How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction? Big History creator David Christian gives the answers in a mind-expanding cosmological detective story told on the grandest possible scale. He traces how, during eight key thresholds, the right conditions have allowed new forms of complexity to arise, from stars to galaxies, Earth to homo sapiens, agriculture to fossil fuels. This last mega-innovation gave us an energy bonanza that brought huge benefits to mankind, yet also threatens to shake apart everything we have created. This global origin story is one that we could only begin to tell recently, thanks to the underlying unity of modern knowledge. Panoramic in scope and thrillingly told, Origin Story reveals what we learn about human existence when we consider it from a universal scale.

This volume is motivated by the desire to explain why Neanderthals were replaced by modern humans, in terms of cultural differences between the two (sub-) species. It provides up-to-date coverage on the theory of cultural evolution as is being used by anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists and psychologists to decipher hominin cultural change and diversity during the Palaeolithic. The contributing authors are directly involved in this effort and the material presented includes novel approaches and findings. Chapters explain how learning strategies in combination with social and demographic factors (e.g., population size and mobility patterns) predict cultural evolution in a world without the printing press, television or the Internet. Also addressed is the inverse problem of how learning strategies may be inferred from actual trajectories of cultural change, for example as seen in the North American Palaeolithic. Mathematics and statistics, a sometimes necessary part of theory, are explained in elementary terms where they appear, with details relegated to appendices. Full citations of the relevant literature will help the reader to further pursue any topic of interest.

This is the story of the search for human origins - from the Middle Ages, when questions of the earth's antiquity first began to arise, through to the latest genetic discoveries that show the interrelatedness of all living creatures. Central to the story is the part played by fossils - first, in establishing the age of the Earth; then, following Darwin, in the pursuit of possible 'Missing Links' that would establish whether or not humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor. John Reader's passion for this quest - palaeoanthropology - began in the 1960s when he reported for Life Magazine on Richard Leakey's first fossil-hunting expedition to the badlands of East Turkana, in Kenya. Drawing on both historic and recent research, he tells the fascinating story of the science as it has developed from the activities of a few dedicated individuals, into the rigorous multidisciplinary work of today. His arresting photographs give a unique insight into the fossils, the discoverers, and the settings. His vivid narrative reveals both the context in which our ancestors evolved, and also the realities confronting the modern scientist. The story he tells is peopled by eccentrics and enthusiasts, and punctuated by controversy and even fraud. It is a celebration of discoveries - Neanderthal Man in the 1850s, Java Man (1891), Australopithecus (1925), Peking Man (1926), Homo habilis (1964), Lucy (1978), Floresiensis (2004), and Ardipithecus (2009). It is a story of fragmentary shards of evidence, and the competing interpretations built upon them. And it is a tale of scientific breakthroughs - dating technology, genetics, and molecular biology - that have enabled us to set the fossil evidence in the context of human evolution. John Reader's first book on this subject (Missing Links: The Hunt for Earliest Man, 1981) was described in Nature as 'the best popular account of palaeoanthropology I have ever read'. His new book covers the thirty years of discovery that have followed.

Anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, and ecologists report the latest thinking on human evolution at a level suitable for undergraduates. The six papers are from a March 1992 symposium in Los Angeles. Includes a glossary without pronunciation. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, O

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Preface List of Figures List of Tables 1. Fossilisation Patterns of Social Organisation; Taphonomy; Dating Fossils; Methods; Direct Methods; Indirect Methods; Chronometric dating; Half-life; Relative Dating Procedures; Stratigraphy; Fluorine dating; Nitrogen dating; Uranium dating; Absolute Dating Techniques; Radiocarbon dating; Obsidian dating; Fission-track technique; Potassium-Argon dating: Material Used; Period; Thermoluminescence (TI); Palaeomagnetism Technique; Electron Spin Resonance Technique; Faunal Correlation Technique (Biostratigraphy); Dendrochronology; Amino Acid Racemization Technique. 2. Primate Radiation Primate Development; Early Tertiary Period; Miocene Epoch; Parapithecus; Propliopithecus; Limnopithecus; Pliopithecus; Prohylobates; Dryopithecinae; Dryopithecus; Ramapithecus; Rudapithecus hungaricus; Sugrivapithecus; Sivapithecus -- Sivapithecus sivalensis; Sivapithecus himalayensis; Gigantopithecus. 3. Australopithecines Australopithecus - East Africa; Early species; The Robust Australopithecines - The Gracile Australopithecines; Paranthropus. 4. Homo habilis Sites; Tool making capabilities; Social organisation. 5. Homo erectus Bodily Structure of Homo erectus; Origin of Homo erectus; Variations in Homo erectus; Transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens; Other Homo erectus Finds; Narmada Man Heidelberg Man (Homo Heidelbergensis); Asian Fossils; African Fossils; European Fossils; Behavioural Inferences; Evolutionary Implications; Gradualistic Views of the Transition to Homo sapiens; Alternative Modes of Species Change. 6. Neanderthal Man The Extinction of Neanderthal Man; Burials; Archaic and Modern Peoples; Physical Characteristics; PreNeanderthal Man (Early Homo sapiens) - Relationship between Neanderthal man and modern man. 7. Modern Men Cro-Magnon; Hunting Techniques; Place in Human Evolution; Culture; Eyziea-de-Tayac Caves; The Tautavel Man; Swanscombe Man; Steinheim Man. 8. Human Evolution The Antiquity of Homo sapiens; Structure of Homo sapiens; Evolution of the Human Skull. 9. Human Origins Dating; African Eve Hypothesis; Ancient Africans, Whose Ancestors?; Early Dispersal and Homo sapiens; Genetic Evidence for Modern Human Origins; The Story of how we became man; Split from the Apes; The Earliest Humans; Modern Humans; The End of Evolution?; Man; But were the CroMagnon Africans?; Cultural Evidence for Modern Human Origins; Rethinking? 10. Molecular Clock Chromosomal Evolution; Chromosomal Homology; DNA; Gene Mapping. 11. Palaeodemography Methodology; Sexing; Ageing; Parity and Weaning Age; Population Size Estimates; Mortality Patterns; Growth; Disease, Diet and Demography; Australopithecus; Homo Habilis; Neanderthals. 12. Palaeopathology Neanderthal Man; Bone Tumour; General. Literature Cited Index

The theme of this book is the appropriate methodology for the study of the history of life on earth. In particular, it focuses on the interplay between form and structure: the things that we might predict and model and the things we cannot predict -- the arbitrary and the contingent -- which may be as important, or even more important, than the way in which life on earth has evolved.

The contributors are drawn from palaeontology, archaeology, anthropology and human evolution; the timescales covered are from the development of life on earth, through human evolution to later prehistory and historic archaeology. Underpinning the theme of the book is the work of Stephen Jay Gould, who has developed a distinctive philosophy of history concerning the nature of long-term and short-term evolutionary processes, particularly stressing the interplay between structure and contingency.

Elaine Morgan gives a revolutionary hypothesis that explains our anatomic anomalies in The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis - why we walk on two legs, why we are covered in fat, why we can control our rate of breathing? The answers point to one conclusion: millions of years ago our ancestors were trapped in a semi-aquatic environment. In presenting her case, Elaine Morgan forces scientists to question accepted theories of human evolution.

This book puts Cheddar Man into a wider archaeological context and explains the scientific detective work behind the headlines which made him an international celebrity nine millennia after his death.

The partial skeleton of Homo erectus found in Kenya by Alan Walker, Richard Leakey, and others is truly one of the great discoveries in paleoanthropology, after the world's best paleoanthropologists have diligently searched for traces of Homo erectus in Africa and Asia for a century. In this book, the authors present descriptions and photographs of all parts of the skeleton and accompany these with a thorough analysis. It consists of three parts. The first part covers the geology, dating, paleoenvironments, and the taphonomy of the site. The second part is a description of the specimen and a review of other Homo erectus specimens from the Lake Turkana region. The last part is composed of analytical papers on certain aspects of the boy's biology as they apply to other Homo erectus specimens. "What impresses me most about the volume is that apart from the basic description of the fossil, which itself is of great importance, the editors have sought out leading experts to tackle problems relating to specific issues in the evolutionary biology of Homo erectus. Many of these chapters would stand alone as major contributions. Together, they make a remarkable volume that will become a standard reference." (Robert A. Foley, Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge)

This is an extremely scarce and important work. It is profusely illustrated with over 100 pictures and illustrations. Partial Contents: Antiquity and Birthplace of Man; Africa Birthplace of Man; Piltdown Skull; Burial Customs; Ancient Implements and How to Distinguish Them; Primary Man; Non-Totemic or Pre-Totemic and Non-Anthropophagous People; Spirit Worship; Non- or Pre-Totemic People; Masaba Negros; Totemic and Androphagi People; Nilotic Negroes; Totemic Group; Further Proofs that the Nilotic Negro was the Founder of Ancient Egypt; Totem and Totemism; Heidelberg and Neanderthal Types; Tribes of Borneo and the Todas; Stellar Mythos People; Further Proofs of Stellar Cult in America; Central America and Mexico; Stellar Mythos People in Asia; Chinese People; Evidence of Stellar Cult in Africa, Ancient Egypt and Northern Europe; Lunar Cult; Solar Mythos People; Solar Cult People; People of the British Isles; Comparative Wisdom, Ancient and Modern.

Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory curates and collects many of the most important publications of anthropological thought spanning the last hundred years, building a strong foundation in both classical and contemporary theory. The sixth edition includes seventeen new readings, with a sharpened focus on public anthropology, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and the Anthropocene. Each piece of writing is accompanied by a short introduction, key terms, study questions, and further readings that elucidate the original text. On its own or together with A History of Anthropological Theory, sixth edition, this anthology offers an unrivalled introduction to the theory of anthropology that reflects not only its history but also the changing nature of the discipline today.

This work deals with Neanderthal subsistence behaviours during the Middle Palaeolithic in Hungary, through the example of Erd site. Very discreet, hunting and mainly scavenging, activities are shown by zooarchaeological study for meat procurement. This is different for carnivores, except for cave bears. The latter, using the place for hibernation, meant a high number of their remains are associated with "Charentian" lithic industry and with those of cave hyena. This carnivore has a significant impact on bone accumulations, herbivores and bears, and shows signs of cannibalism on its congener's remains. Human activities are visible only on a few bones belonging to large ungulates and cave bear. However, no proof supports the proposition of a clear specialization in cave bear hunting on acquiring meat resources (as written by V. Gabori Csank in the monography on Erd published in 1968); a contrario, on scavenging carcasses and/or visiting (actively?) dens for weakened wintering/hibernating bears. These results attest the contemporaneity of a part of the bear carcasses with human installation or presence on the site.

A study of the morphological variation of the skull in children, taking into consideration their age, sex and geographical origin. Extensive research (761 skulls were studied) has resulted in an exhaustive report which clearly fills a long-standing gap in the study of human cranial development.

This book examines the first human colonization of Asia and particularly the tropical environments of Southeast Asia during the Upper Pleistocene. In studying the unique character of the Asian archaeological record, it reassesses long-accepted propositions about the development of human 'modernity.' Ryan J. Rabett reveals an evolutionary relationship between colonization, the challenges encountered during this process - especially in relation to climatic and environmental change - and the forms of behaviour that emerged. This book argues that human modernity is not something achieved in the remote past in one part of the world, but rather is a diverse, flexible, responsive and ongoing process of adaptation.

This volume, the first in a series devoted to the paleoanthropological resources of the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia, studies Homo erectus, a close relative of Homo sapiens. Written by a team of highly regarded scholars, this book provides the first detailed descriptions, photographs, and analysis of the fossil vertebrates - from elephants and hyenas to humans - from the Daka Member of the Bouri Formation of the Afar, a place renowned for an abundant and lengthy record of human ancestors.These fossils contribute to our understanding human evolution, and the associated fauna provide new information about the distribution and variability of Pleistocene mammals in eastern Africa. The contributors are all active researchers who worked on the paleontology and geology of these unique deposits. Here they have combined their disparate efforts into a single volume, making the original research results accessible to both the specialist and the general reader. The volume synthesizes environmental backdrop and anatomical detail to open an unparalleled window on the African Pleistocene and its inhabitants.

Alison Jolly believes that biologists have an important story to tell about being human-not the all-too-familiar tale of selfishness, competition, and biology as destiny but rather one of cooperation and interdependence, from the first merging of molecules to the rise of a species inextricably linked by language, culture, and group living. This is the story that unfolds in Lucy's Legacy, the saga of human evolution as told by a world-renowned primatologist who works among the female-dominant ringtailed lemurs of Madagascar. We cannot be certain that Lucy was female-the bones themselves do not tell us. However, we do know, as Jolly points out in this erudite, funny, and informative book, that the females who came after Lucy-more adept than their males in verbal facility, sharing food, forging links between generations, migrating among places and groups, and devising creative mating strategies-played as crucial a role in the human evolutionary process as "man" ever did. In a book that takes us from the first cell to global society, Jolly shows us that to learn where we came from and where we go next, we need to understand how sex and intelligence, cooperation and love, emerged from the harsh Darwinian struggle in the past, and how these natural powers may continue to evolve in the future.

Richard Leakey's personal account of his fossil hunting and landmark discoveries at Lake Turkana, his reassessment of human prehistory based on new evidence and analytic techniques, and his profound pondering of how we became "human" and what being "human" really means.