Author: BURGESS, ROBERT
Title: The Cave Divers
Description: black, Atlantic Books. 1999. (ISBN: 9781881652113). Paperback, 16.4 x 1.7 x 22.8 cm. Condition good. ref ZKVQ Those who think that exploring underwater caves is too exotic a pastime to be of much interest will change their minds after reading this work by Burgess (Diving Off the Beaten Track), author of books and articles about hunting for sunken treasure. Burgess is among those intrepid pioneers who have made major discoveries in underwater archaeology--finding not only huge caverns that are in effect vast air pockets but also inundated caves whose artifacts give evidence of human habitation, probably during the last ice age. Although chapters on the evolution of diving equipment and underwater cameras will be of scant interest to general readers, there are exciting accounts of expeditions in Europe, the Yucatan peninsula, the Bahamas and especially Florida, rich in significant underwater sites--one of which proved that humans inhabited the Southeast almost 7,000 years earlier than scholars originally thought. Life-threatening dangers abound, including nitrogen buildup in the blood (which causes the bends), disorientation, terrible visibility and entanglement in guide ropes leading from the entry point, which has killed many underwater explorers. Of special poignancy is the author's recounting of the accidental death of a favorite diving companion. This is an interesting mix of adventure and archaeology that probes one of the earth's last frontiers.--Publishers Weekly, September 28, 1998. Good.

Keywords: 9781881652113


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