 Prehistoric people did many weird and wonderful things; the way to read this book is as an entertaining and enlightening account of prehistory’s greatest hits.In a review of the same work in Isis, however, archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat is harshly critical, stating that Rudgley first fabricated a non-existent controversy about pre-historic cultures, then created heroes and villains by characterising archaeologists as "wicked morons who conspire to keep prehistory in obscurity".She suggests that Rudgley "uses data like a magician" picking data from all over the world and stretching back a million years to make his case and that "like the fancy gesturing of the magician that distracts the audience from the trick, the avalanche of erudition hides Rudgley's weak argumentation".