Glozel: Bones of Contention by Alice Gerard

In this real life who-done-it young Emile Fradin could never have imagined in 1924 that his life would become embroiled in a fierce archaeological controversy that rages on today with ninety-four year old Emile still waiting to be exonerated.

It began high on the rolling plateau of the Allier region of central France, when in the tiny Hamlet of Glozel the cow fell into a hole. Once the cow was extricated Emile and his grandfather began to retrieve an astonishing assortment of artifacts, carved bone, clay tablets and pots with strange faces and even stranger writing, stone implements unlike anything seen before.

Fueled by the passionate and determined commitment of a doctor and amateur archaeologist, Dr. Morlet, from nearby Vichy, who believed it to be a collection of Neolithic relics, the news spread quickly through academia and sides were drawn. Some calling it the most important find of the century others a clumsy hoax. A myriad of time periods have been postulated ranging from the Neolithic through Gallo-Roman to Medieval, and of course, twentieth century fabrication.

Alice Gerard was introduced to the story in 1954 and has been actively involved with the “affair of Glozel” since. She and her oceanographer husband championed a scientific approach, advocating accepted methods of dating and analysis, and working with respected scientists here and in Europe. At last this bizarre story is available in English. Gerard presents a concise history of the convoluted development of opinions, research, dating efforts and confrontations surrounding interpretation of Glozelian material. She includes comprehensive descriptions and illustrations of the artifacts, and her conclusions remain open ended. As part of her story of Glozel, she weaves a diary her experience through the years and brings to life the cast of characters involved during the last fifty years.

Glozel, Bones of Contention,

Alice Gerard,

2005, IUniverse, Lincoln NE.

293 pages, available through Amazon for $21.95

The Fourth Part of Gaul by John Cabeen Beatty

In these days of excessive violence, gory scenes, and frantic action plots, John Beatty gives us a quieter, more innocent novel treating a violent theme in another violent age, that of the Roman conquest of Gaul.

In The Fourth Part of Gaul, Beatty follows the fortunes of Marcus Pontus, a young Roman tribune held hostage by Veneti, a Gaulish tribe in today’s Brittany. From aboard his captor’s ship, Pontus witnesses the fierce naval battle ending in the defeat of the Veneti and elects to flee with a flotilla of four ships. A Greek trader pilots the little fleet on a long forgotten Carthaginian trade route to a forgotten land in the west. The small settlement on the Connecticut struggles against bitter winter and treacherous attack. The Roman hostage learns the ways of the Veneti, take a Gaulish wife and in the end become key to their survival in the New World.

NEARA readers will appreciate the authors sea-based perspective. His careful research and the accuracy of his descriptions combine to give a flavor of authenticity to the story

Could there be more than a touch of truth in this novel? Read it and decide for yourself.

The Fourth Part of Gaul

John C. Beatty

2004, Xlibris available from Xlibris or Amazon for $22.99