The Art Gerber Story – A Lifetime of Collecting Along the Ohio River

BOOK REVIEW

By Oliver T. Skrivanie

G.I.R.S. Member

The Art Gerber Story – A Lifetime of Collecting Along the Ohio River

By Arthur Joseph Gerber

Long before “Indiana Jones” there was “Indiana Gerber”!!!  The primary focus of the author’s personal archaeological ad­ventures recounted in this book is the famous Crib Mound locat­ed along the Ohio River in Spencer County, Indiana. The Crib Mound was a multi-component site with its lower section com­posed of shell midden laid down during the Archaic period and the upper section composed of black humus built up later during the Woodland Period. Sadly reflected was the failure of the pro­fessional archaeology community to investigate one of the most significant archaeological sites along the Ohio River. The author recounts his and others’ personal expeditions to the Crib Mound and the Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark-like resulting adventures. The frisson generated by the discovery of 10,000 cache blades at Crib Mound can only be imagined! The sheer volume of artifacts found at or near the Crib Mound is truly amazing, and Gerber, through his profes­sional photographic exp’ertise, documents and allows us to view these mesmerizing treasures—from bannerstones to flint to axes to cache blades to pipes to copper to shell. Equally important is a photographic section depicting the gradual erosion and almost complete obliteration of the Crib Mound site by the mighty Ohio River.

Thus, thanks to this author, the spectacular fluorescence of the Crib Mound has been cap­tured by the author’s personal anecdotes, photos of the site, and photos of the scintillating diversity of artifacts found at the site.

Another section of the book addresses the alleged destruction of the GE Hopewell Mound in Posey County, Indiana which ultimately resulted in the very con­troversial arrest, conviction, and sentencing of the author under ARPA.

Other chapters cover the author’s collecting adventures along the Ohio River and his ac­cumulation of one of the premier collections of prehistoric artifacts in the United States. The beauty and enormity of the author’s entire ar­tifact collection are also superbly contained in the photographic portion of the book. I am sure you will spend countless hours admiring the assembled artifacts, all of which reflect the author’s genuine passion and enthusiasm as an artifact collector.

Finally, the author includes an interesting sec­tion of personal photos of collectors and friends, many of whom you will immediately recognize.

This is unconditionally a must reference for every collector of prehistoric artifacts.

The Art Gerber Story

Hard cover; $100.00 plus $12.00 priority shipping Deluxe hard cover; $150.00 plus $12.00 priority shipping

Caddo Trading Co., P.O. Box 669, Murfreesboro, AR 79158  caddotc@alltel.net  • (870) 285-3736

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