical specialists, all bound for
Khabarovsk on the Amur River, the line’s farthest east stop.
There it heaved a steamy sigh, and the scientists climbed down
to the platform and into waiting taxis. On the road into town,
cabs from the station merged with cabs from the airport, all car-
rying scientists, some from as far away as Western Europe and
North America. By nightfall hundreds of scientists from around
the world had converged at the old hotel on the town square.
Khabarovsk in 1973 was both rustic town and modern city.
Most of the buildings on the square were modern, if blocky and
utilitarian. But beyond a radius of a couple blocks, a visitor
inclined to stroll found log cabins and outhouses. On warm
days when the wind was right, he could detect the latter before
descending the hotel steps.
1