content: I have not kept up with recent research in pre-columbian america, and this book gave alot of good information on what the recent discoveries and controversies are. The information on how advanced and extensive some of the south American cultures were was good. However, I found myself getting a bit impatient with all the details about royal lineages, who killed who, etc. A bit more micro focus than I expected. The information on ecology and the impact of the native cultures on the landscape was very interesting. It seems there should be more interchange between biologists and anthropologists. The issue of what is natural and how humans fit in with the natural world has major implications for our world today.