The Lost Tomb

Preston, Douglas. The Lost Tomb and Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder. New York: Grand Central 2023. Print.

First Sentences:

Some writers drank when the words didn't come. Now we have the Internet. Whenever I get stuck writing, instead of sliding open the bottom drawer with the whiskey bottle, I load up the New York Times or Politico, check my email, or, when all else fails, start Googling old acquaintances.


Description:

Who doesn't love a good mystery? Some sort of puzzle filled with suspicious characters up against thoughtful people who try to unravel the tangle of facts to eventually arrive at the truth and a satisfying conclusion by the last page?

But true life mysteries, while equally compelling as fictitious ones, are often not so neatly explained. Conclusions can be muddled, even after scores of scientists, treasure hunters, and researchers have delved into the physical and historic data for years. 

If you are like me, a true life mystery-lover, you should pick up Douglas Preston's The Lost Tomb and Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder. The author is a man curious about the odd, unsolved oddities he has read about over the years, leading him to publish heavily-researched articles which detail these mysteries for magazines including Wired, Harper's, and The New Yorker. Thirteen of these articles are collected in The Lost Tomb, conveniently organized into sections of "Uncommon Murders," "Unexplained Deaths," "Unsolved Mysteries," Curious Crimes," and "Old Bones." 

And what unsolved mysteries are detailed? Here's a sample:

• The author's own boyhood treasure chest buried with a friend, but in later life he was unable to find. His search led him to unexpected information about this boyhood friend whom he had lost touch with;

• Hundreds of skeletal bones found in a remote lake high up in the Himalayas whose age, how they got there, and what caused their deaths remain unknown;

• The Oak Island Money Pit, over 190' deep (so far) which has been explored for over 100 years by fortune-hunters and scientists looking for a rumored buried treasure;

• The New Mexico skeleton and accompanying artifacts that might be 20,000 years old, (making this the oldest evidence of man in America), discovered by a quirky Indiana Jones-type anthropologist;

• A 3,500-year-old Egyptian tomb that has 150 rooms (only 10% of which have been uncovered) that might be the final resting place for Rameses II and his 50 sons;
  

• Rare points from arrows and spears created by the ancient Clovis people in America, that suddenly turned up together in a suspiciously rich cache;

• A site with fossils of feathers, glass raindrops, delicate fish, and plant materials so carefully and instantaneously preserved that they might document the exact date when the asteroid hit Earth and destroyed 90% of all life.

Preston gathers the origins of these mysteries, researches the often-conflicting data from various people and scientists who are experts in the mystery, then allows each reader to draw his own conclusions. The people involved in the mystery are as fascinating as the mysteries themselves, presenting diverse opinions and drawing solid, if unproven conclusions that continue to be debated today.

I find real-life mysteries like these to be fascinating, even if they often do not have a tidy conclusion. Buried treasure, ancient bones, lost cities, and unexplained anthropological artifacts stretch my brain to wonder at the complexities of human life and our attempts to understand nature and our own past history. Highly recommended.

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Preston, Douglas. The Lost City of the Monkey God  

The author relates his electrifying, dangerous, scientific adventures in 2012 seeking the (rumored) fabulously wealthy, but cursed lost city of gold in Honduras as documented by Cortez and other explorers. A real page-turner for history and treasure buffs alike. (previously reviewed here)