Suzanne et al Abel

I was looking forward to reading this book after a trip to Costa Rica last summer. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the National Archaeology Museum when I was there so I thought this would be the best substitute as there do not appear to be many books (in English) on Costa Rican prehistory.

Having finished the book, I can now say that it is aimed at an academic audience and not a general readership. The book is divided into papers about different types of pottery, jades, metal work, etc. that was created by Precolumbian people in Costa Rica. Some of the articles are pretty technical such as an analysis done on jade and jadeite artifacts found in Costa Rica with the goal of identifying where the jade used was quarried.

While parts of the book were very interesting, such as the discussions about the evidence of trade links between Costa Rica and far flung Mesoamerican and South American peoples, much of it was too technical. That said, the photos and descriptions of objects are excellent and a valuable resource.… (més)