I like best the idea of generations of anthropologists digging down to the "clovis" layer - and then STOPPING because everybody already knew that there were no earlier settlements... and I would also recommend The World History of the Basques, which tells how they were there for what might have been centuries, fishing and not telling anybody where their fishing grounds were...

Also, fun fact to know and tell even if it is thread creep: If Columbus' sails hadn't been made of hemp he'd have foundered half-way across when the sails rotten off the masts and rigging.