The Friends of Pine Hawk have begun a year-round book discussion group focusing on topics like the exploration and peopling of the New World, how early civilizations grew and flourished, developing ideas in archaeology, especially as these topics relate to our region. If you would like to join, please email:   Pinehawk@mit.edu
Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip's War
Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War
By Brooks, Lisa
2019-02 – Yale University Press
9780300244328 Check Our Catalog
Book Discussion: Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 6:00 p.m. at Sydney Blackwell’s house. Meeting included discussion of Memory Lands.

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Memory Lands: King Philip's War and the Place of Violence in the Northeast
Memory Lands: King Philip’s War and the Place of Violence in the Northeast
By Delucia, Christine M.
– Yale University Press
0300201176 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 6:00 p.m. at Sydney Blackwell’s house. Meeting included discussion of Our Beloved …More

 

The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall
The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall
By Moffett, Mark W.
2019-04 – Basic Books
9780465055685 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.

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Kindred: 300,000 Years of Neanderthal Life and Afterlife
Kindred: 300,000 Years of Neanderthal Life and Afterlife
By Sykes, Rebecca Wragg
2020-10 – Bloomsbury SIGMA
9781472937490 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom teleconference.

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Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century
Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century
By King, Charles
2019-08 – Doubleday Books
9780385542197 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom teleconference.

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The Day Before America: Changing Nature of a Continent
The Day Before America: Changing Nature of a Continent
By MacLeish, William H.
1994-09 – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
0395468825 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Monday, May 18, 2020, 7-8:30 p.m. via Zoom teleconference. Discussion continued on Thursday, July 16, 2020, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

 

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This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
By Silverman, David
2019-11 – Bloomsbury Publishing
9781632869241 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton.

Ahead of the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, a new look at the Plymouth colony’s founding events, told for the first time with Wampanoag people at the heart of the …More

 

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Indian America from 1890 to the Present
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Indian America from 1890 to the Present
By Treuer, David
2019-01 – Riverhead Books
9781594633157 Check Our Catalog

 

Awards:
National Book Awards (2018)

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, January 9, 2020, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton.

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The Indians of the Nipmuck Country in Southern New England, 1630-1750: A Historical Geography
The Indians of the Nipmuck Country in Southern New England, 1630-1750: A Historical Geography
By Connole, Dennis A.
2000-12 – McFarland & Company
0786407999 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Monday, November 18, 2019, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton

The North American Indian group known as the Nipmucks was situated in south-central New England and, during the early years of Puritan colonization, remained on …More

 

Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America
Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America
By Childs, Craig
– Pantheon Books
9780307908650 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, October 9, 2019, 7:00 p.m. at Acton Memorial Library (repeat of January 2019 discussion).

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Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America
Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America
By Fischer, David Hackett
1989-10 – Oxford University Press, USA
0195037944 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America

By Fischer, David Hackett

Book Discussion: Wednesday, June 12, 2019, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) …More

 

Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places
Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places
By Nabokov, Peter
2006-02 – Viking Books
0670034320 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, April 24, 2019, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton.

 

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Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984
Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984
By Simmons, William S.
1986-03 – University Press of New England
0874513723 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton.

Legends, folktales, and traditions of New England Indians reflect historical events and a changing Indian identity over a 365-year period.

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The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
By Preston, Douglas
2017-01 – Grand Central Publishing
9781455540006 Check Our Catalog

 

 

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the …More

 

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
By Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
2014-09 – Beacon Press
9780807000403 Check Our Catalog

 

 

2015 Recipient of the American Book Award

The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples

Today in the United States, there are more than …More

 

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
By Harari, Yuval Noah
2015-02 – Harper
9780062316097 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, August 1, 2018, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road (Route 2A) Acton.

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Living the Sky: The Cosmos of the American Indian
Living the Sky: The Cosmos of the American Indian
By Williamson, Ray A.
Author Hodges, Snowden
Illustrator Hodges, Snowden
2012-05 – University of Oklahoma Press
0806120347 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, May 23, 2018, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Red Raven Restaurant (‘The Nest’ on the second floor), 3 Nagog Park, Acton.

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Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
By Wade, Nicholas
2006-05 – Penguin Press
9781594200793 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, November 30, 2017, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Linda McElroy’s house, 8 Valley Road, Acton (note change of usual venue). Pot luck; contact serenahowlett@gmail.com for further information.

Based on a groundbreaking synthesis of recent scientific …More

 

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
By Woodard, Colin
2011-09 – Viking Books
9780670022960 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Monday, October 23, 2017, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Acton Memorial Library

Woodard leads readers on a journey through the history of this fractured continent, and the rivalries and alliances between its component nations, which conform to neither state nor international boundaries. He illustrates and explains …More

 

The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art
The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art
By Lewis-Williams, David
2002-11 – Thames & Hudson
9780500051177 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Red Raven Restaurant (‘The Nest’ on the second floor), 3 Nagog Park, Acton.

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The Settlement Of The Americas A New Prehistory
The Settlement Of The Americas A New Prehistory
By Dillehay, Thomas D.
2000-05 – Basic Books
0465076688 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, July 26, 2017, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the home of Sydney Blackwell, 15 Willow Road, Harvard, MA.

Note that book is c. 2000, 1st ed. –more recent edition-dates are only re-printings.

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The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments
The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments
By Kelly, Lynne
– Pegasus Books
9781681773254 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Red Raven Restaurant, 3 Nagog Park (off Rt. 2A), Acton, MA 01720.

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Breaking the Maya Code
Breaking the Maya Code
By Coe, Michael D.
1999-10 – Thames & Hudson
0500281335 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden Restaurant, 36 Great Road, Acton, MA 01720.

Coe’s classic inside story of one of the major intellectual breakthroughs of our time–the last decoding of an ancient …More

 

Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of
Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of
By Carlsen, William
– William Morrow & Company
9780062407399 Check Our Catalog

 

 

The acclaimed chronicle of the discovery of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya. Includes the history of the major Maya sites, including Palenque, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tuloom, Copan, and more.

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Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid
Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid
By Haefeli, Evan
Editor Sweeney, Kevin
2006-06 – University of Massachusetts Press
1558495436 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion with Co-Author Kevin Sweeney :

Sunday, October 23, 2016, 2:30-4:00 p.m. at the Acton Memorial Library

This volume draws together an unusually rich body of original sources that tell the story of the 1704 French and Indian attack on Deerfield, Massachusetts, from different vantage points. Texts range from one …More

 

Vikings: Vikings
Vikings: Vikings
By Fitzhugh, William
Editor Ward, Elisabeth
Editor Fitzhugh, William F.
2000-04 – Smithsonian Books (DC)
156098970X Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion, Wednesday September 14, 2016, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Filho’s Great Road, 59 Great Rd., Acton.

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Hidden Cities: The Discovery and Loss of Ancient North American Civilization
Hidden Cities: The Discovery and Loss of Ancient North American Civilization
By Kennedy, Roger
1994-08 – Free Press
0029173078 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion:
Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Rapscallion Table and Tap, 5 Strawberry Hill Road, Acton.

Few realize that some of the oldest, …More

 

Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile
Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile
By Mitchell, John Hanson
1997-03 – Counterpoint LLC
0201149370 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Rapscallion Table and Tap, 5 Strawberry Hill Road, Acton (note new location).

‘Ceremonial time’ is the moment when past, present and future can be perceived simultaneously. In this, John Mitchell’s most magical book, first published in …More

 

Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi
Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi
By Pauketat, Timothy R.
2009-08 – Viking Books
9780670020904 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Wednesday, January 20, 2016, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Larry Kerpelman’s house, 9 Puritan Road, Acton (note change of usual venue).

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American Passage: The Communications Frontier in Early New England
American Passage: The Communications Frontier in Early New England
By Grandjean, Katherine
2015-01 – Harvard
9780674289918 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: American Passage: The Communications Frontier in Early New England, by Katherine Grandjean. Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7:30-9:00 p.m. at Acton Memorial Library (note change from usual …More

 

The Chaco Meridian: One Thousand Years of Political and Religious Power in the Ancient Southwest
The Chaco Meridian: One Thousand Years of Political and Religious Power in the Ancient Southwest
By Lekson, Stephen H.
2015-03 – Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
1442246456 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Thursday, September 17, 2015, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Linda McElroy’s house, 8 Valley Road, Acton (note change of usual venue).

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House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
By Childs, Craig
2007-02 – Little Brown and Company
9780316608176 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: House of rain: tracking a vanished civilization across the American Southwest.  Thursday, May 14, 2015, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden restaurant at 36 Great Road (Route 2A) in East Acton.

The greatest unsolved mystery of the American Southwest is the fate of the Anasazi, the native peoples who in the eleventh century …More

 

Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
By Richter, Daniel K.
2001-12 – Harvard University Press
0674006380 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America.  Thursday, March 19, 2015, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden restaurant at 36 Great Road (Route 2A) in East Acton.

In the beginning, North America was Indian country. But only in the beginning. After the opening act of the great national drama, Native Americans yielded …More

 

Who Discovered America?: The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas
Who Discovered America?: The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas
By Menzies, Gavin
Author Hudson, Ian
2013-10 – William Morrow & Company
9780062236753 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Who Discovered America?: The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas.  Thursday, January 29, 2015, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden restaurant at 36 Great Road (Route 2A) in East Acton.

Greatly expanding on his blockbuster 1421, distinguished historian Gavin Menzies uncovers the complete untold history of how …More

 

Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England
By Cronon, William
Afterword by Cronon, William
Foreword by Demos, John
2003-09 – Hill & Wang
0809016346 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion: Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Book Discussion Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Spice Pepper Garden restaurant at 36 Great Road (Route 2A) in East Acton.

Lauded on Amazon.com as “The book that launched environmental …More

 

Behind the Frontier: Indians in Eighteenth-Century Eastern Massachusetts
Behind the Frontier: Indians in Eighteenth-Century Eastern Massachusetts
By Mandell, Daniel R.
1996-05 – University of Nebraska Press
0803231792 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion Monday, October 27, 2014, 7:30-9:00 p.m. at Acton Memorial Library [This book discussion is a part of Acton’s annual Massachusetts Archeology Month program. Please note the change from our usual venue and day].

 

The book, by historian Daniel R. Mandell is a detailed yet readable look at the development of Native American communities in our …More

 

Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America's Clovis Culture
Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America’s Clovis Culture
By Stanford, Dennis J.
Author Bradley, Bruce A.
Foreword by Collins, Michael B.
2012-02 – University of California Press
9780520227835 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion Monday, September 22, 2014,  6:30-8:00 pm at Spiceppper Garden,  a nice Chinese restaurant on Route 2A in East Acton. [Please note the change from our usual Thursday day].

According to a long-accepted story, the first mammal hunters entered North America from Asia some 12,000 years ago via a …More

 

Trespassing: An Inquiry Into the Private Ownership of Land
Trespassing: An Inquiry Into the Private Ownership of Land
By Mitchell, John Hanson
1999-06 – Counterpoint LLC
9780738201467 Check Our Catalog

 

 

 

Book Discussion Thursday, June 19, 2014, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Bella Famiglia, an Italian restaurant on Route 2A in East Acton.

John Mitchell is a noted local author who lives in Littleton and is editor of the award winning magazine, Sanctuary, published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He has written several books, with subject matter …More

 

Manitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England's Native Civilization
Manitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England’s Native Civilization
By Dix, Byron E.
Author Dix, Byron E.
1989-11 – Inner Traditions International
0892810785 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion Thursday, April 17, 2014, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Bella Famiglia, an Italian restaurant on Route 2A in East Acton.

Archaeoastronomy has received much public and professional attention in recent years, especially in relation to Mesoamerican civilizations. This book attempts to establish that rock piles and other stone formations in New England are …More

 

The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity
The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity
By Lepore, Jill
1998-01 – Alfred A. Knopf
0679446869 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book Discussion Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Bella Famiglia, a nice Italian restaurant on Route 2A in East Acton.

King Philip’s War, the excruciating racial war – colonists against Indians – that erupted in New England in 1675, was, in proportion to population, the bloodiest in American history. Some even argued that the massacres and outrages …More

 

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
By Mann, Charles C.
2006-10 – Vintage
9781400032051 Check Our Catalog

 

 

Book discussion Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at Bella Famiglia Restaurant, Route 2A in East Acton

In this work, Mann, an established science writer, assembles recent work by archaeologists and anthropologists which challenges many of the common conceptions of our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492.

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Caleb's Crossing
Caleb’s Crossing
By Brooks, Geraldine
2011-05 – Viking Books
9780670021048 Check Our Catalog

 

Awards:
Chautauqua Prize (2011), Christianity Today Book Award (2011), Langum Prize for Historical Literature (2010), New England Book Award (2010)

 

Book discussion Tuesday,  October 29, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at  the Acton Memorial Library. 

Inspired by true events, this novel tells a story of cultural understanding that unfolds in Massachusetts in the mid-1600s around the young daughter of a Calvinist minister and the son of a Wampanoag chieftain.

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The Farfarers: A New History of North America
The Farfarers: A New History of North America
By Mowat, Farley
2011-04 – Skyhorse Publishing
9781616082376 Check Our Catalog

 

 

 

Book Discussionn Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at Bella Famiglia Restaurant, Route 2A in East Acton.

Mowat, a well-known Canadian environmentalist and writer, creates an engaging historical novel which details an alternative version of pre-Viking contacts with North America.

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