VOLUMES
DAN GUNDERSON:
46
AN ICE AGE MYSTERY:
UNEARTHING THE SECRETS
OF THE OLD VERO SITE
By Rody Johnson
University Press of Florida
2017
$24.95
graphic Institute in partnership with OVIASC, was about
to wind down. The season for archaeological exploration at
the site extends through the typically dry season of January
through April.
Johnson succeeded in what must be a difficult task for an
author: writing a science book for a general audience that
scientists will respect and science dummies like me can read
with ease. He writes clearly about arcane topics like “overburden,”
the soil or rock that sits atop a dig site, and his glossary
is a helpful tool for readers.
He weaves Vero history into his story, tracing the development
of the nearby airport, for example, and includes a
chapter on a makeshift tourist attraction called Tarzan Park
that an enterprising “geologist” opened near the site in 1932.
Admission was 25 cents. A photo shows the park entrance
enticing visitors with cardboard cutouts of an Indian hoisting
a good-size rock in an effort to fend off a lunging saber-tooth
tiger that is standing on its hind legs. Tarzan Park closed in
1935.
With a degree in engineering and an MBA, Johnson worked
in aerospace project management before retiring to write full
time. As with an earlier book he wrote about wind energy,
Johnson knew nothing about archaeological when he began
his research, though he had heard vague rumors about Vero
man when he was growing up. He was determined to learn,
so his research took him to key archaeological sites, such as
the famed La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where human
bones had also been found near fossils of Ice Age mammals.
“The research was tough going,” he says. “I discovered that
archaeologists are unique characters who rarely agree with
each other on anything.”
But Johnson obviously learned a great deal about his topic.
He tells an interesting story, one that will not end as long as
people ponder the mysteries of antiquity.
A View From Above
June 17 – September 3, 2017
HOLMES GALLERY
VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART
Riverside Park Dr., Vero Beach, Florida 32963
Dan Gunderson, (detail)Carney, 2015, translucent photograph under Plexiglass,
mounted on black PVC board, 36” high x 36” wide. Collection of the artist
/www.verobeachmuseum.org